For most students, summer break usually means more fun, less schoolwork. Some students take this time to get away and have fun with friends and family members. However, not all students think this way.

Many students make good use of their free time during summer by tutoring younger children or by enrolling in summer classes to improve their skills and to prepare for the next school year. Summer tutoring brings many benefits, even if it means giving up summer camp, family trips and vacations.

A child performing poorly in school can catch up during summer with an in-home tutor. The tutor helps the child review past lessons and prepare for the start of school. While other children experience summer learning loss, a child enrolled in a summer tutoring program keeps learning, and consequently, copes well with the demands of schoolwork.

Students who are already doing well in school can do more when they take advantage of summer tutoring programs that offer advanced lessons. This gives them a better foundation of knowledge and better chances to excel when classes re-open.

On one hand, graduating students take refresher courses or general reviews of past lessons to prepare for entrance exams. This ensures that they fully comprehend the concepts they learned and retain the skills they developed while in school.

Students who will be entering college take SAT prep lessons to ease their way through the entrance tests. Some students would have already chosen the universities they wanted to enroll at. Summer gives them the best opportunity to gear up for what lies ahead of them.

Summer tutorials are not as demanding as regular classes. Students are free from the stress and pressure that schoolwork brings. The study hours are not as long and they do not have to keep up with their classmates. This relaxed pace facilitates learning more than peer competition.

Summer learning loss is more common than you think. All children lose a portion of academic knowledge and skills during summer. Students from higher income families have more opportunities to continue learning through fun and educational summer camps. However, students who belong to low income groups lack the resources to join these summer activities or get involved with summer programs at the local school.

The National Summer Learning Association says the low income students lose more than 2 months of grade equivalency in reading as well as in mathematics. The lack of learning opportunities during summer contributes to this learning loss. As more low income students suffer learning loss without benefiting from any kind of intervention, their chances of graduating from high school decreases.

Summer tutoring is a type of intervention that can staunch summer learning loss. Parents with the money to spare should enroll their children in a summer reading program or with an in-house tutor. School districts have their own summer learning programs for their students.