More parents are enrolling their children in summer programs, which include hands-on activities, such as gardening. (Photo: Alison Yin)

Data released today from a national poll show that a third of families with school-age children had enrolled at least one child in a summer program in 2013. That is an increase from five years earlier when only a quarter of families had enrolled their children in summer programs.

Shugoll Research conducted the survey for the Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that advocates for expanded learning programs. The data were collected this past spring as part of a survey to determine how many households with school-age children had them in after-school programs. A full report on the data will be released in the fall.

“In many communities, after-school programs morph into summer learning programs at the end of the school year,” said Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance, in a press release. “That helps give the programs both an infrastructure and a solid pedagogical grounding as they work to combat summer learning loss.”

Studies have shown that children who are not in summer programs lose about a month’s worth of learning, with low-income children suffering even higher losses because their families lack the resources to involve them in enrichment activities, such as trips to national parks or museums.

Read the full story on EdSource California.