Students should not completely disengage, however Learning does not have to stop when the school year ends In fact, researchers continue to point to summer vacation as an opportunity for students to both catch up if they struggled with any key concepts and get a jumpstart on the next school year Summer learning loss, also called the summer slide or brain drain, poses a significant challenge for teachers at all levels preschool, elementary, middle and high school Educators often spend several weeks in August and September reviewing concepts that students forgot during the summer Education is training of the mind, much like exercise is physical training for the body If athletes skip the gym and eat unhealthy food all summer, they will pay the price once they return. The same concept applies to education That’s why many parents enroll their children in academic-focused programs like

From page 4

Guadalupe Center’s Summer Enrichment Program, which features credentialed instructors and a true academic curriculum to keep students engaged and learning

Students can keep their brains in tip-top shape without sitting in a classroom all summer, though In their unofficial roles as summer school teachers, parents can create a series of informal, academicfocused activities that are enjoyable while still serving as excellent back-to-school prep Parents with children in preschool or elementary school can try these engaging, hands-on activities across core subject areas:

Jim Ragusa Guest Commentary

■ Science: Visit a state or national park Visitor centers often have worksheets or scavenger hunts geared toward youth, like finding a fossil or identifying an animal

■ Social Studies: Buy a map or globe, and have children point to a place YouTube is full of educational and travel videos that

Jaycee Park is loved — and loved as-is

To the editor:

Jaycee Park is the only Neighborhood Park in Cape Coral that has a view of the Caloosahatchee River, beautiful trees providing shady walkways, benches, picnic tables, grills, shelters, a gazebo, a playground, a little Free Library, squirrels, and many bird species including burrowing owls, yellow crested night herons, mockingbirds, and pelicans

The park is always busy in Season, dog walkers abound, AA meets weekly, people picnic, celebrate birthdays, weddings, graduations, and holidays

This park is loved

Cape Coral City Council recently hired Pennoni Engineers to draft a plan for changing the park into a Community Park with no input from the local residents Residents only found out about the early May meeting because of a news report Two hundred residents showed up at that meeting and took an hour to explain they did not want all shade removed, didn’t need a Boardwalk, six permanent food trucks, 24 boat slips, and perimeter parking Two thousand residents have signed a petition asking the city to rethink the plan and meet with the residents to work on compromises

If you like the park as it is, please call your Council person.

Sally Flash Cape Coral

Floridians need a constitutional right to clean water

To the editor:

Once again, Lake Okeechobee is suffering a massive algae bloom 380 square miles worth Blue-green algae also already appearing in the Caloosahatchee, triggering warnings from the Department of Health Just a few weeks ago, an algae bloom in Matlacha, the fourth year in a row, waters was making news on TV stations.

Experts have been fearful for months that this summer would bring algae blooms to rival those of 2018-19

Back then, Toxic Puzzle, a documentary about the connection between blue-green algae and neurodegenerative diseases was making the rounds at local organizations

What will we do this summer? Patiently wait and hope the state’s $3 5 billion plan to clean the water leaving the lake will fix the problem by 2027? (That’s $3 5 billion taxpayer dollars to clean up pollution, most of which we didn’t create ) Unfortunately, stormwater treatment areas critical to the success of the program are too small, experts say, to be effective show places, people and cultures Short, five-minute videos can offer a world of information

■ English/Reading:

Preschool students should be able to recognize sight words like “and,” “the” and “it ” Mastering these core words increases their fluency and comprehension, and parents can read alongside their children to develop language and listening skills while also stimulating their imagination Elementary-age students can read books to their parents, pet or stuffed animal

■ History: So much of Southwest Florida is new, but the region is home to many historic places and museums with exhibits covering the region’s environment, culture, automotive history, religion, railroads, archaeology and agriculture

■ Math: Have children perform hands-on math tasks like counting food items and coins, reading numbers on a street sign and

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Only one of those five areas is currently meeting water quality standards, and by law the water can’t be sent south unless those standards are met If it can’t go south, it will continue to be released down the Caloosahatchee Floridians need a constitutional right to clean water. That would be the gamechanger Readers can learn why on Saturday, June 24, 10 a m , at the Pine Island Public Library, or on Monday, June 26, 6 p m , at the Fort Myers Regional Library

Joseph Bonasia Cape Coral

Freedom

To the editor:

Yes Floridians have “freedom” but only to the extent that you agree with and follow the dictates of our part-time governor who is keeping his day job fighting against the “woke” educated population of Florida and the rest of the country while running full time for the POTUS job He picks costly legal fights with women, progressive parents, citizens who just want to vote, Disney, the LGBTQ community, immigrant workers, other governors and he is costing Florida taxpayers tons of money as well as the respect of the rest of the country Nobody likes a bully for very long Especially one who “never backs down ” And believes that might makes right And that his political power is unlimited

He has amassed a huge war-chest of cash, however his large donors are seemingly now hearing from their wives, daughters, sisters and mothers. Do not give money to a politician who takes away women’s rights to control their own personal lives Being anti-abortion is a religious concept to very few Americans Most of us see abortion as clearly an economic issue for women and their families We feel that it is irresponsible to have more children than you can nurture, feed, educate and not raise in poverty If the anti-abortion folks truly cared about children rather than zygotes we would not have close to 100K homeless children living on the streets in Florida

According to the CDC: “Nearly all abortions in 2020 took place early in gestation: 93 1% of abortions were performed at less than 13 weeks’ gestation; a smaller number of abortions (5 8%) were performed at 14–20 weeks’ gestation, and even fewer (0 9%) were performed at greater than 21 weeks’ gestation Early medical abortion is defined as the administration of medication(s) to induce an abortion at less than 9 completed weeks’ gestation, consistent with the current Food and Drug Administration labeling for mifepristone (implemented in 2016) In 2020, 51 0% of all abortions were early medical abortions ”

The current governor won his last election by bullying the calculating time on a clock These activities might only take a few seconds, but they ultimately keep a child’s mind sharp

■ Foreign Language: Food offers a fantastic, and tasty, way to learn a foreign language Each week, pick a day and create a menu offering a culinary world tour On Italian Night, for example, serve a selection of less common pastas like rotini, rigatoni, penne and orzo

■ Art: Drawing, coloring and painting are terrific ways for children to tap into their creativity Save each piece of artwork and ask children to assemble an end-of-summer scrapbook containing all of their best work Summer is a vacation from school, but it shouldn’t be a vacation from learning Parents are a child’s first teacher, and during the summer, they also are a child’s best teacher

Jim Ragusa is senior director of early childhood education at Guadalupe Center, a nationally recognized education provider serving more than 1,900 students annually in Immokalee To learn more, visit GuadalupeCenter org or call 239-657-7711 other state Republicans into accepting his gerrymandering of the state (more lawsuits to follow… ) Hopefully he will be out of a job in the near future but meanwhile we voters have the power to change at least one of his dreadful policies

The overwhelming majority of Florida voters believe that women should make their own decisions about their own healthcare without interference from bully politicians With just 900K petitions we can get legal abortions on the 2024 ballot in Florida and back in the hands of responsible women and their doctors “Floridians Protecting Freedom” is a grassroots organization campaign devoted to obtaining enough signatures to qualify putting abortion on the 2024 ballot Their “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion” seeks to further codify that right into Florida law by creating a constitutional amendment that explicitly blocks the implementation of laws that prohibit, delay, or restrict abortion access If you are registered to vote in Florida, you can print, fill out, and mail in your own petition form You can also get friends and family to sign petitions too Fill in the blanks carefully and completely or risk having your petition rejected No abbreviations or initialed corrections Put women’s rights and abortion on the ballot by supporting the campaign Go to the website www floridiansprotectingfreedom com

Print and Complete the petition Mail it to the address provided or drop at a hub all listed on the website Forward the website to everyone in your Contact List! We can make this happen!

Lynn Hagedorn Cape Coral

This week’s poll question:

Do you volunteer?

∫ Yes, regularly

∫ From time to time.

∫ No, but I donate

∫No

Previous poll question

As Ron DeSantis launches his presidential bid, how is he doing as Florida’s governor?

∫ He continues to lead, and perform his duties, well

∫ I don’t perceive much difference

∫ If anything, he’s doing a better job

∫ I was never happy with his performance

∫ Other

Poll results are not scientific and represent only the opinions of Internet users who have chosen to participate

Vote at capecoralbreeze com

Agree? Disagree? Weigh in! Letters, guest opinions, comments welcome