We talk about summers as if they are our enemy, something to be combatted with reading lists, report card comments urging more practice and for some even packets that need to be filled in. We battle the summer slide with pep talks, with promises of learning to come and inspirational speeches. We battle it with threats of how much they will lose, how much harder the next year will be, how much they will have to catch up. But did it ever occur to us that we don't own the learning? That just because school is out, learning doesn't stop? Sure, it looks vastly different. No desks, no bells, no schedule. No dictated curriculum, no things to hand in, no feedback to be given or processed. Just learning, in it's pure, childlike wonder stage.
Now I know that not all children will get amazing learning opportunities in the summer. Not everyone gets to go to science camp, have a tutor or even parents that are around in the summer. I didn't go to any programs, camps, or staged learning envirnments; I played all summer long. I went to the creek and looked for frogs, I climbed trees and got stuck. Sometimes read a book. Some kids don't even get that. Some kids get less learning opportunies than that even. And yet, perhaps, they are still learning too.
So, yes we can worry about our children when they leave our classrooms, but we should not pretend that learning stops. Instead we should show them what learning looks like outside of school, in case they have forgotten. Instead we should tell them what we look forward to doing, how we will be learning. I plan on reflecting, refining, reading, and exploring with Thea as much as this crazy pregnancy will let me. I will be learning away from school, away from classrooms, away from anything structured but I will still be learning and so will my students. I don't own their learning, they do.
Now I know that not all children will get amazing learning opportunities in the summer. Not everyone gets to go to science camp, have a tutor or even parents that are around in the summer. I didn't go to any programs, camps, or staged learning envirnments; I played all summer long. I went to the creek and looked for frogs, I climbed trees and got stuck. Sometimes read a book. Some kids don't even get that. Some kids get less learning opportunies than that even. And yet, perhaps, they are still learning too.
So, yes we can worry about our children when they leave our classrooms, but we should not pretend that learning stops. Instead we should show them what learning looks like outside of school, in case they have forgotten. Instead we should tell them what we look forward to doing, how we will be learning. I plan on reflecting, refining, reading, and exploring with Thea as much as this crazy pregnancy will let me. I will be learning away from school, away from classrooms, away from anything structured but I will still be learning and so will my students. I don't own their learning, they do.
