It's almost June which means soon signs will be popping up at all the busy intersections . . . you know the ones, the ones that demand you STOP SUMMER LEARNING LOSS.
I suppose I could listen but the thing is, I don't believe in summer learning loss. My children may not go to school over the summer but they never stop learning.
Increased time spent with with their siblings, parents, cousins, elders and neighbors provides social skill training they don't get when only grouped with people their own age.
They might get a little rusty on some geometry but I'm willing to bet picking, divvying and devouring buckets full of raspberries or selling lemonade exercises some math aptitude.
Art class is once a week at school but drawing with chalk on the driveway and "painting" with water on the hot deck are daily occurrences at our house in the summer.
Long lazy afternoons re-reading favorite novels in the hammock couldn't possibly be detrimental to their reading comprehension capabilities. Daily swims or bike rides are much more fun than gym class for some of my kids.
Attending free concerts in the park or creating their own rock or marching bands only broadens their appreciation of music.
Creating original theatrical works to perform for friends and neighbors offers practical writing and performing arts experience.
Finding deer skeletons in the woods, capturing tadpoles and raising caterpillars provide a grittier, more interactive, more memorable introduction to biology.
And of course when all that day time play learning is over, there will be some staying up too late making campfires and catching fireflies. These experiences will also teach them new things and, more importantly, become their beloved childhood memories.
Summer is not a time for learning loss. It's a time for learning lessons they don't get at school.