"Summer is here. Maycember and all of its craziness are over. It’s time to kick back and forget about school for a few months, right? Maybe. Enter concerns about the “summer slide,” a term meant to illustrate the potential skill loss kids can experience when school is out. Studies have shown that on average children lose about 20 percent of their reading skills and 27 percent of their math skills over summer.
What a buzzkill. But as a parent, should you be stressed about the summer slide?
I talked to Dr. Shari L. Camhi, Superintendent of Schools for the Baldwin Union Free School District on Long Island and past president of the National School Superintendents Association, to learn more. Read on to hear how you can prevent the summer slide without it feeling like a chore for you.
Dr. Shari L. Camhi
Dr. Shari L. Camhi is the Superintendent of Schools for the Baldwin Union Free School District, where she has successfully encouraged innovation and creativity in K-12 education. She possesses over 30 years of experience working in school districts in New York State and consulting in rural, suburban and urban schools across the country.
How does summer learning loss affect kids?
“The analogy that I’ve used in the past is that [summer learning loss] is kind of like sports,” Dr. Camhi shares. “If you stop playing, then your skills decline, and you need to practice to keep them up or to get them back.”
Essentially, use it or lose it. So when kids aren’t in school five days a week practicing their reading and math skills, it makes sense that they can get rusty. This means when they go back to school in the fall, they stand the risk of being behind their peers. This can be especially true for neurodivergent students who thrive on routine.
“Summer learning loss is kind of like sports… If you stop playing, then your skills decline, and you need to practice to keep them up or to get them back.”
Dr. Camhi says that summer learning loss can affect kids of all ages. But the older a kid gets, the more they might fall behind with the summer slide.
“The older you get, the more intricate reading is,” she says. “And so, just like any skill, the more intricate it is, the harder it is going to be to catch up if you’ve lost some of that ability.”
Do I need to really stress about the ‘summer slide’?
Yes and no. The studies do suggest that not doing any consistent reading or math over the summer will impact your child. But that doesn’t mean that you have to add stressing about learning loss to this year’s summer bucket list.
Why the ‘summer slide’ needs a rebrand
The term summer slide has a negative connotation, explains Dr. Camhi. And it’s true. Feeling like your child is going to lose valuable skills is stressful. Especially when you consider that the burden is on us as parents to ensure that they’re practicing enough to prevent summer learning loss.
“We should flip [the summer slide] on its head so it doesn’t sound like we’re making up for something instead of building on the positive,” Dr. Camhi points out. Which is true. Reading or practicing other skills over the summer is just building on what your child learned over the school year.
Feeling like you have to do a lot of work with your child over the summer makes it feel like a chore. This also lends itself to having a negative connotation. If you think it’s a chore, chances are your kid will pick up on your vibe and think of it as a chore, too, says Dr. Camhi. That can create more resistance and make it harder for you and your child to keep the learning going over the summer.
The good news, though, is that preventing summer learning loss doesn’t have to be a huge endeavor.
Low-lift activities to prevent the ‘summer slide’
Continue to stress the importance of reading each day. You probably did this during the school year, so don’t think of it as anything different than what you were already doing. If you were reading before bed during the school year, continue that. If breakfast was always a time to practice vocabulary, consider keeping that ritual.
For those who want to mix things up a bit, though, here are some fun ideas to prevent the summer slide that won’t feel like a chore:
Create a ‘Book It’ program for your kid
The original ‘Book It’ program, created by Pizza Hut, has been around since 1984. They recently launched a new Book It app to help kids and parents track their reading progress. Every month this summer that a kid hits their goal, they can get a free personal pan pizza. I remember the Book It program being a huge driver for me as a kid to read and being so proud when I earned my free pizza.
Try customizing the idea to fit your child. Senior Sales Manager of Brand Partnerships Megan Kemp’s son loves queso more than pizza, so that’s what he’ll get if he hits his reading goal.
Read books together
Reading books as a family can be a great way to spend time together and to help prevent summer learning loss, says Dr. Camhi. My daughter and I just started reading the Junie B. Jones books, a cute series about an almost 6-year-old outspoken little girl, together. I remember loving them growing up, so I’m excited to read them again with her.
If you need help picking out a book to read together, the American Library Association puts together summer reading lists each year. You can also take a trip to the public library and help your child pick a book for the two of you to read based on their interests.
Encourage your kids to start a book club
Moms have book clubs, so why can’t kids? Dr. Camhi says she remembers going to the library with her friends when she was growing up. They’d pick a book together to read and then set goals with each other for how much to read each week. And then they’d discuss what they’d read, just like you’d do with your mom friends. Have your kid do the same. Give them the autonomy to pick out their own book club book and set their own goals for reading as a group. Having your child set the goals with their friends may make them more likely to follow through without as much prompting from you.
If your child is old enough, consider letting them meet up with their friends at a bookstore or coffee shop in town each week to discuss the book with their friends.
Have designated family reading time
Having your kids watch you read a book for fun can encourage them to read, too. “If your children see you on your phone all the time, then they’re going to think that that is just normal average behavior,” says Dr. Camhi. “If they see you cuddled up with a book, they’re going to think that is normal average behavior.”
Designate 30 minutes after dinner where everyone reads their own book. It’ll be a bit of self-care for you, a time when the whole family can be together, and great for preventing summer learning loss, too. After reading time, you can have each family member share what they read about.
Incorporate math into everyday activities
To practice math without forcing your kid to do a worksheet, look for opportunities to have them practice their skills in the real world. For example, you can have them calculate what the tip should be if you go out for ice cream or for dinner. Help them host a lemonade stand where they need to set prices and make change.
If they’re a bit younger, play a game like hopscotch where they’ll get to practice writing their numbers in each square. You could also have a younger child count out how many fruit snacks are in each bag or how many water balloons they want to fill up.
Pretend to be a movie critic
Put together a summer bucket list of movies to watch as a family. Then, when you’ve crossed one off the list, have each family member write a quick sentence or two about what they did and didn’t like about the movie and what rating they’d give it. Have everyone read their review out loud, too.
That way your child practices their writing skills and reading skills. Because everyone in the family is participating, it’ll seem like less of a chore and more of a fun activity. At the end of the summer, you’ll also have a fun guide of your family’s favorites.
Play mahjong
The centuries-old game that originated in China has a rich history. Playing mahjong gives your child an opportunity to practice pattern recognition and strategic thinking. The Mini Mahjer set is a simplified version of the game for kids to learn on, but the kids in my neighborhood have started to play with the adults, which they get a big kick out of.
Play board games
Games like Monopoly and Ticket to Ride are also great for strategic thinking. Chutes and Ladders works for practicing counting. And Scrabble, Scrabble Jr., Bananagrams, or Boggle Jr. can be fun ways to practice spelling and vocabulary.
Final thoughts on preventing the ‘summer slide’
The bottom line? Yes, summer learning loss is real. But you don’t have to overengineer anything to prevent the summer slide. It doesn’t have to be a big stressor or another to-do on your list. Continuing good habits that you built during the school year should be enough to help prevent the summer slide, but you can also have some fun with it, too, if you want.
Elliott Harrell, Contributing Writer
Elliott is a mom of two little girls and is based in Raleigh, NC. She spends her days running a sales team and doing laundry and her nights writing about the things that she loves. She’s passionate about all things motherhood and women’s health. When she’s not working, writing or parenting you can find her trying a new restaurant in town or working on her latest needlepoint project.