EFFECT OF SCHOOL HOLIDAYS ON SCHOOL WORK

A long summer vacation does not represent just a pause in student learning but actually causes many students to forget what they have learned. !!

In 1996 researchers analyzed 39 studies of summer vacation’s effect on achievement test scores.
(The Effects of Summer Vacation on Achievement Test ScoresCooper et al. Review of Educational Research - 1996; 66: pages 227-268)

They concluded that, on average, students lose at least one month of learning during the summer. Students lose ground in both reading and math, but the loss typically is greater in maths.

Struggling students are worse effected UNLESS they can use summer to narrow the gap, or they will start the next year even farther behind their peers than they were at the end of the previous year. Without the opportunity to make progress in summer, their chances of ever catching up will get slimmer and slimmer.

Turkish schools have 3 months summer holiday unlike the UK where the holidays are more scattered throughout the year – with only 6 wks summer holiday.
Children, especially those with LD need to read regularly throughout the summer break and also go over topics they have learnt in the yr, especially maths , in order to maintain their progress and to ensure they don’t fall behind.

Of course, it is also important to not to overdo it and also to make sure the children also have a holiday as well!! Try to get your child to practice skills in a more fun way - using games , using the computer etc...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE !!