Five Ways to Ease the “Summer Slide”

Summer should be a time for kids to relax, have fun and hopefully make some fun memories. Unfortunately, the extended break from school also leads to something often referred to as the “summer slide,” or summer learning loss. One might think that a child would just pick up in the fall where they left off at the end of the school year. Research shows this is not true.

On average, students’ achievement scores declined over summer vacation by one month’s worth of school-year learning. The declines were sharper for math than for reading and the extent of loss was larger at higher grade levels (Quinn, Polikoff 2017). As a mom of an almost fourth grader and one about to enter middle school, this concerns me.

But while it concerns me, I also live in the reality that I am not going to be able to completely commit to a robust at-home summer academic program. My kids have never been interested in academic based camps and I have always been ok with putting fun as a priority for their summers.

This being said, there are a few things I implemented this summer that seem to be working out well. Here are five ideas to help ease the summer slide.

Look into your Work Benefits. I recently found out that my benefits at work completely cover virtual one-on-one tutoring. I have enough “credits” for each of my kids to have weekly individual one-hour long math, writing or reading sessions through the end of 2023. We use a company called Varsity Tutors and no kidding, both of my kids actually enjoy the sessions because they got connected with tutors who are a great fit for them. I have to basically do nothing so it’s an extra win taking the work off my plate. It’s only once a week so it’s not overwhelming but still way better than nothing.

Bribe them. Shameful? Perhaps. But honestly, I have reached the point in parenting where I am ok with bribing my kids and not being embarrassed about it. My son entering middle school is all about earning money this summer. He’s too young for an actual job but isn’t too young to do chores including asking neighbors if they need help with things like weeding or wheeling their trash in and out. He also made an Excel spreadsheet with academic based items. We decided we will throw $1 here and $1 there for him completing certain things like writing assignments and math worksheets.

Write a Business Case. I blame the continued effects of remote learning a bit for this but my daughter who will be entering fourth grade still has a pretty low capacity when it comes to writing endurance. It is something I really want her to work on but it’s worse than pulling teeth to get her to do so. Even a pretty journal and asking her to write about her day each day becomes painful to execute. I have started having her write out her “business case” anytime she wants something like a later bedtime, to have a slumber party; you get the idea. For some reason, this worked and she is much more likely to write if it has something in it for her. Might be in the “bribe” category but it works so I am ok with that.

Create a Business Plan. We did this last summer and our kids had a lot of fun. It could also be a solo activity but we wanted ours to utilize team work. Here is an example but you basically have them develop a plan for starting a business. For us, any type of business is acceptable so we let them be creative and silly. I like it because it combines math, writing, creativity and presentation skills. Click here to see the template we use.

Practice What You Preach. This is the hardest one for me. I tell the kids most nights to read yet I honestly cannot recall the last time I read a whole book. This summer, I committed to an all household reading hour (ok it’s not a full hour) some days of the week. Not all days and not even necessarily most days. But some days, we all take a break to read and the rule is that we all do it. This sometimes will mean our eight year old reading to one of us and that counts as well.

Bonus: Check out FIVE more tips found here on All Mom Does for preventing that summer slide!