This article was written by one of the Stepping Stone Tutors Study Skills Tutors. If you know of anyone who might be interested in study skills tuition, please do get in contact.

Students spend practically their entire school year in eager anticipation of one event: summer break. The end to homework, test prep, and days spent taking notes is first and foremost in many young minds. Retaining what they’ve learned in the previous year might be the last priority on their summer to-do list, but it should be the first priority on yours. Online tutoring and other learning activities can help them continue to stimulate their mind without lamenting their summer.

Within 30 days of being outside of the academic realm many students have lost the vast majority of the information that they learned in the previous year. This is largely due to lack of review and mental stimulation. In particularly for those students taking the GED, ASVAB or other important examinations in the year to come this loss of information can have a devastating effect. After all, their scores on tests such as these effect not only their short-term goals but in some capacity the rest of their lives.

Unless you relish the idea of a continuous uphill battle that lasts all summer it would behoove you as a parent to seek out ways for them to learn during their break that won’t have them crawling the walls with boredom. There are a wide variety of activities that can be completed both online and off that will keep them learning and reviewing information, perhaps without their even realizing it. For instance, young students might enjoy learning-based video games that can be played with a friend. For older students that need the continued test prep an online tutor is an excellent option. Even as little as a few hours a week spent with a tutor can increase their learning retention and stimulation, resulting in improved test scores.

Summer learning might sound like a horrendous idea to your student, but they might find themselves surprisingly pleased with the result. Better learning retention and consistent stimulation will make for not only better scores in the coming year but also an easier transition from the laziness of summer days back into the classroom.