A new listing has been added in our Events & Info section. It’s the Summer Changes Everything national conference which is taking place on November 17, 2014 in San Antonio TX.
The conference is being organized by the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA). According to their website, the conference will focus on how summer is “an accelerator for education priorities such as 3rd grade reading proficiency, college and career readiness, school transitions, English language acquisition, STEM education, and more”.
It’s a known fact that during summer vacation months, most children experience some loss of learning, often referred to as the summer slide. Engaging children in summer activities is much more than keeping them from being bored or getting into trouble. It’s about choosing high quality summer programs that support their ongoing education. The mission of the NSLA is to help make summer learning available to all children, particularly low-income students who tend to be disproportionately affected by a cumulative loss of academic skills over the summer.
Here in Oakland CA, our friends at Aspire Education Project, have asked to help spread the word about their summer Community Reading Buddies (CRB) program. They’re currently recruiting junior high and high school volunteer mentors to participate in this year’s program which lasts from June 16 to August 8. Their website contains a sign-up form through which a student can apply to become a Community Reading Buddies mentor for the summer. By having volunteer mentors engage in one-on-one reading activities with preschoolers from child development centers, the program aims to help facilitate the making of proficient readers out of the preschoolers by inspiring their love of reading.
What other great summer programs would you recommend in your area? Please share in the comments section below.
(Do you have an event / conference you wish to list in the Events & Info section of our website? Send us a message via our contact page and we’ll get back to you promptly.)
