Don't Let "Summer Slide" Sabotage Your Student's Success

Spring has officially arrived and summer is just around the corner, which means so is the end of the school year…and it goes without saying that students are likely counting down the days already.

As the weather starts to warm up, their thoughts will be preoccupied with visions of sleeping in, spending endless hours in front of their screens, hanging out at the pool with friends, and best of all – NO DAILY HOMEWORK!

What they aren’t thinking about is that summer is the perfect opportunity to keep their minds sharp, and is bound to take the sting out of starting back to school in the fall. Here are just five reasons why mixing academics into summer break is an ideal strategy, while still leaving plenty of time to kick back and enjoy the downtime.

• Learning is much easier in a low-stress environment when students aren’t taking several courses at once that require them to complete homework assignments in different subjects on the same night, manage overlapping project deadlines, and take multiple tests scheduled for the same day.
• Just like how other muscles of the body become weaker without use, the brain also forgets what it has learned when that knowledge isn’t kept fresh in the mind. This is particularly true with English grammar, math facts, and especially foreign languages.
• Since most subjects build on what has already been taught; this is the perfect time for students to work with a tutor and master topics they experienced difficulty with during the previous school year.
• Instead of getting intimidated, or setting themselves up for an unnecessary challenge, when the material starts ramping up and getting more difficult, they can start the new school year with a confident attitude.
• The continuity of working with a tutor during the summer break, as well as the school year, reinforces a strong foundation for lifelong learning – an integral key for success as we continue to move into a knowledge economy.

And at Penrose, that is our mission!

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