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3 The Effects of Summertime Experiences on Children's Development
Pages 63-106

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From page 63...
... academic learning and opportunities for enrichment. We address them in this order to reflect the fundamental need for safety and health as a precursor for social and emotional development and academic learning.
From page 64...
... • Weight gain accelerates in the summer, especially for children who are already overweight or have obesity. • The evidence is mixed on whether the rates of physical activity increase in the summer, but the majority of youth still do not meet recommended guidelines for moderate and vigorous physical activity during these months.
From page 65...
... Research also shows that settings are critical to the development of physical, intellectual, psychological, social, and emotional skills and competencies (i.e., internal assets)
From page 66...
... Thus, what is both engaging and developmentally matched to the needs of a child at early elementary school age will differ from what engages and is developmentally appropriate for a child in later childhood and in different phases of adolescence. This is important, because when a youth's environment is mismatched with his or her developmental needs it will not be able to optimally support youth outcomes (Eccles et al., 1993)
From page 67...
... Understanding early childhood development is therefore essential to interpretating the trajectory of child development in the school years and beyond. The brain is continually changing as children experience new settings and interactions within settings (Baltes et al., 2006)
From page 68...
... . Indeed, nurturing relationships are critical to healthy child development (Britto et al., 2017)
From page 69...
... . Out-of-school and summer programs can play a variety of important roles in supporting healthy development during childhood.
From page 70...
... . The transition from elementary school to middle school during this period has also been associated with decreased academic achieve 3 Deviancy training "involves the interpersonal dynamic of mutual influence during which youth respond positively to deviant talk and behavior .
From page 71...
... Among these early adolescents, the study found that participation in youth development programs was associated with higher levels of PYD and Contribution. Youth development programs, including summer programs, may have both promotive and preventative effects for early adolescents, but the
From page 72...
... . During middle and late adolescence, youth are also considering their place in the world and their aspirations for life after high school as it relates to postsecondary education, skill development, and work and career possibilities.
From page 73...
... It should be noted that the sample in this study was majority-White, came from four school districts in Michigan, and was specifically chosen from districts where family and neighborhood factors were unlikely to pose a barrier to afterschool activity participation, making it difficult to generalize the findings to youth growing up in neighborhoods characterized by higher levels of poverty and other environmental barriers. Another longitudinal study of mostly White youth (n = 1,259)
From page 74...
... . Summer is a potentially risky time for youth in that the amount of unsupervised time may be greater during the summer months than during the school year.
From page 75...
... A study tracking violent and household property crimes from 1993 to 2010 found that victimization rates were higher during the summer than during any other season for most crimes, including household property crimes and violent crimes, with the exception of robbery and simple assault. However, among youth ages 12–17, simple assault victimization rates were lowest during the summer, starting when the school year ended, and were highest in the fall when the school year began, suggesting that violence may be occurring en route to or during school (Lauritsen and White, 2014)
From page 76...
... Pro-social behaviors appear to increase from early childhood into elementary school (Eisenberg and Spinrad, 2014)
From page 77...
... , in a longitudinal study of students (n = 392) from two middle schools that followed students into high school, documented that participation in an extracurricular activity was protective for students with the highest risk for school dropout.
From page 78...
... . Use of e-cigarettes has increased in recent years for both middle school and high school age adolescents (Cullen et al., 2018)
From page 79...
... Injuries Physical activity-related trauma, such as sprains, fractures, and contusions, sustained while engaging in sports or recreational activities is a primary cause of summertime pediatric injuries in western countries (Jespersen et al., 2014)
From page 80...
... However, this second study found no significant differences in summer weight gain by race or ethnicity. There were also no differences in summer weight gain between boys and girls, between children based on their families' higher versus lower incomes, or between children based on maternal education or employment status (von Hippel and Workman, 2016)
From page 81...
... A review of the research on seasonal variation and physical activity among children and youth by Carson and Spence (2010) suggests that summer may be associated with increased physical activity for some children and youth in certain contexts, but the evidence is mixed.
From page 82...
... Those least likely to meet these physical activity requirements were females, adolescents who had overweight or obesity, and older adolescents. When they compare the school year as a whole versus summer, many studies find a lower percentage of light-intensity physical activity and greater sedentary time, screen time, and sleep time during summer compared to the school year (Brazendale et al., 2018)
From page 83...
... . Expanding the number of summer meals sites, the number of meals served at sites, and sites' hours of op eration may be effective strategies to promote nutritional health over the summer months (Miller, 2016)
From page 84...
... Neighborhood characteristics, physical activity, and weight gain. Although the associations between neighborhood characteristics and obesity in childhood are largely inconclusive, it is possible that neighborhood characteristics may influence children's physical activity and eating during the summer in particular ways.
From page 85...
... in physical activity and a small BMI gain that did not change obesity status (An et al., 2017)
From page 86...
... Developmental Trajectories of Social and Emotional Skill Development Some researchers have examined seasonal patterns of anti-social behavior (discussed earlier; e.g., Light et al., 2013) , but trends in the development of positive social and emotional competencies are not well understood.
From page 87...
... . One challenge with documenting the developmental trajectories of social and emotional skills is the limitation of current measurement approaches.
From page 88...
... During the same timeframe that saw racial and ethnic achievement gaps decline appreciably, gaps across family income levels grew wider. In fact, the gap across family income levels now exceeds those across race and ethnicity.
From page 89...
... Early Studies Summer learning loss -- the phenomenon of students forgetting some of what they learned during the school year -- was first addressed in 1906, when William White, a teacher of mathematics in New Palz, New York, tested a handful of his fourth- and seventh-grade students on math facts before and after the summer vacation. Finding that students lost ground over the summer, White observed that "neglect for three months may blur the memory."9 Recent studies, more rigorous than White's, have asked a related question: Is summer learning loss more prevalent among children from lower-­ncomei families and among disadvantaged racial and ethnic minority groups than among children of more advantaged backgrounds?
From page 90...
... Then later, in ninth grade, the first year of high school, two-thirds of the extant reading comprehension gap comparing children from lower-income families against those from middle-income families (up to 3.5 grade equivalents at that point) was found to originate in differential summer learning over the elementary school years (Alexander et al., 2007)
From page 91...
... Academic Progress Slows During Summer Months. Research consistently demonstrates that academic progress slows during the summer months relative to the school year (Entwisle and Alexander, 1992, 1994; Heyns, 1978; Quinn et al., 2016; von Hippel and Hamrock, 2019)
From page 92...
... The seminal literature examining how summer affects academic achievement found that not only did academic progress slow during the summer months, it also faded. As noted, Cooper and colleagues (1996)
From page 93...
... • Summer learning differences by socioeconomic background and race/ethnicity are not always evident, consistently patterned, or as large as previously thought. Poor children and disadvantaged minority youth enter school already behind, over time those achievement gaps persist, and in some studies they widen.
From page 94...
... This need is especially great for underserved populations, which have been underrepresented in the research literature to date, including children who are American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, immigrant, migrant and refugee, homeless, child welfare- or justice-system involved, and LGBTQ+, as well as those with special health care or developmental needs. CONCLUSION 3-3: The Summer Food Service Program and the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children program play crucial roles in reducing food insecurity and increasing access to healthy foods during the summer.
From page 95...
... . Seasonal variation in children's physical activity and sedentary time.
From page 96...
... Cog nitive inequality during the summer months and the school year. American Sociological Review, 69(5)
From page 97...
... The Elementary School Journal, 98(4)
From page 98...
... . Deliv ering summer electronic benefit transfers for children through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children: Benefit use and impacts on food security and foods consumed.
From page 99...
... . Preliminary findings of the effect of a 3-year after-school physical activity intervention on fitness and body fat: The Medical College of Georgia Fitkid Project.
From page 100...
... . Summer Learning Loss: Does It Widen the Achievement Gap?
From page 101...
... . Neighborhood built and social environments and change in weight status over the summer in low-income elementary school children.
From page 102...
... . The importance of play in pro moting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bond: Focus on children in poverty.
From page 103...
... . Effects of socioeconomic status on the physical activity in adolescents: A systematic review of the evidence.
From page 104...
... , 2296–2300. von Hippel, P
From page 105...
... . Comparison of total energy expenditure between school and summer months.


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