learning

The summer slide, brain drain, summer slump – whatever you call it, learning that is lost over the summer break can be problematic, especially for students who are already struggling. Studies show that students typically lose two months’ worth of learning during the summer months, and as was shared in a post last week, students typically score significantly lower on the same test at the end of the break, than they did at the beginning of the summer.

Engaging children in learning, whether through formal summer school courses, or informal learning opportunities, is essential to minimizing the effects of summer learning loss. Summer school courses are perhaps the best prevention for learning loss, particularly if students need extra reinforcement of difficult concepts, or need to recover credits. However, even if students are not enrolled in summer school, learning shouldn’t stop just because the school year is technically over.

I probably don’t need to tell you about Pinterest, the social bulletin board site that this year became the fastest growing website EVER, gaining over 10 million users in just nine months. (If you’re not familiar with the site, check out this Beginners Guide to Pinterest for a rundown.)The visual bookmarking site allows users to “pin” images from around the web to their pin boards, sharing content with the world. A simple concept, but if you’re a Pinterest user, you know just how addicting pinning can be, with gorgeous photography, beautiful (if slightly unrealistic) home ideas, covetable fashion, and mouth-watering recipes in abundance.

But Pinterest can also be a fantastic educational resource, for teachers and learning coaches, as well as students. Popular with teachers and homeschoolers, the site is a great tool for finding and sharing resources, lesson plans, and project ideas. Here you’ll find just a few ways you can use Pinterest for learning.

School’s out! Summer’s here! And so is the Annual K¹² Week Summer Reading Challenge! Reading can be done in all sorts of cool places - in the car, lounging in a lawn chair next to the pool, and even while canoeing!  The options are endless!

Take advantage of this challenge to keep learning alive during the summer and discover or re-discover how much fun reading can be!  

Here’s how it works:

1. Yes, it's open to to parents, students, friends, grandparents, and anyone that can read a book!
2. Read 12 books over the designated 12 week period.
3. The challenge runs from June 11, 2012 through August 31, 2012. 
4. Participants may join at any time but the goal is to read at least 12 books.
5. All books are acceptable --picture, youth, young adult, adult, etc.
6. All forms of books are acceptable including e-books, audio books, etc.
7. Re-reading books is fine as long as they are re-read sometime during the duration of the challenge.
8. Each Friday during the challenge, return to our blog and leave a comment on the weekly challenge post with a short review of the book you read.
9. Keep track of your read books. 
10. At the end of the challenge, post the full list of read books!  That should be 12 books total! 

Memorial Day weekend is here! For some, it means heading out on a long road trip! If you are looking for ideas to keep the kids busy, why not check out our mobile apps? 

We offer Read Aloud Classic stories, counting games, and Math samplers to name a few.  We are hard at work creating more mobile apps, so please take the time to rate our current apps and share any ideas! 

K¹² Mobile Applications