The beaches are swarmed with families soaking in the precious and fleeting summer rays. Your weekend calendar is quickly filling up with events, hangouts, cookouts, and two-day vacations. The AC is working overtime to keep your family cool inside.
It’s definitely the peak of summer. And while the whole family has earned the right to relax and have fun, you can’t quite shake the feeling – could this be a prime opportunity for educational advancement? While the rest of the world checks out, could your kids be using their spare moments to get ahead in school, bridge the gap between years, or amend their grades?
If you’re considering enrolling your kids in online summer school, you’ve come to the right article. Below, let’s explore four compelling reasons to carve out some time (not their entire summer schedule) for education.
A Hedge Against Summer Learning Loss
Summer learning loss is a widely observed phenomenon among grade-school students. When students withdraw from education entirely for two months, they start to backslide on some of the key skills they learned the year prior. This loss has knock-on effects when they return to school; they need to work extra hard to get back in the groove or face falling behind even further.
A little summer school goes a long way toward bridging the summer learning gap. Enrolling your kids in even one or two online courses can help them sharpen their skills, keeping those academic muscles from atrophying.
Getting Ahead in School
One undeniable benefit of summer courses is that they vault your kid ahead in their courses. Let’s say they’ve just finished grade 11 and are entering a busy senior year filled with university applications and career experience hours. Taking a few online summer courses from an accredited institution like Ontario eSecondary School allows them to make up ground before September. With that head start, they can either finish high school sooner (giving them an edge in university applications) or take a lighter load in their senior year.
Beefing Up Transcripts
In many places, kids can take what are known as “upgrade courses” – abbreviated versions of courses they’ve already taken, intended to give them a second shot at acquiring a higher grade. At the end of an upgrade course, the better mark of their two attempts shows up on their transcript.
Summer is the ideal time for upgrade courses. By devoting a few hours each week in the evenings to study, your kid can polish their grades, setting the stage for next year’s success or an improved college/university application.
Online Schools Are Flexible, Self-Paced and Moveable
Lastly, consider online schools themselves. The best virtual schools are flexible and self-paced; they do not require set hours, instead allowing students to complete the course on their own timeline. This lax model enables kids to enjoy their summer and reap the educational benefits of summer school.
Lastly, online schools are moveable. You can complete the courses anywhere. Therefore, these summer school courses won’t interfere with any travel plans, prior obligations or extracurricular activities you have lined up. If you’re heading to Rome, simply flip open the laptop at the closest piazza with WiFi – or wait until you return to resume the course. The choice is yours.
Midway through the summer, consider shouldering a few flexible online summer courses. Sure, it might mean a little work mixed in with the leisure – but the benefits are immense.