Your Kid Regressed This Summer. Here's How To Fix It

Aug. 7, 2013— -- Your children are probably headed back to school rejuvenated after a summer spent playing with friends and catching up with family.

That's important. Childrens' lives are more heavily scheduled than ever, and experts say free play is one of the best ways for kids to grow and learn. But they're probably also walking into a classroom academically behind where they were at the end of the last school year.

Studies show that kids regress academically during the summer, especially when it comes to math. The brain is a muscle that gets a lot of use during the school year. It's on a schedule; it solves math problems and reads books on a regular basis.

But when kids give it a break and focus instead on working calf muscles at the park or arm muscles in the pool, brains can get a little lazy.

Children lose ground on reading skills and math computation abilities during the summer, but the breaks are also problematic for teachers, who have to spend the first few weeks of school reviewing concepts their students have technically already mastered.

That's not the worst part, though.

The most at-risk students are also the ones who are most likely to regress. More than half the achievement gap between upper- and lower-income young people can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities. And those differences have long-lasting impacts. A study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that summer learning differences "substantially account" for how future achievements play out, like whether a teen is placed in college preparatory classes in high school. That can impact a child's university graduation odds, and even his or her future earning power.

Wealthier kids are more likely to be exposed to learning opportunities during the summer. Their caretakers typically have more flexibility to take them to aquariums and museums, libraries and art galleries. That means more chances to read and do math, two skills that erode quickly over the summer months.

"Parents of means generally did well in school themselves. They understand the skills and behaviors valued there and exemplify them in family life," the Hopkins study states. Poor parents, by contrast, "often themselves struggled at school and have low literacy levels, and thus they undoubtedly have difficulties cultivating valued educational skills in their children."

That doesn't mean that less-well-off parents can't help avert what has been dubbed the "summer slide," though.

Here are a few tips to help your kids learn during the summer and during the school year:

Hit the books: Provide your kids with books. That doesn't mean you have to buy them. Libraries offer great options for kids. And let your kid select the books. It's okay if they want to read a comic book or a graphic novel. The fact that they're reading is what's critical. And kids are more likely to pick up a book in their spare time if it's not being jammed down their throat.

Crunch some numbers: Subjecting your kid to a math worksheet might sound like overkill during the summer, but find ways to incorporate math into your kid's daily life. Take your kid grocery shopping and have him calculate how much it will cost to buy six bananas at $.15 each. This is a good way to show him that he'll actually use math in real life and that seemingly abstract concepts he's asked to perform on worksheets do have a purpose. Cooking with your kid is also a good way to have her practice measuring ingredients.

Get physical: Studies show that kids are also more likely to gain weight during the summer than during the school year when they have regular physical education classes. While some kids attend sports camps or go hiking, others spend long days on the couch playing video games or surfing television channels. It can be tempting to let your kid relax, but endless hours of inactivity can lead to expanding waistlines. Encourage your kid to go for a bike ride or play some soccer with friends.