Hammocking

Much of my childhood was spent in a hammock—reading. The summer before Kindergarten, I taught myself to read in that hammock. I would stare at the words in my picture books until they suddenly made sense. By the end of the first grade, I had a stack of library books waiting for me every summer.

My aunt, Stella Staley, who taught fifth grade, always complained about the “learning loss” summer brings. That loss never arrived in our house, or anywhere near that hammock. Many of those hammock books were gifts from Aunt Stell. My favorite was Popular Street Park by Francis Wright. I re-read it every summer for at least four years.

Currently, our kids are suffering from both summer learning loss and COVID learning loss. How can parents and teachers solve this problem? By encouraging reading.

I’m passionate about the summer reading concept. At Walnut Hills High where I taught English and journalism, the English teachers always assigned summer books. Believe it or not, the students were eager to get the lists! The senior teacher would come to a junior class to hand out the assignments and introduce the kids to the books. This went on down the line to the younger students. I taught Junior English, which was American Literature. Beginning in April, sophomores would stop me in the hallway to ask when I would be coming to their class.

My own high school teachers also assigned summer reading. Those books made a great impact on me, and I assigned some of the same books to my students. I remember Hiroshima and the fantastic discussion that followed in my high school class one September. As a teacher, I tried to assign summer books that were enjoyable to read, often relatively short, but that led to serious thought. I usually assigned five books a summer, including novels, plays, short story collections, and non-fiction. Some titles I assigned over the years included Black Boy by Richard Wright, Our Town and The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder, Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, and Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O’Connor. One year I assigned a contemporary novel, Terry Kay's To Dance with the White Dog. The kids appreciated reading a more modern book. The main character, Sam, reminded them of their own grandfathers. Of course, they also loved the "ghost dog" in the story.

So often, the first week of school is filled with seating assignments, instructions, and general chaos. The summer reading allowed my classes to begin learning the first day of school. The summer work set the pace for the entire year.

I wrote my Magic Nation Tales series with that hammock in mind. This summer, Kindle editions of these short story collections will be free to download for five days each. The Magic Nation Gift Shop and the Magic Nation Playground will be free the weekend of Mother’s Day through May 17. The Magic Nation Day Camp and The Magic Nation Incredible Crew will be free surrounding Father’s Day. The books were written for kids age 9 and up.

If you don't own a hammock, don't worry. Connecting the end of one school year with the beginning of another is a "hammocking" activity!

Let me know if you discover a “summer learning gain” instead of a loss!