When school is out, kids celebrate the absence of class, teachers, homework, and exams. However, this usually means that for the months of summer, they are also missing out on learning. While summer may not seem long, kids experience serious learning loss during this time.
According to the National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment (NCASE), “Summer learning loss in the elementary school years alone accounts for at least half of the ninth-grade reading achievement gap.” Summers add up and impacts later learning.
But, there is something you as a parent, guardian, mentor, or friend can do about it! Not 
everyone is able to have their children attend education-based summer programs. It doesn’t have to be the only answer. You can combat summer learning loss at home. The NCASE breaks it down even further to say that summer learning should include the following everyday:
- 90 minutes of reading and writing
- 45 minutes of math
- 30 minutes of science
While this may seem overwhelming, these activities don’t have to be classroom style lessons. To meet the math needs, you can play simple games. Uno helps with number identification and Sequence teachers numerical order. For science, there are plenty of at-home science projects on the internet ranging from bottle rockets to slime. The important thing is to have fun!
If you need some book suggestions, consider this list from We Need Diverse Books: http://weneeddiversebooks.org/summer-reading-series/