If you are worrying about the summer holidays and the impact it might have on your children’s learning, you may be wondering — does summer learning loss affect all children equally? The answer, simply, is no, and certain groups, like those with learning difficulties or disorders, may be impacted more strongly than their counterparts.
What Is Summer Learning Loss?
Summer learning loss is a common problem that affects most students, and refers to a loss of academic skills or knowledge that students often go through over the summer holidays (or any longer holiday period) due to what they learned at school not being reinforced, and the memories growing weaker until they are forgotten.
It is estimated that close to half of all students experience summer learning loss, with up to 20% of the year’s learning being lost over the weeks, and 40% over the years of school. While anyone can experience it, have you ever wondered ‘does summer learning loss affect all children equally’?
Are Some Subjects More Likely to be Forgotten Than Others?
Some skills, such as mathematics and literacy, are most affected by summer learning loss, with maths taking the top spot. This is primarily because of how the lessons and skills that students have learned over the course of the year are not reinforced, and memory decay occurs as a result. When skills and memories are not strengthened through practice and repetition, they get forgotten—and this is very likely to happen if there are no activities where children can practice these skills.
Which Children Are Most Affected?
So, does summer learning loss affect all children equally? The answer is, unfortunately, no. Specific groups are most impacted, including those with learning differences (especially dyscalculia), children with different language backgrounds, and those how like socioeconomic status. Younger children are also more likely to experience summer learning loss, but it can happen to anyone at any age.
Does Inequality Play a Role in Summer Learning Loss?
Inequality does play a role in summer learning loss, particularly for those from low socioeconomic backgrounds. It has been found that children from low-income families are disproportionately impacted by ‘summer slide’, due to their lessened ability to access things like books, various kinds of enrichment activities, and even summer programmes or camps.
How Are SEN and Neurodiverse Learners Impacted?
Children with special education needs (SEN) or neurodivergence are more heavily impacted by summer learning loss for a number of reasons as well. With summer comes a disrupted routine, which can make everyday life more challenging for many children, but especially those with autism. When there is no routine, it is easier for skills to be forgotten more quickly, resulting in setbacks when the time comes to return to school.
However, children with ADHD are among the most impacted due to difficulties with organisation and sustaining attention, resulting in them losing skills more quickly than other groups. Overall, it can be incredibly difficult for neurodivergent children and those with SEN to get back into the mind space of learning, which is why routines and activities are crucial for mitigating summer learning loss, and keeping our children’s self-esteem high while continuing their education even throughout summer.
What Are Some Ways to Minimise Summer Learning Loss at Home?
Some ways to minimise summer learning loss at some include creating a flexible routine to work with, and coming up with activities that your children will both enjoy, and learn from. Important activities can include a summer reading programme to keep reading levels up, incorporating everyday maths into your days (this is perfect for when you go shopping), and playing brain-boosting games and puzzles.
There are all kinds of things that you can enjoy, and your imagination is the limit. Just remember that everyone is different, and one of your kids might love the ideas we offer, while the other absolutely hates them! Whether your kids are into sports or arts, there will be fun, brain-boosting activities for them to do that will help prevent summer learning loss.
Use Technology Wisely
Technology is not a bad thing—but an overreliance on it is. Everyone lives a busy life, but research has shown that too much technology, especially scrolling on social media, has a detrimental impact on children’s brains. So, while too much of it is bad, you should absolutely leverage it to your advantage and use it as a tool where you can, rather than a way to aimlessly pass time.
Get your kids using technology in a way that benefits them, and where they can learn from it. This could be through educational videos or podcasts, doing digital art, or learning any other skills.
Routines Are Your Friend
Routines can help children stay mentally sharp because they provide emotional security and remove a lot of stress that comes with the unknown. Setting up and sticking to a healthy routine is fantastic for helping with self-regulation and regulating behaviours, leading to overall better mental and emotional health. This, in turn, will also help with focus and learning, and allow children to excel in what they do, both during the summer, and back in school.
Make an Effort to Include Activities That Prevent Summer Learning Loss
Activities can change due to sickness, weather, energy levels, and more, so it’s key to have flexibility. However, it’s important that you get your kids involved in brain-boosting activities that will reduce summer learning loss, keep them entertained, and help them continue learning new things. From learning a language or taking up painting, or even trying out DIY science projects and doing everyday maths at home, there are great options that you can explore.
To prevent summer learning loss, you can choose a handful of different activities to do every single week, depending on your schedule. For example, you might want to incorporate daily reading, language learning, maths practice, and physical activities every day, while you can do a weekly DIY science project and/or educational trip. Every week might look a little bit different as you include more activities, but this is going to be something that you and your family need to work out.
Top activities that can help to prevent summer brain drain:
- Take part in a summer reading programme
- Practice everyday maths
- Learn or build on a language
- Spend time exploring the garden (and the critters in it!)
- Go on educational trips
- Try out cool DIY science projects
- Do brain-boosting games and puzzles
- Limit aimless time on technology/screen time
- Stay physical and enjoy sports
- Dive into creative outlets like art or music
- Participate in a brain training program
How The Brain Workshop Can Help Bridge the Gap
With us, brain training can be customised to support every person’s individual needs and prevent summer brain drain over long holidays. We carry out thorough assessments to understand your child’s baseline and any areas where they might struggle, and ensure that their brains are kept active through the weeks of freedom. We can help to improve attention, memory, reading, and various processes such as visual and auditory to help your children get the leg up they need.
Our assessments are available in more than 20 languages including English, French, Spanish, Russian, and Cantonese, ensuring that individuals all around the world can benefit from our extensive training and resources.
So, does summer learning loss affect all children equally? The answer is no, with children from low socioeconomic families, those with special education needs, and neurodivergent children experiencing summer learning loss the most. However, through work and determination, there are steps you can take to help.
Worried about learning loss this summer? The Brain Workshop offers cognitive training and enrichment to keep kids sharp all year long. Learn more about us at the Brain Workshop, meet our team, check out events, or even read our FAQ.
