All kids lose knowledge when they don’t have opportunities to practice what they’ve learned during the summer months. In fact, research shows that without effective summer learning opportunities:

• Most students fall more than two months behind in math over the summer.
• Low-income children fall behind two to three months in reading each summer, while their middle and upper-income peers make slight gains.
• By the end of 5th grade, lower-income children can be nearly three years behind their higher-income peers in reading.

That is why United We Serve: Let’s Read. Let’s Move. is collaborating with the National Summer Learning Association to encourage communities and their children to get involved in summer reading programs.

Summer Learning Day, is an annual national celebration to highlight how high quality programs during the school break help close the achievement gap and promote healthy development for youth. Organized by the National Summer Learning Association, Summer Learning Day is a chance for program providers to share with funders, families, teachers, principals, mayors, city councilmen, school boards, and others the contributions they make to the lives of children and families.

Summer Learning Day showcases how quality summer learning programs:

• Maintain and advance participants' academic and developmental growth
• Support working families
• Help keep children safe and healthy
• Send young people back to school ready to learn

“To kickoff Summer Learning Day, more than 500 communities across the country have planned fun and meaningful activities that showcase the energy and power behind high quality summer programs that help children develop their minds and bodies, and get better prepared for the academic challenges ahead," said Ron Fairchild, founding CEO of the National Summer Learning Association. "The partnership between the National Summer Learning Association and United We Serve, and the launch of the First Lady’s Let’s Read, Let’s Move campaign, is both timely and essential, as we strive to tackle learning loss and the crisis in childhood obesity through high-quality summer programs. In too many communities the summer break from school is an untapped resource, a time that is ideal for engaging and enriching activities that help build kids’ minds and bodies.”

You can learn more and find a summer learning event in your community by visiting www.summerlearning.org/sldmap.