Choosing the right summer school

By Anna Maryam Smith

Summer school is a staple in the Danish child’s summer holidays. Unlike summer school in the United States, they are not a chance for students to improve their grades or catch up academically.

In Denmark, summer school is a chance for children of all ages to develop other interests. Whether it is to learn how to paint, write poetry, play hockey, knit or swim, the list is endless.

These ‘camps’ are generally a week or two long, and schools offer several weeks to choose from – but most take place during the first half of the summer (i.e until early/mid July).

Some are more like the traditional ‘sleep away camps’ memorably portrayed in American youth movies, while at others the students are only there during the day.

Combating Learning Loss

The biggest selling point is that the schools can help keep your children stimulated. Summer is, more often than not, a period of time in which children are not intellectually or creatively challenged, and this is often problematic when they return to school in the autumn.

According to the US think-tank Brookings, an analysis of the phenomenon of ‘summer learning loss’ concluded that children on average lose a month’s worth of school learning during the summer. This means they will struggle when they return to school in the autumn. It can therefore be reasonably concluded that summer school can aid in reducing this drastic impact.

However, this doesn’t mean that the only solution is to have children in an academic setting all summer. Being physically, creatively, or intellectually stimulated aids in your mental acuity because it increases the production of neural pathways that are used in learning, thus actively combating the summer learning loss. Therefore, by sending your child to summer camp you are able to help them get back to school on a more stable footing.

Huge Help To Parents

Summer school also steers your kids away from the temptation of sitting in front of a screen all day, allowing them to meet and interact with children from all over Denmark, and develop life skills as well as interests in entirely new areas.

It sure beats the alternative of bored children sitting around at home waiting for the rest of the family to clock off so they can travel. Especially due to Covid-19 this year, the options for children during those first few weeks of the holiday will probably be very limited because they can’t go to the movies, museums or amusement parks.

Summer schools are therefore a big help to parents – especially ones with young children. The alternative can often be far more expensive, for example a nanny or babysitter, or troublesome: working at home whilst parenting. The lockdown has shown this is far from ideal!

Summer schools were created to combat this. They ensure children are kept occupied during the working hours of the day, thus allowing their parents to get their work done in the most productive manner possible.

Potential Obstacles

However, summer schools are not entirely free of risk. The first, and most apparent one depending on the summer school as well as the child, is homesickness. Being away from family for even a day can appear daunting to children. Thus, attending summer school could create a lot of tension and make the child unhappy.

But while every child is different, so is every summer school. It’s important to choose the right summer school for your child’s needs and to thoroughly take into account the activities, distance from home etc.

Of course, sometimes it’s impossible to find the right school for teenagers. They generally don’t like being told what to do at the best of times – especially when that means they can’t hang out with their friends or do what they want on their one long break from school.

After all, for some it can be overwhelming – particularly if they are going directly from exams and tests into another, sometimes high intensity, learning environment.

But if the approach to sending one’s child to summer school is facilitated in such a way that allows them to have control over the situation, and an awareness that this isn’t an academic setting but is in fact a chance to have fun, the rest will be smooth sailing.