The Campbell River Literacy Association, along with School District 72 (SD72) and other community partners, are reminding parents and guardians of students that it’s important to keep your kids engaged in learning throughout the summer months when they’re not in school.
Kat Eddy, outreach coordinator for the Literacy Association, says there’s a phenomenon called the “summer slide,” where kids who don’t remain engaged in learning when they’re out of school for two months actually re-enter school further behind than when they went on break.
“They’ll lose learning that they gained the previous year if they’re not continuing to engage with it through the summer,” Eddy says.
To that end, she says, Literacy has helped organize an information session and community workshop for parents called “Reading Matters” on June 2 at the library downtown, “to give them some tricks and tips to keep their kids engaged in education and learning through the summer.”
It’s not just about enrolling kids in formal programming – although there are plenty of those options to choose from – “but about continuing to practice those skills, just at home as a family, to keep those parts of the brain engaged so when they start back to school in September, they’re ready to move forward instead of having to catch back up to where they were.”
The information session and workshop June 2 – from 6:30 to 8 p.m. – will also have information about formal programming available within the community this summer from organizations like the Vancouver Island Regional Library Summer Reading Program, programming by the Museum at Campbell River, Campbell River Parks, Recreation and Culture department and, of course, SD72, who has recently released their summer school program offerings. Parents interested in attending the workshop are being asked to rsvp by email to info@literacyforall.ca or by calling 250-923-1275.