Slide into Summer

Meagan Waite, Assistant Director - My Discovery Destination!

I LOVE summer. I love it when the sun comes up early and wakes me. I love flip flops and shorts. I like to be warm (not hot, but warm). I like warm evenings where I can sit outside and talk with friends and family.  I do not care for mosquitos (although they LOVE me), but that is what Avon’s Skin So Soft is for. This time of year, the summer, is when I thrive. 

Unfortunately, summer can have the opposite effect on school-age children. Two months of reading skills–and if reading skills slip then everything slips–and more than two and a half months of math skills can be lost over the 12-weeks between the end of one school year and the beginning of another. It takes teachers about six weeks to play catchup in the fall. This phenomenon is somewhat-affectionately called the “summer slide,” or summer learning loss. Additionally, there’s the risk of early childhood death during the extended school break–you know it’s imminent when your children say things like, “I’m so bored I’m going to DIE!” The onset of this fatal disease typically occurs in week two of summer vacation. What is a parent to do?

My Discovery Destination! and the Discovery Family Coalition have the antidote for summer doldrums, and it’s called the Summer Passport Program. 

There are well over 100 fun, flexible, FREE Adventures that families can do on their own time. The Adventures have the added benefit of keeping kids' bodies active and minds engaged. 

Did I mention they are FREE?

They are FREE to families because of generous grants from the Bear River Health Department, the Central Utah Public Health Department, and the Davis County Health Department. And completing the Summer Passport Program Adventures comes with REWARDS. Families can earn FREE, fun experiences from multiple Family Reward Event Partners from the grant areas, but the biggest rewards are the benefits that come to your family because you are spending time together.

Give your kids a better “shot” at healthy minds and bodies during June, July and August. You cannot hold back the changing of the season. Summer is coming. But, you can avoid the potential retrogression that can accompany it–the Summer Passport Program is the cure.