How to Stop the Summer Slide in its Tracks

This article is adapted from Ted's podcast episode 344: Learning Begins in Summer (Leadership, Parent Strategies and Reflection)

Summer is here and with it the end of the school year. While we're thinking about our summer plans, I want to talk to you about something that keeps me up at night as an educator: summer slide.

(This episode was sparked by my friend Mark from New London, who got me thinking about how we can frame our summers to keep children learning – whether they're your children, your nieces and nephews, grandchildren, or the children you support and serve every single day in your neighborhood.

The Two Systems Responsible for Learning

Before I dive into the research, I want to share something I believe deeply: there are two systems responsible for learning in the course of a child's life. The first system – and you might think I'm going to say school – is actually the family. The second is the school.

School may be over, but the responsibility for learning always starts at home. If families aren't paying attention to what happens during those summer months, we're creating gaps that compound year after year.

The Harsh Reality of Summer Slide

Let me give you some facts that'll wake you up faster than your morning coffee:

• Students lose two to three months of math skills over summer break. Math tends to show the most significant decline, which means we need to address this issue by taking action as families. 
• Reading skills can drop by one to two months, especially for younger students who aren't applying those skills.
• Summer learning loss is cumulative. Year over year, these losses add up to about two years of achievement gap by middle school if the summer months aren't being utilized to continue learning.
• Low-income students are hit even harder, losing more ground than their higher-income peers due to fewer summer enrichment programs and opportunities.

Think about this for a second: teachers spend four to six weeks reteaching old materials in the fall. That reduces time for new learning, compounding the problem over a child's entire academic career. Four weeks times 12 grades equals 48 weeks – that's a year and a half of school lost to reteaching what was forgotten over the summer.

The Digital Distraction Problem

I did some research that made my jaw drop. In the 1980s, the average daily screen time for a child was two to three hours, mostly television. In the 2020s? Seven to nine hours on multiple different types of screens.

In the '80s, there was one screen in the average American home – maybe two if you were well-to-do. Today? There are between six and 14 devices in every home. My mom could control my screen time by walking in and turning off the TV. Today's parents are trying to manage smartphones, tablets, televisions, and gaming devices; it's like trying to hold back a flood with a coffee filter.

A Museum Story That Changed Everything

Let me tell you a story about the power of intentional learning. Megan and I were at the Smithsonian Art Museum with our kids – Grace was about eight, and Charlie was 11. We were sitting on a bench playing our usual museum games: "Which Is Your Favorite?" and "I Spy."

We always find chairs or benches in museums because kids don't like walking miles and miles. They get tired, crabby, thirsty, and angry. Too many people run through these incredible collections trying to avoid all those things instead of controlling them.

So there we were, silently staring at four paintings on the wall, when a well-meaning grandfather tapped me on the shoulder. His grandchildren were running around the gallery playing tag around sculptures while we sat calmly with our kids.

"How are you doing this?" he asked. "Your kids look intent and calm. Mine are the same age and they're running around out of control."

I invited him to sit down and explained our game. We look at paintings on each wall to decide which is our personal favorite, pretending we get to take it home. Everyone picks their favorite, explains why, and shares what their favorite part is. Plus, we pretend we're spies because you can't eat snacks in the museum – we each have a handful of goldfish and have to be very inconspicuous.

The next day at the Air and Space Museum, Charlie tapped me and pointed across the room. There was the same grandfather, sitting on a bench with his entire family around him, playing the game. They were all calmly participating – a complete change from the day before.

I walked by, tapped him on the shoulder, and said, "Pretty sweet game, right?"

"It sure is," he replied.

The Teaching Pattern That Works

What Megan and I do follows a classic teaching pattern that any parent can use:

• Preview the activity before you get to the museum or destination. We tell the kids what we're looking for and what we're doing.
• Develop strategies when you're there. We're going to look for specific types of paintings, play games, and engage with what we're seeing.
• Assess their learning afterward. We talk about it over lunch or dinner to continue using and remembering what we learned.

This isn't rocket science, but it requires intentionality – that key word I keep coming back to.

Practical Strategies for Summer Supercharging

Here are some concrete ways to keep learning alive all summer long:

Audiobooks and Discussions

Get a couple of copies of the same book. Listen to it out loud while sitting on the couch or around the campfire, then pause and ask questions like, "What do you think is going to happen in the next chapter?" and "What was that character's name?" Ask questions like you're kind of dense and don't know the answers; it teaches comprehension and character analysis while being fun.

Math Everywhere

Every time you go to the grocery store, let them help add up costs as you go down the aisles. At the park, ask how many people they think are there. When you see mulch being delivered, talk about volume and square yards. Apples are a dollar a pound – if we get five pounds, how much will that cost? (It's five dollars, by the way.)

Family Book Clubs

Create a set time for everyone to read together. Set the number of pages, then discuss what you all read. The key here is stepping away from devices and creating time. And parents, when you finish reading before the kids do, don't pull out your phone. What are you modeling? Whatever you do is what they're going to do.

Wonder Out Loud

We need to re-teach parents how to wonder about the world out loud to encourage higher-order thinking. Take walks and increase observation skills. Play "I Spy" and discuss what you find. The power of observation and discussion is incredibly impactful for kids.

A Challenge to Educators

Here's my challenge to my educator friends: start posting on your social media accounts ways that parents can keep learning going all summer. Share the creative ways you approach learning like, "I just read this book with my kids" and "We played this game today at the park."

Why don't we energize social media for good by empowering people with different learning activities? Post books kids should be reading, ways to apply math, things that will make them better learners and more prepared for day one of school.

Somebody should start a summer learning TikTok series – it would take off like crazy! "Hey friends, here I am at the park. Look at this – they just dropped off five square yards of mulch. Five square yards equals..."

My Policy Dream

If I had my way as an educator and leader, here's what I'd do:

• I'd have birthing centers with teachers who explain to new parents how to support learning through developmental stages, especially numeracy and literacy, and what they can do every summer to support retention.
• I'd make every museum free for families in summer and hire educators to train parents on engaging activities in different museum sections.
• Parks would have learning activities posted everywhere – ways to learn, read, and apply math, science, and social studies wherever you go.
• Schools would have family sets of books for summer use, and libraries would deliver books to families like Amazon.
• Most importantly, parents would recognize they're responsible for their children's learning in partnership with the school, not that it's the school's sole responsibility.

The Buffalo Leader Challenge

We Buffalo leaders don't turn away from challenges like summer slide. We charge into the storms we face. And the summer slide is going to create a wider gap every summer as we move forward. There are too many digital distractions, family dynamics are changing, and kids are less patient.

But this is an opportunity to improve learning and skill attainment for everyone by paying attention to different ways to apply learning throughout the summer.

Here's my smart thinking challenge for you:

1. Describe your strategies for supporting homegrown learning
2. List the people in your life who could benefit from summer learning support
3. List your favorite learning strategies when you're with others  

Mine is the Cliff Clavin strategy – just randomly throwing out facts all the time. It drives my kids crazy now that they're 23 and 20, but when they were little, they loved the energy and excitement.

Taking Action This Summer

Summer slide is all of our responsibility. We need to step into this space and provide everyone with resources. The only way to change the behavior of others is to first change our own.

I can't tell you how rewarding and engaging it is to walk through the world with a sense of wonderment and curiosity and then share that with the little people in your life. When we travel, I keep that true sense of wonderment – I'm constantly like, "Look at this! Can you believe this? Look where we are!"

It might be annoying to my kids now, but when they were little, they loved feeling really special. They loved recognizing that we were lucky. It's through enthusiasm that we guide others to learn and love learning.

The Bottom Line

Reading just two to three books over the summer can help prevent reading loss. Daily learning activities as short as 15 to 30 minutes can maintain skills. Consistency impacts students more than intensity – doing it over and over is more important than doing a lot in a little bit of time.

Summer is the ultimate time to learn, grow, and go together. It's a chance to learn differently through exploration, travel, and real-world connections.

So Buffalo leaders, let's charge into this storm. Let's figure out ways to disrupt the accepted norm of summer slide. What can you institute over the next year to collect skills and methods that ensure parents and guardians can supercharge children as they enter the new school year?

The children in your life – whether they live in your home or you support them in your community – are counting on us to make their summers matter. Let's not let them down.

What will you do this season to learn, grow, and go? What you model and expect is what you get. So get to it, friends. None of this will matter unless we act.

Summer slide doesn't have to be inevitable. With intentionality, creativity, and a commitment to making learning an adventure, we can turn summer into the most powerful learning season of all.