Written by, Kalpita
31st Jul 2025
Summer holiday break is a long one and it is a time for rest, for play, for being with family. But it is also when "Summer Learning Loss" is a common occurrence for so many young children. This phenomenon, sometimes known as the ‘Summer Slide,’ entails the loss of knowledge and skills that students suffer during prolonged breaks from school. Here is why it matters and some practical, inexpensive tidbits that parents raising young children can encourage at home so that their little ones continue learning, without being overly packed with activities or exorbitantly expensive camps.
As both an educator and a mom to a spirited 7-year-old girl, I see long school breaks through two lenses. On one hand, as an early childhood educator, I know first hand just how much loss young children undergo in their academic as well as non-academic skills during these breaks. On the other hand, as a parent, I hope to provide a childhood school vacation that’s full of magical memories for my kid – one packed with rest, rejuvenation, creativity (and boredom) – and not just endless structured activities and pricey camps. As a teacher-mom, I care about this learning loss so very much and the following are my reasons for preventing it – AND I do it for my daughter without burdening her (and of course, our pockets).
Summer Learning Loss: A ‘Real’ Dilemma
At the beginning of every academic year at preschools or elementary schools, educators around the world are in observation mode, watching their students struggle to do what they could easily do just a few months prior. According to research studies, a student loses 1 to 2 months of reading skills over the summer break; if not more in math, science, and sociology-emotional skills. Everyone would hence get set back and eat into new learning time which in turn could start chipping at the confidence of a child.
However, as a parent, I also realise that my daughter deserves this break-time to just relax and use her creative skills; and more importantly, she does not need a summer full of expensive programs or a rigid academic schedule.
How WE Make Learning Stick:
1. Reading Is Our Ritual
Even on busy days, we make sure there is at least a good fifteen-minute window of quiet time to sit next to each other either reading independently or having me read aloud while she listens. We discuss those stories as she explores a range of genres, and it's delightful listening to her recount characters and the accompanying fun facts in her own words.
Last summer, she discovered a series of graphic novels or comic series, after which she instantly got into ‘publishing’ her own comic books with funny looking characters saying their dialogues in speech or thought bubbles, using artistic fonts. This summer however, she discovered the genre of biographies and got more and more curious about her favourite, ‘famous people’ and their lives. She tries to look for relatable trivia and is specifically fascinated by timelines and fun facts.
2. Turning Everyday Life into Learning
As I work in the kitchen, she watches and learns about the ingredients, the measurements and the steps, making a mental note if not writing it down in her notepad. That's real-life math and literacy unfolding right there in my kitchen which she then role plays using her kitchen-set.
My all-time favourite, however, is when I allow grocery shopping to transform into an enjoyable lesson: making a list, budgeting for treats, comparing the look and feel of different fruits and vegetables, balancing the healthy and not-so-healthy foods and of course then scanning the items in the cart at the check-out counter.
Another easy learning comes from a simple walk or bike ride in our neighbourhood. That’s just enough to turn into an adventure - identifying flowers, describing shapes of clouds, or counting bugs. Talks like these brings out the inquirer in her and exercises her curiosity too.
3. Making Time for Unstructured Play
She often pulls out her own puzzles, building blocks, markers, maybe board games to invent, construct, and just play for her own satisfaction. Sometimes we make up silly games and obstacle courses indoors or outdoors. A bit of freedom is so conducive to learning.
This summer she started her own “Plushies School”. I could not only see her recreating her days spent at school but also how she is making subtle changes in that routine to make it her own unique school set-up. It’s like watching her run a school with her own vision, mission and objectives. Speaks volumes of her observational skills, her awareness and her drive to bring about a change.
4. Gentle Use of Screen Time
I'll sometimes let her use educational apps - there are great free apps which really do feel more like games than work. But I try to maintain that balance so that screen time does not become a sole activity that deters hands-on learning or even having down time. I also try and keep the screen time more interactive as a family like playing word searches or number games that also keep her in touch with reading and math.
What I enjoy watching her do in isolation however is ‘Sing-a-longs’. She reads the lyrics, ends up exercising her memory, sings to the beats, dances to the groove, and then writes down the lyrics in her notebook. I highly recommend this one for music lovers.
5. Following Her Curiosity with ‘Home-Projects’
She enjoyed learning about the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) at school last semester, so we extended that theoretical learning by making it applicable in our day-to-day lives. So, we made use of her school break to lean out her clothes, toys, games, and books. After a quick demo, she understood the sorting process and the criteria for items to either make it into the donation box or the scrap box. Thanks to her dad, she even went one step further and got into sorting the scrap pile into plastic, paper, fabric, electronic, cardboard, and general waste.
The highlight of this home project was the feeling of nostalgia she experienced as she shared her memories attached with each item – where it came from and when, who gifted it and for what, how she used it, with whom and where…. It became an exciting project for all of us to cherish – a lot of those moments were captured into our phone cameras.
Some Tidbits to Reflect On:
As I see it, summer breaks or any long-drawn break from school, shouldn't mean academic backsliding, non-academic regression, or even a non-stop schedule filled with pricey enrichment courses. The key is to find that happy medium where, learning makes its way joyfully into everyday life. My girl gets to have her well-deserved fun time while being mindfully supported in her development, AND I get to relish the thrill of watching her curiosity and learning bloom.
For all fellow parents out there:
“The heart of childhood learning isn’t found in a packed calendar, but in the simple, unscripted moments we share together — because often, the most important lessons come from the easiest times spent as one.”
