As the summer holidays approach, learning loss becomes the biggest concern of parents. But the good news is that summer loss can be prevented.

What is Summer Learning Loss?

Summer learning loss, also known as summer setback, refers to when the students fall to a lower academic level because of not learning and practising during their summer vacation. As a result, children return to school and struggle to catch up with advanced academic learning in the next grade.

Here are a few facts or summer learning loss statistics that show why it is seriously problematic:

• Over the summer, children lose 2.6 months of math skills.

• During the summer vacation, children also lose 2 months of reading skills.

• Children require 6 weeks to re-learn old material to make up for the summer learning loss.

However,it takes not more than 2 to 3 hours of work every week to prevent learning loss.

Let’s understand in detail how to prevent summer learning loss.

Tips to Prevent Learning Loss Through Summer Learning at Home

1. Include Reading in Children’s Routine –Loss of reading skills in younger children is a major learning loss that parents worry about. So, as soon as the summer vacation starts, make a trip to your local library and pick a few books to create a reading habit in your child. Let them select a few on their own to make them feel genuinely interested in reading every day, even if it is just half an hour a day.  Also, make sure that there are a couple of challenging books that would introduce them to new ideas and words. Not only will your child retain what they learned at school, but they will also end up learning more and be better prepared for the next grade after the vacation ends.

2. Encourage Learning Through Interactive Games –Educational games are an excellent way to make vacations fun while also preventing summer learning loss. There are several board games,including mathematics, vocabulary, and English learning games. For example, the Sum Swamp game requires players to roll a die and perform quick calculations to determine the number of steps to move. Similarly, games like Treasure Hunt and Charades work great in improving reading and vocabulary skills in children. Moreover, interactive and educational games also enable children to think out of the box, enhancing their creativity and critical skills, which further helps them perform well in the academic setting.

3. Encourage Creative Writing – From writing essays in school to stories in college and well-structured emails at work, creative writing for kids goes a long way in helping them express themselves better in the real world. It boosts imagination, enhances persuasion skills, develops confidence, and also improves problem-solving and analysis skills. So, encourage summer learning at home by helping your child discover the power of creative writing. To make it interesting, hold creative writing competitions with your child and their cousins or friends. Give writing prompts or visual clues to get kids started. Deriving writing prompts from real-life events (for example a visit to the zoo) will help kids find creative writing more interesting. Encouraging children to start journaling is another great way to build a creative writing habit in children.                         

4. Encourage Learning From Outdoor Experiences – Kids learn better when they engage in hands-on activities. So, plan outdoor activities for kids during their summer vacation, such as visits to the anthropological exhibits, museums, zoos, etc. And don’t make it just a viewing experience; take every opportunity to interact with your child and ask questions to reinforce learning.

You can also encourage them to put together a small presentation with pictures from their trips and show it in family gatherings or post-dinner where they would explain each picture as if teaching everybody. This can be great to prevent summer loss of skills, such as presentation and reading skills.

Explore Kids’ Interests – There is no better teacher than curiosity. Your child may be fascinated by things, such as rocks, space, stamps, dinosaurs, etc. So, pay extra attention to notice things they like and encourage them to learn more. They may eventually stumble upon career choices that are not usually introduced in classrooms, such as astronomy, rock collection, paleontology, ancient history, etc. And if they use holidays to study about things that may turn out to be great career opportunities, you need not worry about academic learning loss during summer. Children deserve a break too. So, don’t push them to study from the old curriculum during summer. Instead, make learning fun with the tips explained above. You will be surprised to see how even things other than books can bring a lot of learning.

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