Summer Program Keeps Kids Active in Math, Reading and Tech
By: Karin Caifa, CNN's Clicked In
Updated: August 13, 2012
We've heard about how technology can help kids develop key skills. But what about kids without access to computers, tablets, and smartphones year-round? One summer program where reading, writing, and tech, are the new basics.
It looks like fun and games but this is summer learning.
At the Saint Francis Neighborhood Center In Baltimore, this group has spent the last weeks, fighting the so-called "summer slump."
"A lot of times kids don't engage in any academic activities through out the whole summer so when they get back to school, teachers have to spend like four weeks to reteach them material," explains Corrine Handy, program director for The Power Project.
And in the digital age, there are more skills to keep up over summer break.
So this program, a project of PBS kids funded by a Department of Education grant, mimics a child's new multimedia world.
In addition to reading, spelling and math, a heavy dose of tech.
Kids take turns with laptops, tablets and smartphones, things Everel Watson is happy to see her youngsters grasp. "It's very important because it's everywhere now," says Watson.
They're also items not every student can access when school is out, missing the opportunity to integrate them into their daily lives. Educators say that consistent access is important for this young generation.
"For them, I don't think it's as much about learning to use the technology as it is about learning to use the technology to teach them the skills that they're gonna need to be successful in school and in life," says Leslie Rotenberg, senior vice president of children's media for PBS.
Reading, spelling, math and now tech, things they'll use, during the school year, and beyond.
(Karin Caifa for CNN's Clicked In)
It looks like fun and games but this is summer learning.
At the Saint Francis Neighborhood Center In Baltimore, this group has spent the last weeks, fighting the so-called "summer slump."
"A lot of times kids don't engage in any academic activities through out the whole summer so when they get back to school, teachers have to spend like four weeks to reteach them material," explains Corrine Handy, program director for The Power Project.
And in the digital age, there are more skills to keep up over summer break.
So this program, a project of PBS kids funded by a Department of Education grant, mimics a child's new multimedia world.
In addition to reading, spelling and math, a heavy dose of tech.
Kids take turns with laptops, tablets and smartphones, things Everel Watson is happy to see her youngsters grasp. "It's very important because it's everywhere now," says Watson.
They're also items not every student can access when school is out, missing the opportunity to integrate them into their daily lives. Educators say that consistent access is important for this young generation.
"For them, I don't think it's as much about learning to use the technology as it is about learning to use the technology to teach them the skills that they're gonna need to be successful in school and in life," says Leslie Rotenberg, senior vice president of children's media for PBS.
Reading, spelling, math and now tech, things they'll use, during the school year, and beyond.
(Karin Caifa for CNN's Clicked In)
