Popsicles on the beach, swimming, and summer camps have probably been big topics at the dinner table as your child gets excited about summer. While summer is an important time for kids to recharge and have time to dive into other enrichment opportunities, it is also risky to take an extended period of time away from academics without some intermittent practice. Taking time off from learning for a whole summer might result in what’s referred to as “Summer Slide.”
What is Summer Slide?
Summer Slide (also called Summer Learning Loss) is a name for the tendency for students to lose familiarity with concepts and skills they’ve learned over the school year while they’re on summer vacation. The progress students work so hard to make during the school year is slowly chipped away at by time and can take up to two months to make up for once the school year resumes.
How to Prevent Summer Slide
Luckily, there are many activities you can engage your child in to help them maintain and even further their academic skills!
Reading Habits
Having your child read regularly during the week will help them keep up with their reading fluency and comprehension skills. Help your child find books that will interest them by using the Scholastic Book Wizard Tool!
Library Reading Programs
Most public libraries have reading programs that incentivize students to read over the summer. Registration for the San Diego Public Library’s 2023 Summer Reading Program starts June 1st!
Summer “Homeschool”
To support your child in their learning, you could implement a weekly “Summer School” activity. Perhaps every Saturday morning you and your child play a math game and read a book together, or they work on a project over the summer that will culminate in a final presentation that they give to the whole family. The ideas are endless!
Volunteer
Volunteering is a great way to help your child socialize and learn about the world around them. They can have a meaningful experience helping others and could even write a short report on what they learned!
Summer Programs
Another great way to keep your child’s progress on track is to sign them up for a summer program that will nurture their skills and enjoyment of learning. One-on-one programs make sure that curriculum can be tailored to your child’s needs and strengths and increase the chances that they will have a smooth transition back to school in the fall. At La Jolla Learning, we offer summer programs for reading, writing, math, executive functioning skills, test prep, and more!
