Alice Cooper might have sung "school's out for summer," but Gwynne Campbell thinks vacation shouldn't mean a complete break from education. "Over 12 weeks, there's going to be a loss of skills and knowledge," she says. And she's not advocating sitting in a stuffy classroom all day over going to the park or pool, since keeping a student's mind sharp during the dog days of summer needn't be a full-time commitment.
"Some kids might have gaps in a subject they want to close," says Campbell, the director of Sylvan Learning Center, a comprehensive extra-curricular tutoring center in Darien, now in its 27th year. "Others might just want to keep their skills sharp so they're not playing catch-up in September.
The summer is also a good time to get a head start on a new subject a student is beginning in the fall. "The move from second to third grade is a big one," she says. "Or someone starting a new language, or a new level of math, might want to get their feet wet."
High schoolers looking ahead to college tests find summer to be an ideal time to take a prep course. "They don't have the time pressure of sports and schoolwork, and can fit it in where they want," she says. Summer can also be a good time for students to read some of the books they'll be tackling in literature classes the coming year, or to strengthen their writing skills.
Without the structured timeframe of school and extracurricular activities, there are more options for study programs. "We're flexible," says Campbell. "We'll schedule something around a family vacation, or a summer job. It's a little more relaxed than during the school year."
So summer needn't be "no more pencils, no more books," but a chance to return to school in the fall as a stonger, better student.
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