Combating the ‘Summer Slide’

Expanded Learning Academy CEO and Founder details ways to strengthen young minds as they return from summer break

Vacaville Unified School District teacher Marivic Allender, from Padan Elementary, walks students through lesson. She is currently teaching the elementary cohort of the district’s Newcomer Students Summer Session. (Courtesy Photo)

The summer months are a crucial time for students at every level, with many spending time without formal education as they await the new school year.

In recent years, the time spent while young ones swap their seat in a classroom for sun-soaked days, void of practice worksheets, has been dubbed the “Summer Slide” — the loss of academic skills that typically occur between school years.

While there are preventative measures that parents can take, like restricting electronics and replacing screen time with outdoor play, sports, reading, or puzzles, an important aspect is making a habit of aiming to strengthen learning outside the classroom.

“Summer is where education comes to life,” says Ronald “Ron” Robinson, Founder & CEO of Expanded Learning Academy.

“One of my favorite questions for families is, ‘How can we use something you learned this year?’” he said. “If your child learned about plants, grow a small garden. If they studied weather, keep a weather journal. If they’re learning multiplication, let them help double a recipe.”

Those experiences, he adds, not only reinforce classroom learning while encouraging creativity and problem-solving — it’s a shift that will hopefully make it more lasting.

“Every child leaves school with knowledge. Summer allows them to put that knowledge into action,” he says. “When children apply what they've learned in meaningful ways, they begin to understand that education isn’t about memorizing information. It’s about making sense of the world around them.”

The father of four and longtime educator stressed the idea that learning, while it initially may take place in the classroom, wasn’t always meant to stay there.

While the term “summer slide” is still a valid description of the subtle loss of learning that occurs during the summer, it’s a valuable reminder of the need to build on students’ success in and out of the academic year, Robinson says.

“Yes, students can lose some academic skills over the summer, but what concerns me most is when they lose opportunities to apply what they’ve learned,” he said. When children can connect what they learned during the school year to real-world experiences, their curiosity becomes authentic and “exploration” finds a purpose.

“Those experiences don’t just help remind students of what they learned. “They help them understand why they learned it in the first place,” he said.

Reinforced learning can occur year-round.

Visiting a farmers market and letting your child calculate the total cost, building a birdhouse together, and discussing measurements, visiting a museum and asking questions about history, or cooking with one another to explore outside cultures and traditions are just a few ways to do so.

“Success isn’t measured by how many worksheets were completed. It’s measured by how many meaningful experiences helped a child grow in confidence, curiosity, and independence,” said Robinson.