Reading program works to reduce children’s summer learning loss

Michael Waldman explains how to use context clues to his 16 elementary school-aged students in his reading development class on Sunday, July 13, 2025. (Neal Wong / Golden Gate Xpress)

This afternoon, Michael Waldman’s reading development class wrapped up, ending a month of literacy learning. Sixteen elementary school-aged children spent their Sundays building their skills in Waldman’s class on the first floor of the Humanities Building, as part of the Summer Reading Skills Program.

“I find the kids, especially the little ones, are very energetic,” Waldman said. “They really love it. And their parents are here too, so it’s very sweet to see them kind of learning with them.”

Non-credit courses are offered through San Francisco State University’s College of Professional and Global Education in partnership with the Institute of Reading Development for kindergarten students to college freshmen to strengthen their reading proficiency. This program has been offered since 1989, according to the Institute of Reading Development. Classes take place from June to July and from July to August.

Reading materials, such as online activities to help with phonetics and children’s books, are part of the curriculum. Approximately 75% of the enrolled students are in fifth grade or below, according to Kate White, assistant dean of the College of Professional and Global Education. 

Younger children are most prone to “summer slide,” a term used to describe students losing knowledge in reading and math over their summer breaks. On average, third and fifth-grade students lose about 20% of their school-year gains in reading, according to a Scholastic report.

Cong Hung Le enrolled his 9-year-old son, Ming, in the program this summer. After a year in the U.S. since moving from Vietnam, Cong decided his son needed to improve his reading skills. This is Ming’s first summer in the program, and Cong said he is pleased with the results.

“Ming could interact with pictures and with friends in that class,” Le said. “It’s not only good for him to improve his reading skills, but also to improve his speaking and how to interact with people in English.”

Daisy Leung, a secretary at Lawton Alternative School, decided to enroll her 9-year-old son, Chris, in the reading program after realizing her son needed help with decoding skills. Chris has been an enrollee since Summer 2024.

Chris and Ming, along with other students in Waldman’s class, read “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” this summer.

“I’m trying to get them started to analyze text and literature and thinking, ‘Hm, this character does this. How do you think this character feels?’ to get them thinking and discussing,” Waldman said.

Both children, Chris and Ming, are multilingual, similar to other students in the program. Daniel Meier, an elementary education professor at SFSU, said that at the elementary school level, children can face multiple challenges when developing their multilingualism. 

“There are factors such as children changing schools, families not having enough time, energy and knowledge to support their children with school and to work on language at home,” Meier said.

These challenges are more pronounced during the summer for children who live in a household that does not primarily speak English, and especially for those who are aged 7-10, according to Meier.

“When students are missing two and a half months of school, there’s kind of the traditional summer slump in reading,” Meier said. “But the children who are 7, 8, 9, 10 now lost two plus years from the pandemic. It’s really tough to lose out on transitional kindergarten to first grade in terms of the basics of reading and writing.”

The percentage of U.S. 9-year-old children who read for fun has dropped to its lowest level since the survey was first done in 1984, according to a Pew Research Center study in 2020. The percentage of 9-year-olds who say they read for fun almost every day has dropped 11%, and the percentage of 9-year-olds who say they never or hardly ever read for fun has increased by 7%.

“It’s definitely a challenge sometimes getting the kids interested in it as I would like them to be, but at the end of the day, I can control giving my best energy to make sure the parents are satisfied with the reading help that they’re getting and giving my best energy to help out where I can,” said Waldman.

Leung said she hopes to continue building on the progress that her son has made since beginning the program.

“Chris’ reading comprehension has been a lot better, but it looks like he needs a lot more help with new vocabulary,” Leung said. “So I want to continue to expose him to a lot more reading opportunities like these.”