LEARNING AND KEEPING SKILLS SHARP DURING THE SUMMER

Summer is nearly here! So are dreams of fun and frolic and well-deserved lazy days on the beach. However, it is essential for students not to forget what they have learned the previous school year and equally vital for preparing for the new school year in September. Summer is also a time when parents can candidly and carefully review their child’s academic weaknesses and strengths to find programs to boost their child’s confidence and challenge their abilities. Before the end of the year, parents can also discuss their child’s progress with teachers to find out what subject areas need improvement.  In fact, summer is the perfect time to catch up on learning, reinforce and review previous schoolwork, learn new concepts, and explore innovative experiences.

Several private schools, colleges, and learning institutes offer many opportunities for summer study, academic improvement, and creative enhancement.  While some of these experiences are specifically designed to provide students with a non-competitive learning environment, other programs encourage and challenge students to work in a competitive atmosphere.  By selecting to enroll in a program at a college campus, students also have a chance to experience college life – acquire a taste for college-level courses, learn time-management skills, and sample dormitory life before the pressures of freshman year at college. These programs also provide an excellent opportunity for students to test their assumptions about campus sizes and locations; students can fully explore day-to-day life on a small rural campus or at a prominent urban location before committing to full-time enrollment.

Parents can utilize the summer months to help children who struggle in particular academic areas by either enrolling them in specific academic camps or having them tutored one-on-one to build confidence for academic success.  For example, younger children with reading difficulties can be tutored one-on-one, which allows such children to receive personal attention; statistics reveal that students struggling with reading improve tremendously through such one-on-one assistance.  On the other hand, gifted students can stretch their abilities by taking advantage of programs available in divergent areas specifically designed to challenge them.  

Also available in summer are distinct outdoor adventure programs and athletic camps that help young people develop teamwork skills and boost individual competence, assurance, and reliance.  These camps/programs are available in specific athletics, such as soccer or football, or an all-encompassing, non-competitive sports environment.  Such opportunities provide high school students a chance to improve or develop their athletic prowess; in addition to allowing college coaches to witness their skills to recruit them, they may want to take advantage of the several sports training camps held at specific colleges, especially for this purpose. 

Attiya Chaudary is an SAT English Instructor and College Counsellor at NCAS Learning Center.