Summer Brain Gain

Summer Brain Gain is a learning program, for all ages, dedicated to expanding learning opportunities during the “out-of-school” summer months to help prevent our members from falling behind the learning curve.

Each summer in America, an estimated 43 million children in the U.S. miss out on expanded learning opportunities that could prevent them from falling behind. During summer, most youth lose about two months’ worth of math skills. Low-income youth also lose more than two months’ worth of reading skills, while their middle-class peers make slight gains.

Summer learning losses can stack up from year to year, causing low-income children to fall further and further behind, ultimately endangering their chances of high school graduation. More than half of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford is committed to ensuring that our young people, especially those who need us most, graduate from high school on time with a plan for the future. Summer Brain Gain is an important program in making good on that commitment.

What is Summer Brain Gain?

Summer Brain Gain is comprised of one-week modules with fun, themed activities for elementary school, middle school and high school students that are aligned with common core anchor standards. Supported by Disney, each module takes a project-based learning approach: youth engage in a process of learning through discovery, creative expression, group work and a final project or production. As a result, kids develop higher-order thinking skills through the Summer Brain Gain modules while staying on track for the coming school year.

In addition, with support from Staples, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America introduced Summer Brain Gain: Read!, a literacy program that complements the larger Summer Brain Gain curriculum. To improve the reading skills of America’s youth, Summer Brain Gain: Read! is a summer reading program with a new book presented each week per age group, along with supporting activities that bring the book to life.