How to Prevent Summer Learning Loss Through Cognitive Training

Schools all over North America are opening their doors after a long summer. This time is eagerly anticipated by students, parents, and teachers: but also brings with it the dreaded "summer learning loss."

As deserving as a holiday is after a year of learning and effort - the reality is extended breaks often appear to reverse progress made that school year. 

Summer learning loss, also known as "summer slide," is a well-documented phenomenon that occurs across various age groups and abilities.

This leads to educators spending the first few weeks (sometimes even months) of the new school year revisiting, reteaching and reinforcing the skills and knowledge that seemed secure the previous spring, and can lead to struggling students finding it increasingly difficult to pay attention in class.

This is why so many parents seek additional programming to keep their children engaged during the summer. Camps, classes, tutoring… all in hopes of their child being ‘ready’ for the upcoming school year, or to prepare them for a more demanding grade. In some cases, the goal is to catch up with their peers, for others it is to avoid falling further behind.

Despite this, studies suggest students can lose up to two months of grade-level equivalency in math and reading skills over the summer months, with the most significant losses occurring in mathematics. Also noted is a loss of students’ general attention and focus.

So, how do we prevent summer learning loss through cognitive enhancement exercises and ensure students are able to instantly get back into the swing of grade-level learning? First we need to understand what causes it.

The Cause of Summer Learning Loss

The root cause of this summer learning loss phenomena is two fold:

1 - Lost or Forgotten Skills and Content

Many academic skills are lost in the summer simply because they are not used or applied on a regular basis. Without consistent exposure to this content, students commonly forget or become less proficient.

For example, grammar and syntax rules not used on a regular basis must be re-taught and re-learned. Unlike riding a bike, no muscle memory can be built for when to use a semicolon. Content like multiplication tables might be forgotten if not practiced regularly.

2 - Limited or Insecure Skill Acquisition

For many, content presented in the previous school year was never secure in the first place, or only precariously so, due to weak cognitive functioning. It is less that concepts were “forgotten” over the summer, but more so that the student did not fully understand or absorb the material in the first place.

Many learning struggles are caused by learning disabilities and difficulties. Some of the most common diagnoses include:

• Dyslexia
• Dysgraphia
• Dyscalculia
• Attention and Executive Function issues
• communication and Non-Verbal Learning disabilities

Students with these diagnoses are at the greatest risk for summer learning loss. Why? Because the core causes of their learning difficulties stay with them whether on summer break or not. For any of these difficulties, there is likely a cognitive function underperforming.

What does that mean? These students typically reach the end of the school year having not met the expectations of their grade level and have fallen behind their peers. After a summer away, the gap increases. Each year it feels like starting all over again. Time just compounds the struggle.

Summer Learning Loss Impacts All Learners

Summer learning loss certainly affects those with learning issues, but not exclusively. Think about the students who appear to be meeting curriculum objectives in general, and yet: -

• are often seen as ‘underachievers’, or needing to ‘apply themselves’
• claim to not be interested in certain classes due to a ‘boring’ subject or even teacher
• defer to their peers in group work, or stealthily pair themselves with a strong student
• use humour to deflect their lack of confidence or skill

These are common tendencies for students with cognitive functions that may be under functioning, even mildly. Often these issues appear as personality traits, or even willful behaviours .

You can learn more about this in our blog, Understanding Learning Disabilities in Children is the Key to Empathy.

Whether a student has a learning disability, is not reaching their full potential, or is a high achiever – all learning occurs within the brain. The degree to which students learn independently and with ease is determined by their brain, or their unique cognitive profile.

So, any gap in learning - whether it is revealed during the school year, during summer learning slide, or upon the start of the new school year when re-learning is required – can be traced back to the brain.

Even when not at school learning curriculum, content and skills, students’ brains are responsible for the core processes that shape how they cope and thrive. Core processes such as:

• problem solving
• working memory
• processing speed
• comprehension

The Brain-Based Solution

The real solution to summer learning loss is not shortening the extended break - but lies within each student themselves: their brains.

Brain-based learning is the promising application of scientific concepts within education. Neuroplastic targeted brain training encompasses cognitive exercises designed to enhance cognitive abilities known to be crucial in learning.

Structured cognitive exercises improve students’ capacities to acquire, retain, and apply new information effectively. This enhanced cognition lays the groundwork for more efficient learning and knowledge retention. Summer learning loss can be reduced or eliminated.

One of the key advantages of cognitive training is its ability to address underlying cognitive weaknesses that may impede learning in the first place.

A Complete Guide to Brain Based Learning: Brain-Based Learning Guide

For those with learning disabilities, cognitive training can be tailored to their individualized profiles, to target and strengthen the core cause of their issues. Whether its processes related to reading, mathematics, or struggles with independence, neuroplastic training can target and strengthen the underlying cause.

The impact of cognitive training, studies have revealed, is a changed learner. One who can manage the curriculum more effectively, and in many causes no longer requires the learning resource support they once relied upon. Research shows participants have:

• increased attention, listening, focus improved cognitive and academic performance
• increased independent and self-directed learning
• increased emotional and social well-being
• increased rate of learning
• shift to a growth mindset
• increased sense of locus of control

When Students Have a Stronger Capacity to Learn, Summer Learning Loss is No Longer an Inevitability

Summer learning loss affects all stakeholders – educators, students and their families. Brain based approaches can be the solution and accessed by schools and families throughout the year. In fact many organizations offer summer programming so students can start the new school year with transformed potential.

Families and students can contact organizations that offer effective, evidence-based programming here.

For schools and educators looking to avoid or solve their students’ own summer learning risk – building cognitive training into their own schedules is (read about school-based options here). After all, a strong brain is not born, it can be built. We are not teaching content.

"We are not teaching skill. We are training the brain’s ability to learn."

- Barbara Arrowsmith-Young, Founder and Director of the Arrowsmith Program