By Clay N. Middleton
Guest Commentary
As summer begins, children across America are swapping backpacks for beach towels, heading to water parks, increasing their screen time, and spending more time being inactive. While rest and recreation are important, there’s a less visible risk creeping in during this season: summer learning loss.
Students can lose up to two months of math and reading skills over the summer. This setback is even greater in communities with limited access to books, technology, and enrichment programs. If left unaddressed, the “summer slide” not only widens academic gaps but also erodes the hard-earned progress made during the school year.
But here’s the good news:
we can stop this trend.
Preventing summer learning loss doesn’t mean turning summer into school; rather, it involves integrating learning into everyday life in fun and engaging ways. This approach doesn’t require formal lessons or expensive tools—just dedication and intention.
For families, it’s important to make learning a daily habit. Read with the children in your
life every day, visit the library together, start a journal, and turn shopping and cooking into math activities. Consider growing a garden, doing crossword puzzles, or playing family board games. Ask open-ended questions and explore museums; discovering something new expands knowledge and encourages curiosity.
To every student, Summer is not a break from learning. It’s a new kind of learning. Whether you’re building something, exploring a new hobby, discovering a new exercise routine, writing, or teaching a sibling, your curiosity and creativity will keep your mind sharp. Your brain is a muscle; use it.
School districts, recreation departments, and various civic organizations offer a range of enrichment programs
to keep kids active, engaged, and socially connected. These programs include literacy, coding, athletics, music and arts, science, and outdoor activities. For instance, libraries provide free summer reading programs, story times, and learning activities. My two boys are already enrolled, and I encourage others to do the same. Consider registering a child in your life for a reading log to earn prizes and discover the joy of learning outside the classroom.
Perhaps your kids and grandkids are grown and gone. You can help collect or distribute books, mentor a student, or start gathering school supplies for your
neighborhood school. Many local nonprofits, Divine Nine organizations, civic groups, places of worship, and
Masonic and Eastern Star organizations offer summer literacy programs that could benefit from our time and support.
Combating summer learning loss is a shared responsibility—one that belongs to families, educators, and people like you and me. The summer slide may be silent, but our collective engagement must be loud, visible, and unwavering.
Let’s ensure this summer isn’t just a break from school—it’s a launchpad for growth. When the bell rings in August, let our children return confident, curious, and ahead, not behind.
Summer learning shouldn’t take a vacation. And neither should learning.
Clay Middleton is a candidate for the mayor of Charleston, SC.