Summer vacations should be fun, but not mean children end up losing what they learned in school.

Preventing that is the purpose of an ongoing program at the Methodist churches in the county.

Live Free, created by the Rev. Dawn Trapp of Cincinnati, started last week and will go on through Aug. 7.

“The kids sing songs, there is story time and self-directed reading time,” the Rev. Charles Case of Chesapeake United Methodist Church, said. “And if need be, there is one-on-one mentoring as warranted.”

Following a free lunch, there is an afternoon with craft time, recreational sports and a science project.

“Last week, they made bubbles,” Tonia Kirk, a volunteer teacher, said. “They read daily and each day there are different stories. They work on their comprehension and there is a nutrition lesson.”

A child can go to one of the following churches for the day-long camp. Each church follows the same curriculum.

Mondays the program is at Resurrection Hope in Ironton; Wednesday at Coal Grove Memorial; Thursday at First United Methodist in Ironton; and Friday at Chesapeake United Methodist.

“You see the light on their faces when they learn something new or do something good,” Kirk said. “And they have their Bible lesson and we have learned from their questions.”

The program is open to children in grades K-sixth. Registration for each session starts at 10:45 a.m. with the classes starting at 11 a.m. through 3:30 p.m.