I’m concerned that my daughter will lose some of her newly acquired reading and writing skills over the summer. It seemed as though she was just learning how to "put it all together" to read fluently and write a few good sentences when the school year ended. Although there is a summer school program at her school, she didn’t qualify because she received good grades. I want her to do more than play outside or sit in front of the television. Where else should I look for programs that might be appropriate for her this summer?

Children do lose skills over the summer, especially if they haven’t been practicing them for two months. You are correct to be concerned about how well your daughter maintains as many of the skills she’s recently gained as possible. If she’s sitting in front of the television all day, she’s certain to lose ground when reading and writing.

The first place to go to find out about educational programs is your school. Although the summer school program wasn’t right for your daughter, find out if there are other programs that may be a better fit. Some districts offer enrichment programs or even summer camps that may include some sort of an academic component.

Your local library or museum is an-other place to inquire. Find out about any continuing programs or special events that may take place this summer. There may be story time, arts and crafts, or writing classes.

Of course, you should be reading with her every night, just as you would during the school year. If your daughter is using her recently learned skills throughout the summer, she’ll be better prepared to return to school than if she didn’t apply those skills at all.

We were notified recently that our son will have a certain teacher next year. We’re not all that happy about it because when our older child had the same teacher a few years ago there were some problems. Should I just call the school and change my son’s teacher?

Calling the school and changing teachers would make the problem sim-ply go away, but if you’re not allowed to make the switch, then you are going to have to work out a solution to the situation before any potential problems arise. Keep in mind that some districts spend a lot of time and effort making class lists for the next year by separating students who don’t get along, or attempting to match a student’s learning style with a teacher’s teaching style. Getting your son into a different class may not be as simple as you think because once one change is made, it affects other classes. However, if you’re certain that you can’t do another year with this teacher, you’ve already started down the road to conflict. Changing your son’s class might be a quick fix, but what were the problems? Are your children so alike that the situation is truly untenable? Or are you engaging in a self-fulfilling pro-phecy because of what happened years ago. Talk with your son. Meet with the teacher and do all you can to form an understanding before the school year begins. Perhaps the problems you’re dreading will never materialize.

Send questions to: Answers from the Teacher, P.O. Box 54, South Egre-mont, MA 01258. Questions may also be emailed to answersfromtheteacher @ adelphia.net.