ABC, one, two, three, most of the schools are getting out this week or next week. Yes! I love that song! I like that song, the Jackson 5 of course.
Yes! But it's time now for the ABC, he's in one, two, three's, right? That's right. That's right.
He keeps ready for a vacation. I bet the teachers are ready for a vacation from learning. Parents are ready for a vacation from here in the larm so early. I know how you are.
Everybody needs a little break for you. Everybody needs a little breather. But you know one of the things that we don't need a big breather from is learning. That's exactly right.
You know, you'll hear a lot of teachers talk about the summer slide and we don't want our children to go backwards on their breaks. On today's issue. No, no magazine. On today's episode of Bringing It Home with San Antonio, we're going to talk about ways to avoid that learning while we're at Summer Slide during Summer Vacation.
And we brought in a friend to talk to us about this issue. One of our favorites. One of our favs, we have Mrs. Peggy Jackson with us today.
How Peggy is the director of the Family Resource Centers in Haywood County. She also works for the University of Tennessee. She's a program assistant in Haywood County. She knows a lot about learning.
You've been working in your position for how long? 24 years. 24 years. And she actually was there from the beginning of the Family Resource Centers.
That is awesome. So she's seen a lot of children start out and grow up and go on their merry way. That's right. And we have people returning now as parents that were once children in kindergarten.
That's really neat. Right. And she's raised two girls of her own too. She's done it professionally and personally.
So we're going to see some of her advice talking about learning loss today and how to avoid that while school's out. I guess, yeah, let's just start there. So what do you feel like are some of the causes of learning loss when school does get out? Well, I think like you just said, we are tired.
We just want to put the ABCs and 123s away, which is what we do not need to do. Especially young children learned by recognition and repetition. So like from recognizing shapes and letters to the sounds they make to making the words that they form. Let's think about if you are learning to play the piano.
And you go for a lesson this week and hour lesson and then you do not practice. One time you go back next week and your teachers going to say, okay, let's go over what you learned last week. That's a great example. Same with reading and writing and recognizing numbers and things.
That is right. That's exactly how it is with young children. They have to practice. They have to repeat.
So for child those two months in the summer without reading a word list or without reading a book or practicing math, they're going to be a naturally some of the skills they learned. So it's important for us as parents to understand children have to continue reading and math during the summer. Well, now you said reading because we know that's the basis of most of the learning that we do. But a lot of kids just don't read when it's not required.
I have one of those kids in my house growing up. So I understand that thinking how in the world do we encourage reading during the summertime? You don't want it to be a struggle or no. No, it's right.
And actually I have two girls and one was a reader. One was not a big fan. So it did take more encouragement. But the best thing you can do is to make reading fun.
We would sign up for the public library reading program every summer. Let your child pick books they like. Every child is interested in something. Whether it be sports, maybe a favorite character, baby, sugar clubs.
That was my oldest father. Coming back around. One of my favorites. So another thing, check out a book of simple science experiments or simple recipes.
Oh, that's fun. And make those at home and have a family reading time. Especially with young children. It's a way to calm them down after a busy day.
And also let me say this, children model what we do. So let them say you read. Let them say you read the newspaper or a magazine or even an article on your phone. And you know, there's lots of free learning out for all ages of children.
So they can learn while having fun. There's a lot of avenues out there. They just have to be here. I take this book over here and read two chapters this morning.
That's great. So we know reading is important and great. But it seems like there's a lot of focus now on reading comprehension. Not just being able to say the words on the paper or in the book, whatever it is that you're reading.
Is there something separate that we should practice over the summer to really, really focus on that component of the comprehension? That is taken at a step farther. And that's right. It's really neat to read books with your child.
Talk about the characters. For did what they think will happen next. Ask how an action in the book made that character feel. And that keeps them engaged in the story, right?
Instead of just reading the story, we're discussing these characters kind of like they're real people. It makes it more important to the child. That's true. And they really become part of the story.
It's not just trying to pronounce the words correctly. Another fun activity I would like to do with my girls would read all over the last page of the storybook. And I would ask them to predict how they think it was going to end. Oh, yeah.
That's fine. We would read how the author of the book ended the story and we would decide which ending we might be. Sometimes we like girls ending better. I love that you're saying that I was at a 10 rating, which is our state testing meeting at my son's school.
He's in fifth grade. And that's one of their test things on the writing prompt. They're going to be given a prompt and then have to finish the story. So if we start this when they're young children, by the time they get to fourth grade, it's going to be so much easier for them.
That's true. Every skill you begin are like, that's the key. You're there. So reading, we know we push that and the schools push that.
So let's transition a little bit into math for our younger students. You know, where can we put math skills to work during the summer? We don't want to hand out worksheets every day and say you're doing the summer. I'm not like drilling.
You got a minute. Yeah. Flash hard. Is that what we need to do in all summer?
No, no. Look for shapes. If you have young children at other age, even look for shapes there everywhere. Have them set the table, let them know how many forks, plates.
Oh, you mean, ain't it's the number of all that are coming tonight? Oh, we have two more people. Okay. There's usually four.
Now we have two more. How many plates do we need tonight? Well, they decided. So using every day things you have around the house, counting fruit at the grocery, give me five apples.
Oh, that's fine. And then that gets them busy at the grocery. That's right. And from all these choices, you get them counting the apples.
Now, don't take your five-sneakers bars. That's not the idea. No, no, not the answer. Also measuring ingredients for recipes, talking terms of measurement.
Don't just say, if the eggs are the refrigerator. If it doesn't have eggs out of the refrigerator, please. Can you hand me the gallon of milk? Okay.
I like that. So do they learn those units? Hand of cheese. They can start making that connection.
Right. And if your child's out enough to count money, have them pay the cashier. Or even if they're not out enough to count it, at least let them hand the cashier the money. So you understand the concept of you will get some change back, hopefully.
I love that. Nothing you're telling us is going out and buying a book or not. No. It's not a thing you have.
Use of what you've got. That's right. And a neat idea too, if you have a child who is learning to count money, come in every day and have just a few pieces of change in your purse or your pocket. And if they can tell you, if they can count it, exactly how much money you have, they get to keep it.
They get to put it in a jar. That's fine. Can they work with husbands and wives? We're learning to save money.
We're learning to save money. We're working on practice in our skills. And if you have a safe kindergarten and they're just learning what the coins are, if they can recognize the coins, they get to keep that's fine. So it's not math.
We talked about reading. We're not writing. Because you know writing is huge in schools now. It is.
And one fun thing to do is have your child make up a story. If they're too young to actually write it, you can write it and let them illustrate it. Let them draw the interest for you. Another thing, let's bring back the lost art of writing notes to parents.
I mean to family and friends. Go to the post office. Let your child see how you've purchased a stamp. I mean this is oh still.
Nobody can. It is. Most kids don't even know that this used to happen. And that's right.
If they get something in the mail, they get so excited. That's right. So I was going to say you might notify the family member that they're writing and ask them to write back to your child. And have a pail relationship over the summer with the relative.
Maybe they live in another state. Even with a classmate, maybe. Yeah. Yeah.
That's right. That's a great idea. That's right. And as you're writing, you can talk about, you know, if they're older, you can talk about words that need to be capital.
And you'll be in a comment there. I think we know. Yeah. But not in a fuzzy way.
No, no, a conversational way. That's right. Awesome. And then I some other ideas I guess for writing, you know, they could do like letters to the troops or letters to nursing home, you know, patients or things like that.
Just anything I guess to keep them writing, right? Absolutely. Those are all great ideas. Well, I know that some students struggle with certain skills.
It's summer a good time for us to focus on those particular skills. Because you know, during the school year, we're trying to learn everything that the teacher's throwing out at us. During the summer, we can be a little more focused. So do you think that's a good time for us to work on those skills at each time?
Summer is the perfect time. Because like you say, hopefully we slow down a little. And a good thing to do is set goals for your child every day. Small goals.
For example, complete five math problems. Maybe they're having trouble with subtraction. They don't need to do 50. They don't do five.
And try to read 20 minutes every day with your child. Let's take a vacation from learning. In fact, look at each day is a day full of teachable moments. It really is.
So, you know, we've been talking a lot about younger kids. And you know, some of us have older kids. And unfortunately, they all into that trap too of learning loss during the summer month. So, you know, older kids are all about the technology.
So how can we incorporate technology into learning to do skills or reviewing some of those skills that they already know? There are literally thousands of educational apps for learning. So, you know, you've heard your child, hey, we won't eat on the computer. We won't eat on your cell phone.
They'll be in these apps to play these educational games and challenge them to get a higher score on some of the games. Also, think of a subject you want them to research. Maybe you're wanting to take a trip to Memphis. Well, there's some things we can do to Memphis that costs very little to do.
Can you make us a plan? We're going to have a trail. That's fine. I need to get on there and Google different spots in that area.
It's certain days of the week, different events are free. So, comparing, contrasting. Absolutely. Also, toy robotics kids.
That's a fun gift for children. I purchased them from Amazon for my nephews for Christmas. Oh, yeah, kids do love to steal. And they still have all different ages.
That really is. You know, one thing that I learned about our language apps. You know, a lot of the teenagers are using these free apps that you can download and they can still have their earbuds in, still have the tablet in front of them and they're learning Spanish and French and all these things just by listening to these free apps. That is a good way to spend extra time in it.
Yeah, really good. You know, and I will say here, the school system that my children attend, they have given the kids access to some online games through the schools and they will have that throughout the summer as well. So, my son who's going to middle school has been on his tablet and stuff, playing some Mac games. That's right.
And you know, they're having fun. Yes. Anytime you can learn by having fun, you will spend more time doing it. Right.
Definitely. And I don't want us to run out of time. We're talking more about this age group. How do we promote reading with older kids?
Again, visit your library, maybe have a book swap with your friends, pick four or five chapter books in a series and have them read a chapter in the morning because their mind is accustomed to learning in the morning. So, if you have them read that first chapter before they read for the rest of the day. Like, you have to get to the clock. Go to hell.
He could steal slave to 90 and whatever. Eight that fell to zero. But read that first chapter in the morning. Why your mind is still awake before it gets carried away with the fact.
That's true because I do better in the morning. I definitely do too. And it's neat to read even with older children. And again, look at them pretty much like they will happen in the story.
And a lot of local communities have reading programs even for teenagers. Absolutely. Yeah, that's true. Take the book to the park outside to the front floor.
You know, get out in the first chair. That's right. Last summer we had my son. He read books and he had to complete the report between just a simple little summary.
What he read. That's right. Yeah, that's taking advantage of the pretty weather. Lastly, the social skills.
They're very important for these teenagers, especially because a lot of times they're home alone. They're locked in the bedroom. They got on your phones. They're, you know, they're on the computer.
This sounds like a strong experience, doesn't it? They're just isolated. So how do we keep their social skills going here in the summer? Well, that means this parents, we have to stay aware of their needs and we have to make a way to have their friends together.
That means maybe having friends to your own. And that's a big place. That's what I always enjoy when my girls were teenagers. We had faces, faces to me by name, they called.
But having young people to your home, it's a good way to be involved with your child's life and a good way to know your child's friends. She's very important. And their families have them over to shoot basketball or get out in the yard. You know, teenagers.
They need physical activity too. Physical activity helps to pick middle activity. I have to share this. This happened a long time ago.
There was a lady and she was raising a teenage son. And one of her neighbors said, I can't believe you're letting all those boys play in your grass. It's stopping your grass from growing evenly. And she said, I'm raising boys, not grass.
And I just thought that was such an insightful statement. And that's the truth. You know, we think about keeping our homes tidy and keeping everything so clean and neat. But her focus was on her child's development and getting to know his friends and him being socialized, not the grass that was growing out of her.
We do have to. We do have to. So I think it's very important that volunteering is something that they can do because it's required, you know, for most graduations that they have to have a certain number of volunteer hours. Get a little job.
Get a little job. Make a little extra money. Deliver in the paper. You know, there's a lot of mowing yards.
You know, there's a lot of good first jobs out there. Whatever keeps them engaged with other people because you need to know how to communicate based on the face. One of my favorite quotes is, do one act of kindness each day of the year and you change 365 lives. So have your young person visit a elderly or disabled neighborhood.
Help out with yard work or so we got the front porch, plant flowers, anything just to show up. Good citizenship up to get up there as they're walking the streets. And they're doing for others. They're doing for a lot of reward in itself.
These are great tips. It's Peggy all the way from young children to our older kids. It's just a lot of good ideas that we can do this summer. That's right.
We want to keep everybody learning, retain what we've learned and let's gain some new knowledge. So just because the final school bell has wrong, that doesn't mean that we're going to stay stagnant and not learning anything else. We're going to keep right on learning. Thank you so much for joining us.
I enjoyed it. This edition of bringing it home with Sarah and to Neil and like Mr. Bob Marley will tell us to do. Be sure to live the life you love and love the life you live.
Until next time. Thank you.