The kids fall happily off the school bus on their last day. Their backpacks are heavy with supplies they cleared from their desks, and their faces are flushed with both heat and excitement for the impending lazy hazy days of summer. Every year, I swear that we are going to stay ahead of the summer reading lists. I promise to spend half an hour each day working on preventing learning loss. And then, I decide that they need a break before we jump in. We will take a week off, then dive in. One week turns into two. Two turns into four. Before I know it, the summer is over, and half of what the kids learned during the school year has effectively fallen out of their heads. Whistlefritz is an amazing language learning program that can help prevent learning loss!
Why is Learning Loss a Big Deal
Children lose about two months worth of learning over summer vacation. While some summer brain drain is certainly to be expected by teachers when the kids return to school each fall, two months’ worth of reading and math is a sobering statistic. My daughter, who suffers from some learning disabilities, cannot afford to lose a week of learning, let alone two months! For a lot of kids who are struggling to stay afloat in school, summer learning can help her stay on track.
How Whistlefrtiz can Help Prevent Summer Brain Drain
Language skills are at some of the greatest risk for loss over the summer. Whistlefritz is an incredible language-learning program complete with an immersive experience and lesson plans, that helps children learn a second language. How does this help with their English Language skills and reading? Learning another language gives a new perspective to sentence structure, grammar, and spelling and reading. The programs offer immersive Spanish or French and are engaging and exciting for kids. It is less like work and learning, and more like fun. It also has the added benefit of keeping language arts and reading skills sharp for kids during the summer months!
When school is no longer in session, it’s easy to get lax with schoolwork. I mean, let’s face it–when the school year was ending, it was like pulling teeth to get homework done. It wasn’t just my kids’ fault, either. I was a lot more relaxed on homework and study-time as we came into the home stretch. At first, I thought there was no way the kids would be interested enough in learning a foreign language. What’s more, I didn’t think I would be disciplined enough to organize time to set aside to work on those language skills. However, Whistlefritz surprised all of us with their language learning programs. Not only are the lessons fun and engaging, but they are specifically designed to help kids develop fluency. Foreign language learning is helping to keep their brains sharp this summer. In the long run, we are working hard to prevent learning loss without them even realizing it!
