The summer slide is a phenomenon that educators and researchers have been aware of for many decades. Absent the academics, enrichment, educational support, and engagement children receive during the school year, they can experience decline cognitively, socially, and sometimes even emotionally. This can make the first few months of transitioning into the school year more difficult, and the stress of falling behind may even lead to negative feelings about school or themselves.
The statistics can appear startling. Some research notes that children can lose up to two months of progress each summer, and that this loss is cumulative. However, it's not as scary as it seems. Research also shows that it only takes a couple of hours each week to combat the summer slide, and it doesn't have to be traditional learning.
It's important to note that children need a break from the stress and regimen of the school year. Months of sprawling on the couch and staring at the television can certainly be counterproductive, but the unstructured play time, new experiences, and outdoor activity that summer can provide may be just as vital to their growth and well-being as school.
Here are a few ways to enrich your child's cognitive and social skills, creativity, and overall well-being during the summer:
1. Make room for unstructured play
Spending time with friends, having conversations, and playing games with friends and family is more productive than you might think. Childhood play develops social and foundational motor skills and can hone executive function skills like problem solving and regulating emotion. Play sparks creativity and imagination, and it can even serve as a form of therapy, helping children work through concepts and concerns that they may not be mature enough to voice yet.
2. Consider some structured activity too
For some, structured activity can be beneficial. This could be any kind of group, camp, club, sport, or class, academics included. Sometimes summer is a good time to focus on remedial learning or building certain skills while there's less pressure on the schedule. As long as it does not overwhelm them, but rather sparks their interest, imagination, or hunger for learning, lets them socialize, or gets them thinking or moving, it is providing an opportunity for growth.
3. Try new activities
New activities, such as a vacation, a summer camp, or experimenting with new hobbies and interests, are especially enriching. Learning about new cultures and cities, experiencing new environments and climates, developing new skills, and making friends outside of one's peer group can all be incredibly beneficial. Experts have found that novel experiences can stimulate the brain and promote learning.
4. Limit time with tech and devices
Whether it's television, video games, social media scrolling, or internet surfing, screen time is best enjoyed in moderation. There's no doubt that all of us enjoy zoning out from time to time, and certain games and programs can be educational. Still, boredom boosts creativity, independence, and problem-solving skills, and will hopefully lead to reading, playing, socializing, moving our bodies, or getting outdoors.
5. Read together
Reading is a great downtime activity for both children and adults. In a Scholastic study, nearly 60 percent of children aged 6 to 17 said they loved or liked reading books for fun. The more students read or are read to for fun, the higher their reading scores, and it's a great way to encourage and explore areas of interest.
6. Keep some routine
Finally, keeping some type of routine each day or each week can help ease the back-to-school transition. Most of us, even as adults, thrive on routine, but this is especially true for children. It can limit stress, improve sleep and nutrition, and keep kids on track to head back into the school year. If we get off track, we can gradually ease back in as we move closer to fall.
Ethos Wellness offers therapy and counseling for children and psychoeducation groups led by experienced, master's-level clinicians. In small-by-design groups, children ranging from elementary to high-school age have the opportunity to develop communication and problem-solving skills in a supportive environment. If you'd like to learn more, reach out to our team.
