Guest Blogger Susannah Harris is the manager of AdLit.org, a national multimedia initiative offering resources to the parents and educators of struggling readers and writers in grades 4-12. Susannah has been a tutor herself for more than 16 years working with a range of organizations including The Higher Achievement Program and Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, She is the Volunteer Coordinator for The Community Club, a tutoring program serving middle and high schools students in Washington, D.C.
Summer’s almost here, and with it come decisions about how kids should spend their out-of school time. The stakes are high–according to the Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University 2/3 of the achievement gap between lower and higher-income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities. For older students and their parents it’s even harder because the number of options increases–it’s difficult to choose between getting extra tutoring with difficult subjects, earning money for college, completing credits toward graduation, exploring a hobby, and–just as important–squeezing in some fun with friends.
Summer is the obvious time to think about out-of-school time learning and AdLit.org, a new website dedicated to helping young people in grades 4-12 become better readers and writers, has many resources on summer and afterschool learning that can help you find a good program to meet your student’s needs, locate a tutor for intensive help, and obtain low-cost literacy materials.
Sifting through all the options for summer learning can be overwhelming, but whether you’re in the market for an out-of-school enrichment program or a tutoring program to help a student catch up, you should know that quality varies widely. The Center for Summer Learning created a checklist to help parents and guardians identify high-quality programs. Take heed program managers–does your program measure up?
If you know a child who is really struggling with academics, you may want to consider one-on-one tutoring. Here are some ideas for getting the most from a tutor and keeping the costs down. And if you know a child who doesn’t have the opportunity to participate in outside programs, please take a look at AdLit.org. We offer themed booklists and an exclusive blog about young adult literature, The MashUp, written by librarian Jamie Watson, to help you find engaging books for even the most reluctant teen readers.
Finally, if you’ve ever thought about being a tutor yourself, I say, what are you waiting for? This Thursday evening, I’ll attend the annual graduation ceremony for The Community Club, a one-on-one tutoring program that I’ve worked with for nearly 11 years, and which I’m happy to say meets most of the Center for Summer Learning’s criteria for a good out-of-school program. The Seniors we’ll gather to celebrate are off to colleges and careers, but I remember nights at study hall when these students grappled with phonics, then fractions, then book reports and science fair projects. Much as they hate it, I even remember when they had notebooks full of Pokemon cards. These students and their parents recognized the importance of productive out-of-school time and took advantage of available out-of-school resources in our community, I hope you’re able to find and/or build similar resources in yours.
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