{"id":17820,"date":"2012-07-11T00:00:21","date_gmt":"2012-07-11T04:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/simplehomeschl.wpengine.com\/?p=17820"},"modified":"2026-02-24T10:53:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:53:38","slug":"summer-setback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/summer-setback\/","title":{"rendered":"How to avoid summer setback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by contributor Jena Borah of Yarns of the Heart<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

D<\/span>o you know about summer setback? Education researchers say a child can lose up to two months of reading achievement between May and August. If this happens every summer, children can lose up to a year and a half between 1st<\/sup> and 6th<\/sup> grade<\/strong> (Cooper et al., 1996). <\/strong><\/p>\n

Why? Because their home lives are not full of books and enriching experiences. Whatever learning momentum they had gained during the school year comes to a screeching halt. When I heard that, I was amazed! We homeschoolers never stop learning.<\/strong>
\n<\/p>\n

As I thought about these two worlds, the homeschooling world and the summer setback world, I realized the difference is us, the parents. Homeschooling parents are paying attention to their kids and taking responsibility for their education.<\/strong> We\u2019re not leaving it up to someone else. We don\u2019t put learning on hold until it starts back up in the fall.<\/p>\n

So, here\u2019s to you, homeschoolers! And here\u2019s a little help to keep that momentum going all year long.<\/p>\n

Finding the Right Books<\/h3>\n

Database of Award Winning Children\u2019s Literature<\/strong><\/a>: Here you can choose parameters like your child\u2019s age, interests, genre, and historical period. All the titles will be award-winners from around the world.<\/p>\n

Arbookfind<\/strong><\/a>: Type in the name of your child\u2019s favorite book that he can read with ease and this search engine will tell you the BL or book level. Along the left sidebar you will find links to take you to more books at that level.<\/p>\n

Lexiles<\/strong><\/a>: Type in the name of a favorite book that your child can read with 99% accuracy. This search engine will give you the lexile level of that book. Now you can find other books at that level.<\/p>\n

Scholastic<\/strong>:<\/a> Find books based on your child\u2019s lexile (see instructions above). Don\u2019t worry about grade levels. Click on the lexile range for your child and recommendations will pop up.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m writing more about how to find the right books on my blog this month, so if you need more guidance, see here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Spend this hot summer at the library, armed with a list of books your child can read, and don\u2019t forget to let him bring home whatever interests him, even if it seems too advanced. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Opportunity and Exploration. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Those are the keys to avoiding summer setback.<\/p>\n

How are you keeping learning alive this summer?<\/em><\/p>\n

Reference<\/p>\n

Cooper, H., Nye, B., Charlton, K., Lindsay, J., & Greathouse, S. (1996). The effects of summer vacation on achievement test scores: A narrative and meta-analytic review. Review of Educational Research<\/em>, 66<\/em>, 227-268. http:\/\/rer.sagepub.com\/<\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by contributor Jena Borah of Yarns of the Heart Do you know about summer setback? Education researchers say a child can lose up to two months of reading achievement between May and August. If this happens every summer, children can lose up to a year and a half between 1st and 6th grade (Cooper…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[369,331,329],"tags":[17,122,224],"class_list":["post-17820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-lists","category-curriculum-resources","category-learning-curriculum","tag-elementary-grammar","tag-reading","tag-summer"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to avoid summer setback - Simple Homeschool<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/summer-setback\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to avoid summer setback - Simple Homeschool\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Written by contributor Jena Borah of Yarns of the Heart Do you know about summer setback? 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