The Crush Of Summer Homework

905 Words4 Pages
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” (Seuss goodreads.com). When students read more, they become more knowledgeable, therefore, summer reading makes students smarter. Summer reading is an assignment where students read required books and do work on them; it is assigned to students in the United States during their summer vacation. The summer reading program started in the 1890s as a way to encourage children living in urban areas to read during their summer vacation by using the library. The Crush of Summer Homework by Harris Cooper, Nancy Kalish, Mark Bauerlein, Denise Pope, Richard Allington, Elizabeth Birr Moje, and Tyrone Howard and Summer Bummer by Joe Queenan demonstrate…show more content…
As it states in The Crush of Summer Homework, “A group of colleagues and I conducted a review of 39 studies, and it confirmed that, on average, achievement test scores declined between spring and fall, and the loss was more pronounced for math than reading,” (Cooper, 2). This statistic demonstrates that since students do reading work over the summer, they do good in reading assessments. Since they do not do math work over the summer, they do not do as well on math assessments. Therefore summer reading bolsters students by enabling them to perform well on assessments. Another adage from The Crush of Summer Homework states, “Some researchers have documented that some students lose grasp of key reading… principles when they have not used them for a two to three month period” (Howard, 10/11). This quote explains how when there is a long gap of no instruction, all the learning done in school is forgotten about. If summer reading is there, that gap will be mended so that students do not forget everything taught to them during the school year. All in all, summer reading should be mandatory because it is a way for students to retain information taught to them during the school…show more content…
As it states in The Crush of Summer Homework, “The long break also can add an extra burden for children who do not speak English at home” (Cooper, 2). This quotation demonstrates that when there is a long break in the rhythm of learning, it creates many problems, especially for those who do not speak English at home. If summer reading is mandatory, though, the burden for students who do not speak English at home will be lessened. Another excerpt from The Crush of Summer Homework states, “Not only might they[students who do not speak English at home] have to relearn academic material, they also must reacquaint themselves with the language of instruction.” This extract reveals that by not having instruction over the summer, non-English speakers will lose a large amount of skills. They will have to recall the academic material and brush up on the language of instruction. Therefore, summer reading is a beneficial aid for students, especially for those who do not speak English at
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