When one thinks of the phrase “summer slide,” it might conjure up images of teens racing down water slides at local amusement parks. The “summer slide” I’d like to discuss is what happens when students “check out” of academic learning for the summer, typically a period of two months from approximately June 15 to August 15 every year. If you’re reading this, you’re most likely a parent who’s wondering how to keep your teenager engaged during the summer months so they don’t lose the academic learning they gained from the previous school year. In what follows, I outline how to prevent the “summer slide” and what you can do as a parent to engage your child.
Reading & Literacy
“Isn’t summer the time to relax?,” says a teenager after school gets out in mid-June. Yes, summer is a time to relax, but it’s how you relax that matters most. Too many teenagers think of relaxation as sitting in front of their computer or Xbox watching movies or playing video games. While this is ok in moderation, too much screen time has negative effects, both physically and mentally. Physically, too much screen time can cause eye strain, neck and shoulder pain, and back pain while, mentally, teenagers can experience increased levels of depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders (Devi & Singh, 2023). Similarly, teenagers too often devolve into their cell phones, whether it’s scrolling through social media posts, snapping each other on SnapChat, or creating TikToks. As Jonathan Haidt (2024) has articulated, the rise of cell phones caused a whole generation of teenagers to be more anxious and depressed. Why? Instead of engaging socially with others, they focused on their interactions online and how they were represented on social media. Such a fixation can lead to narcissism; indeed, we are seeing the pernicious effects of a culture of narcissism that Christopher Lasch predicted in the mid-1980’s. As Lasch prophetically concluded, American society results in the creation of narcissistic personalities, i.e., people who are self-involved and only concerned about their own identities, emotional needs, and public image. The social media generation is a manifestation of Lasch’s culture of narcissism.
What do we do, then, as parents, to encourage teenagers to get off of screens and off of social media? One thing to encourage is reading, and reading about anything a teenager finds interesting. It could be the sports section in the newspaper, a magazine about fashion, or a book that excites your teenager’s imagination. The key is to know what your child is passionate about and then search with them to find something interesting to read. Are they passionate about sports? Find a biography of interest. Are they passionate about art? Choose a graphic novel. Literacy can also improve with crossword puzzles, whether it’s through active recall of complex words, pattern recognition, or wordplay. Moreover, completing a difficult crossword puzzle requires sustained focus, the kind of focus needed to read a complex novel (Novillo et al., 2020).
For reluctant readers, you might consider audiobooks because they can listen to them while they’re exercising or traveling to a destination. Although not the same as the act of reading, listening to an audiobook engages one’s mind in critical thinking and encourages dialogue.
One other but just as important literacy skill is writing. One of the best ways to maintain these skills over the summer is through journaling. After a recent trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with my family, a notification popped up on my cell phone that said, “Want to journal about your trip?” Apparently, there’s a journaling feature on the new iPhone system which pops up after a trip or experience. I took some time to sit and write my thoughts and not only did it help me articulate myself in writing, but it was emotionally rewarding. I remembered what I love about the family trip to Puerto Vallarta and the experiences that will stick with me.
Math & Critical Thinking
It’s also important to maintain number sense and critical thinking skills throughout the summer months. The next time you go to Trader Joe’s or Costco, give your teenager a list of items and ask them to prepare a budget. Not only will this be fun, but it requires teenagers to think critically about resource allocation and to understand the importance of unit pricing, i.e., the cost of a product per standard unit of measurement. If shopping isn’t interesting to your child, then maybe they might like to bake. Figuring out the right measurements in recipes can be challenging, especially if you’re converting between the metric system (kilograms and grams) and the US measuring system (pounds and ounces).
Just as there are games that improve reading and literacy, there are also games that improve mathematical and critical thinking skills. Completing sudoku puzzles, for example, can improve short-term memory, enhance logical reasoning, and support cognitive health (Baer, 2026). Similarly, playing chess can raise test scores in both math and literacy according to a meta-analysis (Sala, Foley, & Gobet, 2017). The evidence is conclusive: logic games have a positive impact on critical thinking in general, and we need to encourage our children to participate.
Mental Health & Well-Being
One of the best ways to prevent the “summer slide” is to maintain mental health and well-being during the summer months. How can that be accomplished?
- Structured sleep cycles. As much as possible, it’s important for teenagers to wake up and fall asleep at the same time each day. Moreover, staying up late and waking up late means that students are more likely to engage in unhealthy eating, less activity, and chronic sleep loss according to recent study from Penn State University (Ballester-Navarro et. al., 2026).
- Exercise. Studies have shown that exercise lowers stress, improves brain function, and helps stabilize routines. Some things you might do to encourage exercise are family hikes, bike rides, or team sports.
- Nutrition. Proper nutrition helps maintain focus, stabilize mood, and reduce cognitive drop-off.
If mental health and well-being isn’t maintained, then the “summer slide” is more likely to occur. Structured sleep, exercise, and nutrition allows the brain to think at higher levels because it’s not concerned with basic biological processes and functions.
From Summer Slide to Summer Surge
Instead of the summer slide, let’s think about the summer between school years as an opportunity for a summer surge. The summer is an opportunity for teenagers to explore their interests and passions and to further their reading, math, and literacy skills. As long as screen time is controlled, structure is provided, and mental health and well-being is ensured, the summer promises to be a time of growth. If you have strategies that have worked with your own children, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Works Cited
Baer, M.L. Does sudoku actually keep your brain young? The truth about brain health and staying sharp. https://www.dulyhealthandcare.com/health-topic/does-sudoku-actually-keep-your-brain-young
Ballester-Navarro, et al. Multidimensional association of sleep health with dietary habits and physical activity in adolescents, Sleep Health, Volume 12, Issue 2, 2026, Pages 283-296, ISSN 2352-7218, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2026.01.008.
Devi K.A. & Singh S.K. The hazards of excessive screen time: Impacts on physical health, mental health, and overall well-being. J Educ Health Promot. 2023 Nov 27;12:413. Doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_447_23. PMID: 38333167; PMCID: PMC10852174.
Haidt, J. (2024). The anxious generation: How the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness. Penguin Press.
Lasch, C. (1979). The culture of narcissism: American life in an age of diminishing expectations. W. Norton & Company.
Sala G, Foley JP, Gobet F. The Effects of Chess Instruction on Pupils’ Cognitive and Academic Skills: State of the Art and Theoretical Challenges. Front Psychol. 2017 Feb 23;8:238. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00238. PMID: 28280476; PMCID: PMC5322219.