How “unschooling” can help our children avoid summer learning loss

In the early 1900s, 85% of American families were involved in the agricultural industry. Consequently, as the summer months rolled around, children were needed to pitch in on the farm. Our current school calendars reflect this history. Children start school in late Summer, and finish in late Spring. This allowed our children to come home and work on the farm with us. Now, you may be thinking, “But I don’t work on a farm!” Yes, times have changed and most of us have very little to do with agriculture. Yet the school calendars persist.

Along with those school calendars come an unintended consequence – the dreaded summer learning loss. A host of studies suggest that almost all students experience a significant decline in procedural and factual knowledge over the summer. These declines are greatest for students from lower income families, who presumably are exposed to fewer opportunities to practice academic skill sets inherent in reading comprehension and mathematical computation. [1]

This learning loss should come as no surprise. In a presentation about public policy [2], two researchers concerned with summer learning loss suggest that any skill that was paused for almost three months would decline in aptitude. Consider their introductory reflection:

“Musicians who only practiced for nine months of the year and never touched their instruments during the remaining 25% of the year would be at a considerable disadvantage compared to those who honed their skills year-round.  Similarly, it’s reasonable to assume that professional athletes who completely abstained from exercise during the off-season would be unable to compete at optimal levels.”

If you ask educators about the beginning of their school year, many will tell you that their first task is to review the material that was covered at the end of the previous school year, in order to bring their students back to speed. So, what can parents do to help their children ward off the pernicious effects of the summer vacation from academic work?

I would like to suggest that we look to the concept of unschooling to provide us with some tips for how to keep our children engaged in thoughtful reflection. Underlying my suggestion is a belief that academic work is a combination of procedural knowledge (e.g. how to sound out words during reading, or how to compute the area of a triangle) and conceptual understanding (e.g. the cues in a text that provide meaning, or the relationship between the area of a triangle and the area of a square). Now, of course, if a parent wants to ask their child to practice mathematical formulas, word problems, and reading comprehension exercises, by all means. For the rest of us, the procedural skills may suffer over the summer, but the practice of thinking critically, and applying academic knowledge to our daily lives can continue throughout the summer through the ways we interact with our children.

Unschooling is considered a radicalization of homeschooling. Most home-schooled children are not sent to a traditional school, but instead move through a curriculum that mirrors their public school system’s suggestions for grade-appropriate content. Unschooling involves allowing children to choose experiences which match their interests and abilities, and then engages in conversation, questioning and curiosity-ignition to naturally craft learning experiences. In an article in the Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Education [3], one parent describes unschooling as “creating and maintaining an environment in which natural learning can flourish.”  Many parents who use unschooling see their practice as “a lifestyle rather than a philosophy of education.” Another researcher who is quoted in the same article explains that “unschooling parents tend to facilitate self-regulation, self-understanding, and intrinsic motivation in their children.”

Summer can be a time of great opportunity for parents. The bonding experiences you can create with your children are only limited by the time and energy you have in your schedule to interact with your children. In addition to the trips to theme parks, there are regular parks (remember those?) where you and your child can go on hikes. When your child stops to look at something, let go of your schedule and ask him questions: “What are you looking at?” and “How do you think that stick got to be on the ground in that place?” or “What kinds of things could you do with that leaf?”

If you have the money in your budget to travel someplace new, use the new location to learn about how to navigate the public transportation system. If your child is old enough, perhaps you can try to decipher the transit map together, and then eventually allow your child to make the decisions about how to get from your Airbnb to the museum. Or, if you are travelling on a budget, perhaps you can teach your child about how you came up with that budget, how much money you have for food, transportation, lodging, sightseeing and souvenirs. Let your children be a part of the decisions that need to be made, within the constraints of the budget. You can sit with your children and look at your travel guide. “Ok, so we need to find a place for dinner. How much do we have to spend on dinner?” Start with your daily meal allowance and subtract your receipts so far. Let your children do the math. “We have $60 left.”

“Ok, great. So, let’s look at our options, and then see if we can find a menu that will keep us under budget.” Then, let them navigate the websites, and make some suggestions. You can walk away at this point, and let them figure it out on their own. Tell them you want them to find three alternatives, and make the case that it can be done for $60. When they’re ready, take a look at their ideas and choose one.

Watch television with them, and ask questions about the characters in their shows. “Why did he do that?” or “Why do you think that’s funny?” and “What would  you say the purpose of that commercial is?” Just think out loud, and have conversations.

Not everything about your summer has to be a learning experience. Feel free to have fun. Along the way, however, you can teach them how to think about the world, and create lasting memories with them in the process.

References:

[1] Cooper, H. (2003). Summer Learning Loss: The Problem and Some Solutions. ERIC Digest.

[2] Fairchild, R., & Boulay, M. (2002, November). What if summer learning loss were an education policy priority. In Presentation for the 24th Annual APPAM Research Conference, November (Vol. 9).

[3] GRAY, P., & RILEY, G. (2013). The challenges and benefits of unschooling, according to 232 families who have chosen that route. Journal of Unschooling & Alternative Learning, 7(14).

To read more about these kinds of topics visit Dr. Rich’s website at Dr.JohnRich.com