Summer learning loss is a significant problem for students of all ages. Recent studies suggest that between 17 and 34 percent of learning from the previous school year is lost over the break between the end of summer term and the beginning of autumn.
If those numbers are right, then by the age of eleven, the average student has lost up to three years’ worth of learning.
As parents, obviously, that worries us quite a bit.
And as teachers, it frustrates us, too! Every year, we see students’ test scores go backwards significantly from the end of the Summer to the start of Autumn. At best, it takes the first six weeks of school just to get them back to where they were at the end of the year before—and then it looks like they haven’t made any improvement!
Well, because of the way our brains work, repeating an activity forms a habit. That means learning is habit-forming. And so is not learning. So, letting our children sit for six weeks and do no studying over their summer vacation may seem like a way to help them unwind after a stressful term, but in reality it’s actively undoing the good work they have done over the entire year—and it’s building a habit that it will take them a while to break once the new term begins!
Twenty minutes a day of practise in reading, spelling, or maths can keep the material fresh in students’ minds—but also keep the habit of practise fresh in their minds!
It gives them the power to choose what they work on.
They can decide when they want to practise—and again, all they need to put in is a little bit of time each day!
It helps them learn to think differently about their approach to difficult challenges in the classroom—and gain confidence that will help them learn whatever they want, forever!
Because we care more about helping your children become capable, confident learners than we do about anything else in the world.
I like MuchSmarter because I'm only ever competing against myself and not other people.
It makes practising fun and not stressful.
I was getting less than one quarter of maths questions correct in practise. I worked on my maths fundamentals on MuchSmarter and wound up getting two-thirds of the questions correct on my final assessment!
