What is the 'Summer Slide'?
What is the ‘Summer Slide’?
Did you know that children can lose up to 3 months of learning over the Summer break?
The ‘Summer Slide’ is the umbrella term used for the loss of knowledge gained during the school year over their Summer break. Many people do not know that loss caused by the ‘Summer Slide’ is cumulative. This means that a child could lose a whole 2-years’ worth of learning over their educational journey!
Facts about Summer Learning Loss
1• Studies have shown that the Summer Slide can be detrimental to reading, spelling, and maths skills, indicating a loss of 2-months of learning achievement.
★ Findings suggest that this could be due to “memory decay”, which effects fact-based and procedure-based skills (including important learning strategies). (1)
2• Low-income students are more at-risk, showing to lose more than 2-months of learning achievement compared to other income groups.
★ Findings suggest that this could be due to unequal access to Summer learning opportunities. (2)
3• Research spanning across 100 years shows that students score lower on the same test at the end of Summer vacation, compared to the beginning. (3)
4• Summer Slide loss is cumulative. This means that every 2-months lost adds up, costing children up to 2 years of learning loss all due to the Summer Slide. (4)
5• The Summer Slide effects everyone, including parents and teachers, as more time is spent fixing or “catching up” on lost skills.
★ Teachers report that it can take them up to 6 weeks to catch up on the learning lost over Summer! (5)
How to Kick the ‘Summer Slide’
• The Nessy Reading and Spelling worksheets are printable and can be used anywhere.
• Nessy certificates are a great way to reward Summer learning.
• Practice learning strategies in fun ways with Nessy’s YouTube videos.
• Read Decodable eBooks, or print them out to protect their reading skills on-the-go and in the sun.
☛Nessy’s Top Tip: eBooks on a tablet allow for easy packing compared to taking lots of books on holiday!
• Add to this with Nessy Colouring eBooks that can be coloured in for additional, memorable learning.
• Finally – Have fun! Using Nessy for only 20 minutes a day is proven to have the best success against the Summer Slide.
Stop the ‘Summer Slide’ and Give Your Child a Literacy Boost
The Summer Pack, created specifically for the summer break, offers 3-month’s access to Nessy’s award-winning literacy programs at an affordable cost. Perfect for parents and homeschoolers.
Get 20% OFF today
use the code STOPSLIDE20 at checkout
Looking for Year-Round Learning Loss Prevention?
The Home Education Pack contains the same award-winning literacy programs as the Summer Pack, but gives your child year-round access to reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and typing at an affordable cost.
References:
(1) Cooper, H., Nye, B., Charlton, K., Lindsay, J., Greathouse, S. The Effects of Summer Vacation on Achievement Test Scores: A Narrative and Meta-Analytic Review: Review of Educational Research, Vol. 66, Iss. 3. 1996. Sage Journals Publishing.
(2) Allen, P. J., Noam, G. G. Youth Perspectives on Engagement and Resilience: A Representative Study on Summer Learning. 2022. Summer Learning Online, www.summerlearning.org.
(3) Austrew, A. How to Prevent Your Kids From Losing What They Learned in School During Summer Vacation. 2022. Scholastic Online, www.scholastic.com.
(4) Summer Slide: What The Research Says. Section I: What the Studies Say About “Summer Slide”. Homeschool.com Online, www.homeschool.com.
