CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Levine Museum of the New South is on a mission to help students and teachers get ahead during the summer months when they're out of the classroom.
Lindsay Fairbrother-Henige says a team of educators united to create online case studies to help supplement the curriculum for North Carolina students during summer. The goal is focused on making a connection between local and state history with a focus on Charlotte. It also helps students who are learning American history before they start high school.
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"It's based on North Carolina and local Charlotte history," Fairbrother-Henige, the museum's director of school programs, said. "Eighth graders in North Carolina are doing U.S. history so they wanted to bridge that gap."
The digital North Carolina history case studies launched in October, allowing teachers to assign an entire case study to students. Teachers can also select certain activities for their students if the full course isn't an option. It's the second year the museum has hosted standalone workshops that are hosted by the teachers.
This year, the museum hosted its inaugural free summer institute workshop for educators.
"They get to connect, they get to refresh their practice," Fairbrother-Henige said. "They are skills-based workshops. They are taking that and it's going to impact the students they teach next year."
While teachers sharpen their skills in the classroom, students can do the same. Some educators say these workshops are crucial for helping kids retain what they learned over summer break.
"Any teacher in Charlotte will tell you that for many, many years every single summer kids go away, they come back and they lost a lot of what they've learned the year before," Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, the chief strategy officer and advocate for Mrs. Wordsmith, said.
The platform offers educational games and products for kids that make learning fun and not feel like school. Cardet-Hernandez said during summer, children can lose one-fifth of the reading skills they learned the previous school year. It's sometimes referred to as "summer brain drain."
"Parents shouldn't feel like they have to turn their living room into a classroom," he said. "I have a 6-year-old who is learning those early reading skills. We also do competitions in our house. We choose a word a day then we just create a competition around who's able to use that word the most."
Another easy way to avoid summer brain drain? Take time to read with your child at home.
Contact Nick Sturdivant at nsturdiva1@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.