Summer is almost here. For families in Westwood and nearby communities, LAUSD's calendar puts the last day of school somewhere in mid-to-late June, which means about eight weeks until the start of next term.
Eight weeks with little to no contact with math.
For most kids, that's long enough for real, measurable learning loss to set in. The encouraging part is that it's largely preventable, and it doesn't take as much as you might think to make a real difference.
Not all subjects are affected equally by the summer break, and math is usually the one that takes the biggest hit. Here's why.
There are two kinds of knowledge at play:
The first is conceptual understanding: reasoning, making connections, and explaining why something works. This tends to hold up well over a long break because it was built through thinking, and thinking doesn't stop in July.
The second is procedural knowledge, and this is where summer does its damage. Math facts, multi-step computation, and the fluency your child spent months building: these need regular retrieval to stay automatic. A few weeks without practice and skills that felt solid in June can start feeling shaky in September.
Reading doesn't have this problem to the same degree. Literacy gets passive reinforcement everywhere: books, instructions, screens, and everyday conversation. Math doesn't have that kind of ambient upkeep, so it has to be encountered deliberately to stay sharp.
We see this in our center, you might have observed it at home as well, and there are studies that confirm this trend.
A landmark meta-analysis by Cooper et al., synthesized in an ERIC research brief, found that summer loss in math is consistently larger than in reading, with computation and math facts taking the biggest hit.
A government research brief on summer learning adds an important nuance: math loss occurs across income levels, unlike reading loss, which tends to be more pronounced for lower-income students. That means that no family is exempt from this pattern.
Of course, the exact size of the loss varies by child and cohort. But the direction is consistent enough that it's worth planning around, and the earlier you do, the better positioned your child will be come September.
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The instinct for a lot of families is to schedule a big review session before school starts or to pick up a summer workbook and work through it sporadically. Both are better than nothing, but neither is what experts recommend.
So what does work?
Our tutors have found that the families who see the best results over summer tend to do three things consistently.
Working with your child at home, fifteen to twenty minutes of focused practice several times a week does more to protect fluency than a long session once a month.
A 2015 study published in the Journal of School Psychology found that distributing math practice across multiple short sessions produced significantly higher fluency growth rates than the same amount of practice completed in a single block and without adding any extra instructional time.
In other words, three ten-minute sessions spread across a day did more for math fact fluency than one thirty-minute sitting.
If you are seeking professional support, longer sessions tend to be more practical and effective. At Mathnasiu, sessions are typically an hour long, and the key to keeping students engaged is a combination of:
Personalized learning plans
A combination of multisensory teaching tactics
Celebrating every win and progress, no matter how small
Face-to-face instruction in a fun, small-group learning environment
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These are the first skills to slip, so they deserve deliberate attention.
The Cooper et al. meta-analysis found that summer loss is most detrimental for math computation specifically, identifying fact- and procedure-based knowledge as more vulnerable to memory decay than conceptual understanding.
Keeping retrieval automatic over summer, through games, apps, or simple practice, means cognitive bandwidth is available for reasoning when school resumes rather than being spent rebuilding skills that were already there in June.
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A study on summer math programs found that participating students experienced significantly less summer loss than peers with no structured support. Even when the program didn't dramatically boost overall achievement, it converted large losses into small ones.
A meta-analysis of 37 summer programs published by AERA found positive average impacts on math achievement across the board. The most effective programs shared three features: small groups, individualized instruction, and family engagement.
That last point is practical for parents. Your involvement, even just sitting nearby, asking how it went, or playing a math game together, is part of what makes structured summer support work.
For families in Westwood and the surrounding Los Angeles communities, Mathnasium of Westwood's summer program is built around exactly these three features: small groups, face-to-face instruction tailored to each student's specific gaps, and regular communication with parents so you stay informed and involved throughout the summer.
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Mathasium centers are open year-round, helping students stay sharp over the summer.
Knowing what works is one thing. Making it happen across eight weeks of camps, travel, and a general loosening of routine is another.
Here's what we'd suggest:
Anchor practice to something already happening. After breakfast, before screen time, on the drive to the pool: tying a short session to an existing habit removes the daily negotiation of when it fits. Ten to fifteen minutes is enough.
Use games and real-world contexts. Cooking fractions, budgeting a day trip, tracking sports statistics: these keep procedural skills active without feeling like school. Your child is doing math; they just don't experience it as homework.
Know your child's specific weak spots before summer starts. Targeted practice is consistently more effective than generic grade-level review. There's no point covering ground that's already solid. If you're not sure where the gaps are, a diagnostic assessment at the start of summer is the most efficient way to find out.
Keep the bar realistic. Even modest, consistent summer math engagement meaningfully reduces loss compared with no engagement at all. The goal isn't to replicate the school year. It's to keep the runway clear so your child can hit the ground running in September.
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Mathnasium is a math-only learning center dedicated to helping K-12 students learn and master math at every level, from the foundational skills of early elementary through the more demanding content of high school.
At Mathnasium, summer is one of the happiest seasons—a great time to address the knowledge gaps that slowed a student down during the school year, without the pressure of keeping pace with a class at the same time.
Our proprietary teaching approach, the Mathnasium Method™, is designed to identify and address exactly what each student needs, whether the goal is catching up, keeping their skills sharp, or getting ahead before the next year begins.
Every student begins with a diagnostic assessment that identifies exactly where their foundational understanding needs strengthening.
From there, we build a personalized learning plan and work through it in small groups with specially trained tutors: face-to-face and in response to how your child is thinking in real time.
That's the model that research identifies as the most effective, and it's how we've structured our programs from the start.
And the results speak for themselves:
94% of parents report an improvement in their child's math skills and understanding
93% of parents report their child's improved attitude toward math after attending Mathnasium
90% of students saw an improvement in their school grades
Summer is a short window. Used well, it can make September look very different.
At Mathnasium of Westwood, we serve families across Westwood and the surrounding Los Angeles communities, and our summer programs are designed to carry students smoothly into the next school year.
Whether your child is looking to catch up, keep up, or get ahead, our team is ready to assist.
📅 Schedule a Free Diagnostic Assessment at Mathnasium of Westwood.
Not in Westwood?
Mathnasium of Westwood is a math-only learning center for K-12 students in Los Angeles, CA. Trusted by over a million parents, Mathnasium uses personalized learning plans and the proprietary Mathnasium Method™ to help students catch up, keep up, and get ahead on their math journey.
Our specially trained tutors deliver face-to-face instruction in a supportive and fun small-group environment, working with students to develop a deep understanding of math, build confidence, and improve academic performance.
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