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SALT LAKE CITY -- Teachers say they spend a lot of time in the fall getting students back up to speed after a summer break. They are offering suggestions to prevent "brain drain."
They say just because school is out for the summer it doesn't mean kids can't learn. They say parents just don't have to tell them they are learning.
Kathy Wittke handles elementary literacy for the Jordan School District. She's a former teacher and elementary principal and urges parents to talk with their kids. She says it enriches their vocabulary.
"We can always tell those kids who have parents who have taken them and talked with them about things," she said.
"Students just seem to have a deeper, broader, more developed vocabulary when parents are involved in talking with them. Not talking at them, but talking with them," she added.
Witke says teachers send home the governor's reading calendar and encourage students to go to the library. But she says for kids who don't like to read, take them on educational field trips and other activities, and then have them write or draw about it.
She says less TV and video game time also will help.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
