HUTCHINSON, Kan. — It's called brain fade. That time during the summer where school students worry more about their summer vacation than learning.
While it’s always something schools are concerned about, it may be more of a problem this year due to students being away from school for a more extended period of time.
“I think that is definitely a concern,” new Buhler Superintendent Cindy Couchman said. “In fact, we’re using some of our CARES Act money to offer summer school for the first time for kindergarten through 5th grade.”
Couchman says those classes will begin in July so students can make a transition into the next school year in August.
“It’s always a concern every summer . . . and so we’re waiting until July to do it so it kind of springboards them into the next year.”
Couchman says all students will have some setback from the previous year and notes that they can catch back up over time. Couchman wanted to stress that they would not try to get students back to where they would like them to be all at once.
“We have a new starting line, and for the most part it doesn’t have to all be caught up on the first lap . . . first quarter,” Couchman stressed. She said even seniors going to college will have a new starting line as they see college that could be much different than what they imagined last year. Couchman says, even without the pandemic, there are a lot of things parents could do during the summer to make sure their children don’t suffer too much brain fade before the next year.
“One of the main things is reading. We always want to get them reading, get them to the public library, get books in their hands,” Couchman said. “The other concern obviously is math because reading is a little bit more accessible and parents feel a little more comfortable.”
Couchman says there are many ways to engage your children in math with activities like cooking or finding fun games and apps that provide math learning.