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Hop into summer with the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation (NCECF) and gear up to make summer reading a “ribbiting” adventure for our little learners!
Download the 2024 Toolkit for Summer Learning to help you prepare for the upcoming season and Summer Learning Week, July 15-19, 2024. The Toolkit, crafted with insights from providers and parents like you, has everything needed to inform and inspire families about the magic of summer learning. Now is the perfect time to implement these resources in your plans for summer programming.
Why all the croaking about summer learning, you ask? Summer learning is important since students can experience learning loss during school breaks and gaps in learning experiences can add up and impact academic achievement over time – such as high school course placement, high school dropout rates and college attendance rates. Summer program providers are essential for ensuring this message is shared with families and helping students practice their academic skills through everyday activities and play so they start strong when they go back to school.
When we say “summer learning,” we’re not talking about lazy summer school days or boring lessons for tadpoles. Summer learning ensures young minds are engaged to keep growing their love of reading. It’s about diving into academics, health, enrichment, social and emotional learning, and more!
Let’s leap into a summer of fun, learning, and endless possibilities!
LEAP INTO WHAT’S INSIDE
PLAN A SUCCESSFUL SUMMER
- SUMMER PROGRAM STAFF PRESENTATION + TALKING POINTS
- This is a 10-minute presentation—Why Summer Learning Matters— to give staff an overview of reading proficiency, a child’s early years, and the importance of summer learning.
- SUMMER ACTION PLAN + TEMPLATE
- Use this organizer to create an Action Plan for the 12 weeks of summer. Check out the sample action plan and the blank template for your team to create a plan together.
ACTIVATE FAMILIES
All resources for sharing with families are available in English and Spanish.
- EASY SHARING WITH FAMILIES – Share the Linktree and a QR code with families to access digital resources easily.
- NEWSLETTER ARTICLES – 3 posts to share with families
- SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS – Weekly posts with posting schedule and captions
- TEXT MESSAGES – Weekly messages with posting schedule
- SUMMER LEARNING WEEK STICKERS – Template for stickers to celebrate Summer Learning Week
- HANDOUTS – Two handouts to share with families
Download the 2024 Toolkit and Leap Into Learning Fun!
- Download the Toolkit.
- Use it and share it.
- Customize and share the included Summer Learning Week Proclamation in your community. Ask your elected officials, such as County Commissioners, the Board of Education, the City/Town Council, and your school district superintendent, to sign it and promote Summer Learning Week as schools prepare for the summer.
The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Engages NC Communities
This annual Summer Learning Toolkit was created in collaboration between NCECF and the NC Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Communities. Since 2015, the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation has led the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading in North Carolina. This national initiative brings together communities nationwide to ensure that more children from low-income families succeed in school and beyond. It’s a joint effort by foundations, nonprofits, businesses, and government agencies to support children’s readiness for school, summer learning, and regular school attendance.
In North Carolina, our goal is to build diverse and inclusive communities where young readers thrive from birth through third grade, setting them up for future success. Currently, 13 community groups are part of our state’s Campaign.
We’ve worked closely with Book Harvest to involve parents more deeply in their children’s education. Parents helped create materials and suggested ways to reach out to other families in their community to support summer learning and we developed our Summer Learning Toolkit from this collaboration. Our 2024 toolkit is now ready to be shared across communities to promote summer reading and learning.
About NCECF
The NC Early Childhood Foundation builds understanding, leads collaboration, and advances policies to ensure each North Carolina child is on track for lifelong success. Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter to learn how you can help transform the lives of North Carolina families.