Summer break used to be a time where kids could wind-down and refresh themselves for the next school year. But increasingly, this has become “enrichment season.” Well-meaning parents pushing their kids to get ahead sign them up for every educational opportunity under the sun. Ironically, the same is true for parents of struggling children who are just trying to catch up. Neither of these acts is inherently wrong but if done to the extreme, it can actually be detrimental … and many people are doing it to the extreme.

The entire concept of summer break is relatively new. In the 1800s, it wasn’t uncommon for a school year to last up to 260 days with shorter breaks in between quarters. At least, that was the case in the cities. In rural areas, the school year was shorter as to allow time for students to also be seasonal farm hands. Different factors such as vacation trends and education reforms worked in concert to gradually cause the schedules to converge into the traditional summer break based schedule we have today. When reviewing this history of summer break, it is important to make note of one key fact: They intended it to be a break. Even back then, experts and reformers were growing concerned about the impact of non-stop work on adolescents.

There is no reason to second guess that initial push for a break because the research says the same thing today. Nobody debates the merit of off time for workers and students are no different. And just for the record, it is equally as important for teachers. So, why are we having this conversation?

Learning loss.

Learning loss, also referred to as the “summer slide” is the phenomenon by which students forget a large percentage of what they learned in school over a long break like summer. This was especially bad during the COVID-19 pandemic for obvious reasons. It is real, and we needed to find supports for students who fell way behind academically. However, some people have contorted the appropriate fear of learning loss into a call for de-facto year around school.

Staying sharp and combating learning loss does not require your kid to be in high intensity academic programs all summer long. Parents call and ask me about what to do over the summer every year and I always tell them the same thing: Make sure they are practicing but also having fun. There are some great camps that do a good job of balancing both of those. Others do not.

Of course, families do not exist in a vacuum and there are other considerations besides just what is ideal. What parents can afford and what coincides with their work schedule are also factors. When parents consider all of the other factors like transportation and eligibility, the options for quality summertime programs start to look a little less impressive, but they can be found. However, the time to ask is not right when school lets out as the desirable programs fill up fast starting in January right after summer break.

It is worth noting that there is a growing body of research that schools should actually switch to year round schedules. However, year-round schedules are typically balanced with breaks throughout the year as opposed to a “regular” school schedule with the summer taken out… which is effectively what some students experience with high intensity enrichment over the summer.

The key point to remember is balance. Yes, your gut feeling that your child should be doing some work over the summer is absolutely correct. At-bats with critical skills is the only way we know to prevent learning loss, but don’t take your child’s summer away because it does serve a valuable purpose.