It’s officially SUMMER! That means sunburns, mosquitoes, lemonade, and … summer learning loss?
Summer learning loss, sometimes called summer slide, is a very real phenomenon and can affect all children. Studies show that students who do not engage in educational activities during the summer typically score lower on tests at the end of summer than they did at the beginning. It is estimated that two or three months of learning can be lost over summer vacation.
It is very important that students participate in summer educational activities. One study indicated that reading as few as 4-6 books over the summer helps readers maintain their skills and reading 10-20 helps readers improve their skills. Your library offers a variety of fun programming, but there are also resources available to you online from BadgerLink (https://badgerlink.dpi.wi.gov/). Available to all Wisconsin residents, BadgerLink is Wisconsin’s Online Library and provides access to learning games, skill building activities, book recommendations, and more.
Here are a few BadgerLink resources that you can use this summer to prevent summer slide.
Britannica School
This resource includes encyclopedia articles on almost every topic imaginable as well as learning games.
LearningExpress Library
This resource provides test preparation and skill building for children, teens, and adults. Kids can practice their math skills, learn about grammar, prepare for the SAT or ACT, practice for AP tests, and more!
NoveList and NoveList K-8
These resources provide book recommendations, book lists, and book discussion guides for fiction books. Find what book you want to read next!
TeachingBooks.net
This resource provides multimedia for K-12 fiction and non-fiction books. Explore the realm of books with author interviews, book trailers, discussion guides, book lists, and more!
Don’t let summer be a lost learning opportunity! Go to the BadgerLink Homepage at https://badgerlink.dpi.wi.gov/ and let the games and fun begin!
