During summer vacation, children can enjoy more unstructured time and families can go on vacation. Summer seems like a great period of time that parents and children can use to take a break... But there's a shadow that often looms over this long break - a shadow commonly referred to as the summer slide. “Despite the playground image that the word slide suggests, summer slide refers to a student's loss of academic skills and knowledge during the summer months.[1] Research on this very real phenomenon dates back over 100 years and confirms that differences in elementary school children's summer learning experiences “…can impact whether that child will ultimately graduate secondary school and will continue his university studies. ConsequencesAccording to a report from the National Summer Learning Association, it is common for teachers to spend at least a month reteaching material that students forgot over the summer.[3] Instead of continuing the educational momentum of the previous school year, teachers and students lose at least four weeks of valuable instructional time relearning the same material, but beyond that, the summer slide can affect students at the individual level. the negative consequences for students who repeatedly experience summer slides add up. According to sociologists Karl Alexander and Doris Entwisle, this is one of the main factors behind the growing achievement gaps between students from lower and higher socio-economic levels.[4] This finding was confirmed in another comprehensive analysis published by RAND Corporation, McCombs and colleagues in 2011, which can be found in the middle of the article......ducation.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Journals/spring 2010/why-learn-summer/.3. http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/articles/keeping-kids-off-the-summer-slide.htm4. http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/articles/keeping-kids-off-the-summer-slide.htm5. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec11/vol69/num04/Slowing-the-Summer-Slide.aspx6. http://www.summerlearning.org/?page=know_the_facts7. http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Journals/spring2010/why-summer-learning/8. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120425094358.htm9. http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Neurosciences/articles/The%20Brain...Use%20it%20or%20Lose%20It/10. http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.summerlearning.org/resource/collection/CB94AEC5-9C97-496F-B230-1BECDFC2DF8B/Research_Brief_03_-_Kim.pdf11. https://www.berksarl.org/programs/book-buddies/