Teach My People Summer Program
Why A Summer Program?
The summer off of school, while fun, can also have a negative effect on children. Take a look at the following facts, based on studies done at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Summer Learning:
All young people experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer. Research shows that students typically score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation than they do on the same tests at the beginning of summer vacation.
On average, students lose approximately 2.6 months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months. Studies reveal that the greatest areas of summer loss for all students, regardless of socioeconomic status, are in factual or procedural knowledge.
Low-income children and youth experience greater summer learning losses than their higher income peers. On average, middle-income students experience slight gains in reading performance over the summer months. Low-income students experience an average summer learning loss in reading achievement of over two months.
Summer learning loss contributes to the achievement gap in reading performance between lower and higher income children and youth. Research demonstrates that while student achievement for both middle- and lower-income students improves at similar rates during the school year, low-income students experience cumulative summer learning losses over the elementary school grades.
More than half of the achievement gap between lower-and higher-income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities. As a result, low-income youth are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college.
Large numbers of students who qualify for federally subsidized meals do not have the same level of access to nutritious meals during the summer as they do during the school year. Only one in five (21.1 per 100) of the 15.3 million children who receive free or reduced-price school lunches on a typical day during the regular school year participate in federal nutrition programs during the summer.
Studies show that out-of-school time is a dangerous time for unsupervised children and teens. They are more likely to use alcohol, drugs, and tobacco; engage in criminal and other high-risk behaviors; receive poor grades; and drop out of school than those who have the opportunity to benefit from constructive activities supervised by responsible adults.
Children lose more than academic knowledge over the summer. Most children particularly children at high risk of obesity gain weight more rapidly when they are out of school during summer break.
At least 11 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 12 care for themselves over the summer months unsupervised.
Source material and additional information can be found at http://www.summerlearning.org/
What We Are Doing About It
Teach My People offers an exciting summer program that runs from June 7th to July 30th. We engage the children in a reading and math curriculum that keeps their minds active during the summer months. Our goal is to prevent summer knowledge loss and, if possible, get the children ahead of their peers in time for fall. In addition, we provide hot and nutritious meals for breakfast and lunch, and this year we are joining with the Healthpoint Center for Health and Fitness to provide a fitness program for the kids. Our hope is that they will be introduced to healthy habits that they will continue throughout their lives. As in years past, we are also excited to be able to offer free swim lessons to all of our students using our Teach My People swimming pool.
In addition to the academic enrichment we provide, this summer TMP will dive into 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 to learn what true love – God’s love – is all about. Our students will be challenged to show love to one another through daily devotionals and activities and to their community through regular service projects.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails…
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)
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