Summer Learning Loss

Summer learning loss is a phenomenon parents and educators have long acknowledged as a significant setback to academic achievement. According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, math proficiency is particularly susceptible to the summer learning slide. Students lose two to two and a half months of the math computational skills they learned during the school year.

Additionally, the summer slide can have long-lasting effects on a student’s academic life. “Early summer learning losses can potentially lead to long term consequences, including acceptance into the accelerated math opportunities, successfully navigating honors courses, and SAT/ACT scores.”

Experts widely agree that summer math practice provides a solution. Studies have shown that students who attend summer programs with a math component score higher on math tests the following school year than students unable to participate in summer instruction. Students who remain engaged in math throughout the summer are able to close gap skills, advance their problem solving, or preview new material that could prove challenging in the fall. We all know reading over the summer is important. Mathing over the summer is as well!

Incorporating math studies into a student’s summer routine brings other significant benefits. Families take advantage of the more relaxed environment of summer break as a golden opportunity to improve math performance. During summer break, children have more unstructured time, allowing them to enjoy and advance in the subject without the pressure of homework and tests. We get to truly focus on mastery of concepts and acquiring new skills. These are ideal conditions for effectively absorbing new information.