How to Prevent Summer Slide

June 3, 2024 byElizabeth Preston

5 min to read

Summer is an important time for students to recharge from a challenging school year. But while they spend time decompressing, sometimes progress can unfortunately swing in the opposite direction, leading to the dreaded “summer slide” (also known as summer learning loss). Find the balance between letting your kids have a well-deserved break while also preventing summer learning loss with our helpful tips for encouraging summer reading and studying. But first, what is the “summer slide?”

What Is the “Summer Slide”?

Also referred to as summer learning loss or the summer setback, The “summer slide” in education refers to the phenomena that happens when students forget some of the previous school year’s academic material over the course of the summer. In general, students may lose one to two months of learned reading material and one to three months of learned mathematics.

Considering recent research, perhaps the summer slide should be best thought of as the “summer slowdown” or the “summer stagnation” in learning. Since students are not continuously exposed to school during the summer, they may not be learning new things, and they may experience some learning loss.

Luckily, there are ways to prevent summer learning loss.

A girl playing before starting her summer break study plan

How to Prevent Summer Learning Loss

The best way to counteract the summer slide and keep students prepared for the next school year is to find creative ways to practice reading, writing, and math. Here are some of our favorite suggestions for helping students with learning, growing, and studying during the summer break.

1. Encourage non-school-related summer reading.

Encourage your child to select books on topics and subjects that they want to learn about. Fiction or nonfiction, science or history, ghost stories or mystery books—almost any subject is a good subject when it comes to reading over the summer.

Also, if your child is a reluctant reader, consider reading with your kids over the summer. This will keep their young minds active and strong, and it will play a crucial role in expanding their vocabularies by building their love of reading. Plus, who doesn’t love some extra family time?

2. Find a summer reading program.

Many libraries offer summer reading programs, specifically with the goal of combatting summer lag and gamifying reading and studying for students of all ages. These programs will vary by library and location, but the overall intention is typically the same: to make reading a fun activity for students and even offer prizes or rewards for hitting certain summer reading goals.

3. Turn summer vacations into learning experiences.

Another great way to create a summer learning plan for students is by using a planned summer vacation or trip as a topic of study. For example, if you are planning to visit a new city, then find a few books set in that city or even reference videos to share with your kids to get them excited about the trip. If you’re taking a road trip, then use the mileage as an opportunity to present your child with some fun, math-related challenges, such as calculating time between road stops based on miles left to travel and miles per hour. Or, if you’re visiting a specific museum exhibit, then encourage your kids to research the topic ahead of time so they can ask the museum experts questions.

Keep in mind that educational travel doesn’t have to be expensive or even far from home. You can visit local farms, landmarks, and botanical gardens. Many companies and government offices also offer educational tours.

A girl studying from a book during summer break

4. Turn to the outdoors for learning inspiration.

The summer months bring with them several new seasonal experiences and activities—all of which are ripe for learning about! If your child starts swimming lessons, then that’s a great opportunity to offer biographies of the lives of Olympic swimmers. If you go on hikes together outside in the summer, then find some guidebooks to help your child identify wildlife or plants you may encounter. Summer is a terrific time for students to practice their nature smarts and explore fun, do-it-yourself projects. The possibilities for learning are endless, and you never know what interests may be piqued.

5. Use games to prevent summer learning loss.

Summer learning is easier and more enjoyable when it becomes a game. Use game-based learning and play to take the drudgery out of learning during the summer. Here are some summer learning game ideas:

Play math at the pool by having kids retrieve two numbered diving sticks and add or multiply their numbers.
Have kids take turns playing banker in Monopoly or keeping score during card games.
Use Skittles or other small candies as manipulatives while practicing multiplication or division.
Practice spelling and vocabulary by playing Scrabble.
Entertain younger children on car rides by asking them to read road signs or count all the cows or yellow cars they see.

6. Explore summer education programs

For students who need to boost their skills or for those who want to get ahead in earning credits toward graduation, an official summer school program may be the best choice.

Summer school programs, such as Pearson Online Academy's® affordable online courses, allow students to catch up, get ahead, or enrich their summer with learning that can easily fit into family summer plans.

You can also explore summer learning programs offered by camps, colleges, community organizations, and parks.

Parents can Reduce Summer Learning Loss

With the ideas above for inspiration, you’ll be well equipped to keep your children learning during the summer break while still letting them rest and recharge during the summer. For more learning activities and some downloadable project sheets, check out our resources page.

When schools close, the whole world can become your child’s classroom. To learn more about how you can get more involved in your children’s education during school breaks, check out more helpful articles and activities on Connections Academy’s® Resource Hub.