Hawk’s Nest

Students lose an average of one month of academic learning over the summer break, according to research from the RAND Corporation. The John Hopkins’ Center for Summer Learning confirms this fact which states that without summer educational programs, the average student falls behind in his reading skills.
To prevent this “summer slide,” make reading a part of your family’s summer fun with some of the following ideas:
• Read together:  Choose a book and read alongside your child. Reading from their area of interest gives us a glimpse into their world and leads to great discussions.
• Make research fun:  Going on vacation? Research the local history or animal life and find places to explore. History can be brought alive to students as they travel.
• Cary Library: Participate in the Teen Summer Reading Program and enter to win cool drawings such as Portland Sea Dogs tickets!  Registration begins June 18 for grades 7-12 and the program starts June 25.
• Student Preparatory Assignments: Teachers are giving students a jump start when they start the new school year by providing reading over the summer.  Check your mail for a letter detailing what students are reading in each grade level this summer.
• Scholastic Summer Challenge: Check out www.scholastic.com for great titles for every age range.  Booklists include the hottest new series, picks for reluctant readers, and more.
• Use Technology:  Teens love their Ipods, cell phones, and Kindles, so use them to download free books to read or listen to.  The last page I checked listed 23,469 classic books to go!
• Summer Workshops: When available, summer workshops for students are a great way to continue learning while school is out.  Susan Lannon, the Biology teacher at HHS, is sending two students, Macy Palmer and Courtney Jurson to a Population Genetics Workshop at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.  The Biology department at Bowdoin chose several school teams to attend and ours is one of them.  Congratulations, girls!  Keep your eyes open for local opportunities for your children to attend events at art galleries, rec centers, and other local venues.
So enjoy your summer but don’t forget to keep your mind alert and active.  And remember…“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”  (Dr. Seuss, “I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!”)