Prevent Summer Learning Loss

posted by Karen Quinn, The Testing Mom - May 3rd, 2015

We have talked on this blog about how to prevent summer learning loss before. It’s no secret that summer brain drain, or summer slump, occurs for any child who goes all summer without consistent practice with the subjects they learn in school every day. The reason for this is obvious: when kids aren’t parked in a classroom and bringing home assignments every night, they get rusty in the subjects that they encounter in school. This is understandable, but it’s also a huge problem: kids whose parents don’t actively work to prevent summer learning loss end up losing two months or more of progress they made during the previous school year.

That’s why it’s imperative that you begin the work now to ensure that your child doesn’t just break even this summer, but that they actually get ahead. The good news is that it isn’t as hard as it sounds. There are a number of different theories on the best way to prevent summer learning loss, but the main task is simply to ensure that your child is exposed to the subjects and concepts that they face in school.

You can take any number of different approaches to achieve this goal and, importantly, none of them have to be “boring” or “traditional.” We all know that one of kids’ favorite summer pastimes is catching up on movies and TV shows. Why not watch a documentary about the Civil War to burnish their history skills? And kids love playing games when they have time off from school; instead of letting them play video games, take a half an hour and play a game like 24 that builds kids’ math abilities. The possibilities to prevent summer learning loss are endless: start planning your strategy today!