This report was originally published August 14, 2018.
Chapter One: School's Out
It鈥檚 the last day of school at East Millbrook Middle School in Raleigh. Loud speakers announce the start of summer and the arrival of school buses to take kids home. Students trickle out of doorways, saying goodbye to each other and their teachers.
Thirty-six-year-old Ayeisha Owens picks up her daughter Kaiden and drives down the road to pick up her younger daughter Karisma from an elementary school nearby. She waits in the carpool line behind dozens of cars, feeling anxious. But she doesn鈥檛 let on to her daughters. She鈥檚 taken a half day off work to pick them up.
鈥淪orry I鈥檓 so late Mommy,鈥� Karisma says, hopping into the backseat of her mom鈥檚 SUV, opposite her sister. 鈥淢s. Garrett gave me a cupcake, then she had to sign my yearbook.鈥�
鈥淲ait, wait a second, Karisma,鈥� her mom says. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 even like cupcakes!鈥�
Her older sister Kaiden, 12, clutches her pink and velour backpack and gives her mom the rundown on her yearbook.
鈥淚 have a best friends page, and a regular people page,鈥� she says.
Kaiden has just finished her last day of the sixth grade 鈥� Karisma, the third grade.
From this car ride home until late August, they鈥檒l pretty much be free of obligation. And that 鈥� the thought of her girls at home for days on end, without structured activity or learning opportunities 鈥� was unnerving to their mother.
鈥淥nly because I didn鈥檛 know what they would be doing,鈥滱yeisha said.
Chapter Two: That 鈥淚n-Between鈥�
Some families have the means to send their kids to costly summer activities, like robotics camp or horseback riding lessons or weeks-long vacations. Ayeisha does not.
鈥淎s a mother, it鈥檚 disheartening, because it鈥檚 like I can鈥檛 even provide them certain aspects,鈥� Ayeisha said. 鈥淚 just feel like they could be doing more, or they鈥檙e missing out on something.鈥�
A found that kids from low-income families are thirty percent less likely to go to a day camp than their wealthier classmates. And that may have an impact on their academic achievement. According to an , low-income students tend to lose one to three months worth of reading skills during the summer while their peers from wealthier families tend to gain them.
Ayeisha knows the situation all too well.
鈥淭hey say a lot of their friends can go to certain camps through the Y, which is very expensive,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 like, 鈥榊ou can鈥檛 go there. That鈥檚 not something we could do.鈥欌€�
Ayeisha said she has found some camps that offer financial help, but that she doesn鈥檛 qualify.
鈥淚 fall in that in between where I don鈥檛 make enough, but I make too much,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like, well, it鈥檚 just me and two kids, so there鈥檚 no way I make enough for anything, you know!鈥�
Karisma and Kaiden鈥檚 father died unexpectedly six years ago. Karisma recently wrote an essay about the experience, which left her and her sister struggling to understand their grief, and left her mother as the family鈥檚 sole breadwinner.
鈥淚 knew he wasn鈥檛 coming back, but I didn鈥檛 know it meant forever,鈥� Karisma wrote. 鈥淚 really just wanted my dad to pick me up, and never let me go.鈥�
Ayeisha has done everything to keep the memory of her girls鈥� father alive and to provide for her daughters. She works full-time as a medical billing specialist and occasionally picks up part-time jobs on the side.
Ayeisha鈥檚 grandmother, Maude Owens, lives with the family and helps care for the girls. This summer, she鈥檚 the girls鈥� only adult supervision when Ayeisha is at work.
The 78-year-old usually holds court in the living room and watches daytime judge shows or 1970s sitcoms like 鈥淓mergency!鈥�.
Chapter Three: Camp, Not Concert Tickets
Ayeisha has tried to sign her daughters up for camps through Raleigh Parks and Rec. One year, she got to the office for registration and found a line out the door. The next year, signup moved online. She remembers trying to log in at midnight, then 5 a.m. The website kept crashing.
鈥淭hat process in itself was just so exhausting,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 felt defeated, because I鈥檓 like, 鈥榃ell, I have to work, I don鈥檛 have time to sit up all night long, waiting on a computer to sign up. This is not concert tickets.鈥欌€�
I felt defeated, because I鈥檓 like, 鈥榃ell, I have to work, I don鈥檛 have time to sit up all night long, waiting on a computer to sign up. This is not concert tickets.鈥�
Both years, the girls ended up on a waitlist. Ayeisha would get a call a few days before a spot opened up at a weeklong camp.
鈥淎nd I鈥檓 like, you can鈥檛 call me today and tell me in two days, or tomorrow, you need $100 or more dollars,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have that鈥�.So there were weeks I had to let go.鈥�
Kaiden loves acting. Her mom tried and didn鈥檛 have any luck finding an affordable theater camp this year. But Kaiden successfully auditioned for a local, professional production of the musical Oliver this summer. So instead of paying to attend a camp, Kaiden got paid a small stipend for acting and singing in a professional production.
Other than that, Kaiden and Karisma have spent their summer days biking and skating, choreographing dance routines in the living room, and searching for their favorite neighborhood rodent: Moochie the Groundhog.
鈥淲e led a trail of bread to go to our house,鈥� Karisma said. 鈥淟ike, 鈥楥ome down, Moochie, you鈥檙e welcome to eat our weeds!鈥欌€�
Still, Ayeisha has worried about them getting bored 鈥� and not getting the learning opportunities they could at a summer camp.
鈥淭hey always say, 鈥楴o, mommy. We鈥檙e fine. Don鈥檛 worry about it,鈥欌€� Ayeisha said. 鈥淏ut as a mom, it鈥檚 like, what is there that I can do? It鈥檚 very鈥ery disappointing.鈥�
Chapter Four: The Academy
In July, Kaiden started a mock school she called The Academy鈥� in the family鈥檚 living room. She came up with a course schedule to teach her younger sister language arts, math, science, and even home economics.
鈥淚 came home last night, and Karisma was really showing me her homework as if, 鈥楳ommy look what I did in school today,鈥� Ayeisha said. 鈥淚鈥檓 thinking, 鈥業鈥檓 just trying to eat this ice cream sandwich in peace. You鈥檙e up here showing me some fake homework? Like, what is going on?鈥欌€�
Ayeisha thinks back to something the girls鈥� father said to Kaiden.
鈥淭o make sure that she always taught her sister everything that she knew,鈥� Ayeisha said. 鈥淎nd so she took that to heart. Especially when she started school, she鈥檚 always come home and shared with her, 鈥楾his is what I鈥檓 learning. This is what we鈥檙e doing.鈥欌€�
鈥淚f they don鈥檛 get along at no other point, if they鈥檙e getting along in that moment, I鈥檓 happy about it. I鈥檓 okay.鈥�
Education experts say informal, at-home learning can prevent kids from losing ground ahead of the school year. Even so, Ayeisha believes more public resources should be put towards affordable summer programs.
鈥淢y girls thankfully 鈥� I may not be able to put them in activities 鈥� but they do have things at home to keep them occupied and to keep them learning,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd everyone doesn鈥檛 have that.鈥�
Some school districts in North Carolina have turned to year-round schools, in part, as a way to prevent kids from losing knowledge during the summer. But advocates say government budgets largely haven鈥檛 made summer learning a priority.
鈥淚 think it just further pushes kids further and further away,鈥� Ayeisha said.
Chapter Five: Fine, Okay, A Little Better
Ayeisha remembers feeling a lot of 鈥渘ervousness,鈥� she said, at the start of summer vacation.
A couple months later, amid plans for back-to-school shopping, she thinks her daughters are doing just fine 鈥� especially since they鈥檝e found ways to keep learning that go beyond formal lessons and textbooks and expensive summer camps.
鈥淚 see that they have entertained themselves and they鈥檙e not complaining and they鈥檙e fine and they鈥檙e finding things to do to keep themselves busy,鈥� she said.
Some of her favorite summer moments, Ayeisha said, have been coming home after a long day of work and hearing what the girls have gotten up to.
One day it could be wandering the woods, and another, an impromptu karaoke session.
They鈥檝e gone somewhere, they鈥檝e done something,鈥� Ayeisha said. 鈥淪o I鈥檓 okay. I鈥檓 feeling a little better about it.
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