Learning at the Club doesn’t stop over summer!

What is summer learning loss?

Summer learning loss happens when kids don’t continue to practice their academic skills for the 2.5 months of summer break. Kids’ education slides backward one to two reading levels, and the first three months of school are spent re-learning the information that was lost.

Kids that get learning opportunities over summer are able to maintain their level or even get ahead, while kids without those opportunities fall behind. The equity gap widens in childhood education every year.

To learn more about summer learning loss and the inequitable opportunities it creates, check out this informative video!

We’re working to make sure none of our Club kids get left behind.

What Boys & Girls Clubs is doing about it

Our Summer Brain Gain program is designed to provide equitable learning opportunities for all members with regular academic time as well as cultural visits around Greater Seattle!

In addition to providing plenty of opportunities for kids to have fun at Summer Camp, we want to make sure kids are able to get back to school in the fall right where they left off.

How Summer Brain Gain works

This is the fourth year of Summer Brain Gain at Boys & Girls Clubs of King County, and thanks to extensive staff and child feedback, the program has evolved each year to better serve the needs of our community.

In planning for summer, a phenomenal team of staff members from several of our Clubs designs an organization-wide curriculum that can be customized for each Club’s needs.

Plans are broken down into groups by grades of K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. Every day kids are given 20-minute intervals of structured reading, writing, math, and social and emotional learning.

Positive feedback and stories

Last summer at Lawton, staff paired older and younger kids together for a journaling exercise. The older kids, even those who weren’t super engaged in previous educational activities, showed noticeable confidence and leadership skills when working with the younger members.

Parents appreciate that kids get educational programming at the Club, and teachers notice that kids who journal all summer are better at writing when school starts back up.