Summer is an important time for students to recharge from a demanding school year. However, the long summer months also raise concerns about students losing academic ground during the summer break. This phenomenon, also known as the Summer Learning Loss, has garnered significant attention from educators and parents alike. What is it exactly, and how can we help children avoid it?

With the right strategies in place, parents can help prevent the summer slide.

Is Summer Learning Loss Real?

Concerns about Summer Learning Loss date back approximately 100 years. With improved methods and larger samples to examine its reality, multiple recent assessments indicate that test scores flatten or drop during the summer.

With data from 3.4 million students in all 50 states from 2016 to 2018, research found that the median summer losses are fairly large in magnitude, ranging from losses of one to two months in reading and a little more than one to three months of school-year learning in math.
Across primary grades, between 70% and 78% of students experience a decline in math skills over the summer, and between 62% and 73% show regressions in reading.
A longitudinal study by Johns Hopkins University researchers found that more than two-thirds of the reading achievement gap in 9th grade can be traced back to Summer Learning Loss accumulated during the primary school years.

Students’ learning patterns during summer break differ significantly from those during the school year, making it natural for them to learn less or forget some knowledge over the summer. However, it is also clear across recent studies that summer is a variable time for students. Educational experts advocate for additional summer opportunities to reduce the slowdown or stagnation in students’ learning rates.

“Summer learning loss is common and substantial, but not inevitable. ”
– Megan Kuhfeld, Senior Research Scientist at Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), 2019

What Parents Can Do to Help Students

Summer break is not something to overly worry about. It can become an opportunity for students to learn, catch up, or build certain interests. A 2020 American Educational Research Journal (AERJ) study found summer learning outcomes “vary dramatically from child to child,” based on factors including summer activities and parental involvement.

There are many activities that parents and families can do to mitigate Summer Learning Loss, spark a love of learning in kids, and ensure an engaging summer vacation:

Travel as a catalyst to children’s growth and development:

A summer trip can spark your child’s passion for learning and foster a global perspective like no other. Life on the road is the perfect time to develop children’s social skills and cultural appreciation in a language-immersed environment.

Engage with educational activities from community resources:

Libraries, museums, and natural parks are trusted places where children make discoveries, expand their knowledge, and connect their natural curiosity to the real world. Learning experiences in these institutions are self-directed, experiential, and content-rich, promoting executive function skills that shape a child’s success in school and life.

Use the Internet wisely for home-based education:

A handful of online platforms, services, and publishers have made their content accessible to keep students learning nowadays. Not only does virtual learning allow flexible scheduling, but also a wider range of courses are offered across the Internet to satisfy different children’s levels and interests.

Summer Camps and Programs Can Help

Structured summer programs can provide a balanced mix of learning and fun, ensuring that children stay intellectually engaged while also enjoying their break.

One of the biggest differences between Tessa Summer Camp and other camps is that we are a language immersion camp, offering a unique and enriching experience for children. At the camp, students continue their language development throughout the summer. Campers love to learn Spanish, French, or Mandarin!

Hear more from our campers’ parents here.

Tessa Summer Camp enables children to have fun while keeping learning in an immersive environment.

Rethinking Summer Learning Loss reinforces our goal of preparing lifelong learners. When schools are out, the whole world becomes our child’s classroom. With the ideas above for inspiration, parents can help students focus on the joy of learning during this golden period. These efforts will serve as a critical bridge for students transitioning between school years, ensuring they return to school ready to progress and excel.

Are you ready to explore the only international leading private school in Hoboken?

Contact Tessa International School to learn more!

At Tessa International School, we make it our mission to prepare our students to be leaders of the 21st century and happy world citizens. During the summer months, traveling with your children can be a great way to introduce them to the diversity beyond our borders.

Traveling with your children can be a fun and very educational way to broaden their mindsets. When you travel with your children, you are allowing them to observe and experience new places, languages, foods, and cultures first-hand. At Tessa International School, we strongly believe in preparing our children to embrace the world with enthusiasm, confidence, and the strong will to make a difference. Traveling is one of the key ways to help develop their open-mindedness, curiosity, flexibility, independence and many other skills at an early age that are necessary for them to succeed in our highly interconnected and globalized world. Raising global children means sending them off into the world better prepared to tackle the issues of the 21st century.

Here are our top five reasons to travel with your kids:

It is a great way to spend valuable time together as a family. There is no better way to show your child that you care than to spend time together. Travelling will certainly leave you with some remarkable photos and unforgettable memories!
It broadens your child’s mindset and perspective of the world. It is amazing how quickly children catch on to subtle differences in their environment. Travelling presents a wonderful opportunity to spark their curiosity and imagination.
Travel allows your child to develop their self-esteem, confidence and independence. Exposing your children to new and different cultures will undoubtedly teach them new things. It will also a great way to strengthen their character and discover who they are and where they come from.
It teaches them to embrace diversity. Meeting new people, listening to foreign languages, and trying new foods are all great experiences that showcase the differences in our cultures. Celebrate the diversity!
Before you know it, your child will become a seasoned traveler. You may be hesitant to take your little one along for the vacation, however, it is an excellent way to set expectations and let them grow accustomed to what is expected of them on travel days.

It’s never too early to start exploring the world with your little one. Visit our website to learn more about our world class curriculum and language immersion programs in either French or Spanish. At Tessa, we understand the importance of preparing our children to take on whatever challenges life throws at them and embrace global opportunities with enthusiasm and confidence. RSVP to join us at our next information session or call us to schedule an appointment at (201) 755-5585.

Safe travels and we look forward to meeting you and your family soon!

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Turn Summer Learning Loss into Opportunities for Your Kids