As a parent, you likely know that most schools in the United States offer students a lengthy summer vacation every year during their K-12 years, but you may not know how this long break from the classroom affects your child's education. Many parents suffer the misconception that, after this long break, children can just pick up where they left off when attending classes in the fall.
However, long summer vacations actually lead to summer learning loss, which is a phenomenon that leads to children simply forgetting many of the skills they were taught in the classroom during the prior school year.
Read on to learn more about summer learning loss along with two ways you can help prevent summer learning loss in your child when they don't attend a year-round school.
Summer learning loss can affect all children, whether they typically earn the best grades in the classroom or struggle with learning disabilities. On average, during the long, lazy days of summer, children in grades K-12 forget about one entire month of classroom material they were taught the prior year. However, two subjects that are affected by summer learning loss the most include math and reading.
The average child forgets about two-and-a-half months of the math skills they were taught during the prior school, and low-income children lose about two months’ worth of reading skills each and every summer.
Due to summer learning loss, elementary school teachers typically spend the first few days of school reviewing the prior year's curriculum before they begin teaching new classroom material. However, this review time is not enough for many children, and this review time is often not offered in middle schools or high schools.
No child is immune to summer learning loss, so every parent should be sure to take steps to help keep their child from experiencing it. Of course, if your child is already struggling in the classroom, especially in their reading and/or math class, then it is especially important for you to help prevent summer learning loss in your child this summer and help them finally begin getting ahead in class.
There are two ways you can help prevent summer learning loss in your child each summer:
Have your child participate in learning activities at home for 30 minutes every day during the summer. There are many fun, yet educational, activities you can engage in with your child during the summer, and working just 30 minutes of education into your child's day during the summer can help prevent summer learning loss. The activities you choose can be tailored to the subjects your child struggles most in, or you can mix it up and have your child practice a different subject each day.
Learning activities that are easy to engage in at home include reading books with your child, playing fun math- or science-based video games together, or even playing a good game of trivia. You and your child can also participate in learning activities outside of the home, such as trips to local history or science museums.
Enroll your child in summer tutoring lessons and/or learning workshops. If you are like many parents today, you likely have a busy schedule each day, so you may worry that you won't be able to engage in learning games or lessons with your child each and every day during the summer. Instead of worrying, look into local summer tutors who can meet with your child to help them stay ahead (or get them caught up) in the classroom. Just a couple of tutoring sessions each week can help keep your child get ahead in the classroom.
There are also many local learning centers, like
One To One Learning Center, that offer summer learning workshops where children of similar ages get together to work on their math, reading, writing, and other classroom skills together in small groups.
Whether your child is thriving in the classroom or falling behind, it is important to understand that summer learning loss can affect any child whose school offers a long summer break. With the above tips, you can help prevent it.
