Help Crack The Elementary School Education Crisis

 Imagine running a large non profit organization with teens and young people. Every summer that is just what we do at TeamChildren.

“An old adage says: If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. And that’s true for school-aged children,” said Chelsey Byers.

Learning loss during summer vacation is nothing new. Teachers and researchers alike have reported that children suffer a setback following the long summer break. Reading comprehension and fluency can take a hit if the kids are not reading during the summer. But the most affected area may be math, she said.

"Kids can lose up to two and a half months’ worth of math skills when those skills are not used,” she said.

Research shows that the achievement gap often widens during the summer. But enrichment programs and life experiences can combat loss and even increase children’s skill levels before heading back to school, she said.

Year after year, these losses can really add up for a child, Byers said.

http://hdfs.illinois.edu/stop-summer-brain-drain-it-starts

 Every summer at www.teamchyildren.org we provide teens and young people the opportunity to not only stop the summer brain drain, but dramatically improve their knowledge of technology and making a difference for themselves and for others as well.

While they could be home playing video games, sitting by the pool, or just wasting away doing nothing, they come to our technology center to refurbish computer for less fortunate kids.

They also learn critical job skills like answering the phone, great customer service, communication, goal setting, and teamwork to mention a few. They also learn how to clean the bathrooms and take out the trash as impeccably as they fix a computer. 

This summer we are helping hundred of kids and their families gain access to technology they only once dreamed of having.

Contributions of money, equipment, and expertise is what make us keep ticking.

Over the past 15 + years we have now distributed over 15,000, low cost high quality refurbished computers to families schools and organizations throughout our region and beyond.

Now our recipients are able to keep their minds sharp all summer with our amazing leaning software. Kids are entering school ready to learn wit our early learning math, reading music and encylopedic software. Families are finding badly need social services, applying for scholarships and college, filling out job applications and much more in the comfort and safety of their homes.

Links:

• Teamchildren Kyw news radio

• One of the many children we have helped (PDF)