Have you heard of the “summer slide” phenomena in school-aged children? You might ask, “What’s that?” or think “Hey, that sounds fun!” I’m here to explain what the summer slide is and how to prevent regression in children over the fun summer months.

What Is the “Summer Slide?”

The summer slide is a phenomena that all parents should be aware of, whether or not your child has a learning challenge. As silly as the name sounds, the summer slide is real and is important to address before summer breaks from school arrive. When your child is not actively engaged in academic activities throughout the summer break, they may lose the academic and functional skills they gained in the previous year.

At Dynamic Therapy Specialists, we help children with learning challenges. These children have to work harder than their peers on a day-to-day basis. So, when these children take a long break from their academic studies and activities, it makes it harder for them to transition back into an academic space in the fall. Although the summer break is the most significant example of regression—hense the name “summer slide”—children may also struggle to transition back to school following winter holiday breaks, week-long spring breaks, or Mardi Gras breaks. It’s important to understand that children with learning challenges, social challenges, and focus and attention difficulties are going to be at a disadvantage if parents are not prepared before a long academic break.

So, what’s the solution? Let’s talk about how to avoid the summer slide.

How to Avoid the Summer Slide

At Dynamic Therapy Specialists, we host intensive, engaging, and therapeutic camps that run throughout the summer, over spring breaks, over Mardi Gras breaks, and short holiday breaks that prevent the summer slide and further solidify the skills needed for a smooth transition back into the school schedule.

One of our camps is called ”Camp Dynamics,” where children participate in targeted interventions designed to improve their social language and thinking, reading comprehension, written expression, peer interaction, and focus and attention.

We also offer mini-camps called “Dynamic Days” that not only provide a similar daily structure to school—very predictable and very structured—while also systematically addressing skills like language comprehension, reading, writing, and emotional self-regulation. The Dynamic Therapy Specialists team supports the development of social skills, fine and gross motor skills, and “brain and body integration” which helps with overall focus and attention.

If you want to learn more about how to support your child’s development over academic breaks and keep them on track, call Dynamic Therapy Specialists today to learn more about our opportunities. We are excited to support your family and help your child successfully transition back into their school schedule, whether it’s after a week-long break or after 10 weeks!