DALLAS, June 3, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Seasonal brain drain. It sounds serious, but in fact it's a pretty common occurrence among children when they return to school after the summer break. Experts agree that on average, students lose the equivalent of one to nearly three months of previous learning – in effect erasing this amount of learning from their mind.
The good news for parents and students is that this "academic atrophy" can be reduced and even eliminated. To help diminish summer learning loss, Archipelago Learning (Nasdaq:ARCL), a leading provider of online education programs to K-12 schools across the country, has launched Study Island Summer Camp, an engaging and educational supplemental program complete with summer themed, multi-curricular online games for students in grades three - eight.
"Many parents are looking to fill the 70+ days of summer vacation with fun and engaging activities to keep their children involved. At the same time they worry about their children retaining what they learned from the prior year, and staying sharp and prepared for the upcoming school year ahead," said Karla Kennard, Study Island's consumer marketing manager. "Study Island Summer Camp provides the best of both worlds; offering fun and engaging games that reinforce and advance learning. Since it can be used anytime and anywhere there is an Internet connection, children have the flexibility to log on and 'play' anytime they want."
Study Island Summer Camp offers an Elementary School course of study for grades three-five and a Middle School version for grades 6-8. Each program offers age-appropriate curriculum materials for math, science, English and social studies, many of them taken from the successful Study Island program used by millions of students in schools across the country. Working independently in quiz mode, game mode or with a printable worksheet, students can review information from the previous school year and even get ahead on the next grade level.
"We are continually looking for ways to enhance and support our vision," said Allison Duquette, chief marketing officer at Archipelago Learning. "We believe that given the right tools, all students can, and will indeed, flourish beyond our expectations. Combating summer learning loss doesn't have to be complicated or boring, it just takes a focused, fun program. We are very excited about Study Island Summer Camp and its ability to weave learning into summer activities that children already enjoy."
The product is available online until August 31, 2010 at a cost of $19.00/program. To obtain additional information or to purchase the program, visit www.studyisland.com/summercamp or call 800-419-3191.
About Archipelago Learning
Archipelago Learning is a leading subscription-based online education company that provides standards-based instruction, practice, assessments and productivity tools that improve the performance of educators and students via proprietary web-based platforms. Study Island, the core product line, helps students in kindergarten through 12th grade master grade-level academic standards in a fun and engaging manner. Study Island products are utilized by over 10 million students in approximately 21,800 schools in all 50 states, Washington D.C. and Canada. For more information, please visit www.archipelagolearning.com. Archipelago Learning is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
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