During the summer break, children can enjoy more unstructured time and families can go on vacation. Summer seems to be a long period of time that parents and children can use to take a break... But there's a shadow that often hovers over this long break: a shadow commonly called the summer slide. Summer slide: It's real "Despite the playground image suggested by the word slide, 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 to over 100 years ago and confirms that differences in the summer learning experiences of elementary school children "...can impact whether that child ultimately earns a high school diploma and goes on to college"[ 2]Summer Slide Has Serious Consequences According to a report from the National Summer Learning Association, it is common practice for teachers to spend at least a month re-teaching material that students have forgotten over the summer[3]. To continue 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 on an individual level. the negative consequences for students who repeatedly experience summer postponement accumulate. According to sociologists Karl Alexander and Doris Entwisle, this is the main reason for the growing achievement gap between students of lower and higher socioeconomic levels[4]. This finding was confirmed in another comprehensive analysis published by RAND Corporation, McCombs, and colleagues in 2011, found midway through the article ducation.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Journals/spring2010/why-summer-learning/ .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/