Consumer Alert: Free online tools to prevent summer brain drain
Summer brain drain tops this Consumer Alert. Friday was the last day of school for many districts across the area. And while we all love summer fun, parents worry about learning loss during the break from school. We practically have to tap into our retirement funds to send kids to camp.
Call it what you will — the summer brain drain, the summer slide, learning loss — they all mean the same thing. When your kid is having fun in the summer sun, he or she could be forgetting much of what they learned.
A 2020 study published in the American Educational Research Journal found that of the students who showed some brain drain, on average they lost about 20 percent of their gains in reading and 27 percent in math. But about half of the students in that study showed learning gains. Those were kiddos who participated in enrichment activities during the summer.
Tech guru and AT&T sales manager Jason Komenski recommends a free website called The Achievery created by AT&T.
Jason Komenski: “So, you and your child can go on the platform and continue the learning throughout the summer. [The website is] fun, engaging, multiple subjects, science, literature, STEM. I mean, everything is on there.”
Deanna Dewberry: “For my kids, we plan these camps. and when they get home from camp, they just want to veg in front of the TV watching TikTok. [It] makes me crazy.”
Jason Komenski: “You can actually play games on The Achievery. They earn points. Maybe they have to earn points before, they have to learn 50 or 100 points before they can log on the TikTok.”
The Achievery is for grades K-12. In addition to The Achievery, here are some other free online tools recommended by the National Education Association.
— Funbrain.com is intended for kids K through 5.
— Fishing for Phonics is great for K-2. New York is going back to teaching phonics, and you can give your little one a jump on next year.
— Fact Monster has great games and quizzes for 3-5th graders.
You can have lots of fun and learn something too. I love the idea of kids earning points to get a half hour of video games or something else they want to do. Lets make our kiddos among those who are school-ready when September rolls around.