Time was when summer was a time of feverish activity, the farmers’ busiest season. Formal schooling went to the back burner while young people lent their strength to ensuring that the family could survive the lean season which would follow. As we have become an urban people, the summer break has become a season of self-indulgence rather than a season of productivity. How did our forefathers manage to maintain a higher level of academic achievement, while taking an extended annual break from education per se? Perhaps it’s time for a re-evaluation.

According to a celebrated 1996 study, “Summer Learning Loss: The Problem and Some Solutions”, students lose about two months of progress over the summer. Researchers concluded that the learning loss was proportional to the lack of intellectual stimulation of the student during the summer. Students who read during the summer experienced less academic erosion. Interestingly, no attempt was made to assess the impact of work on older student’s academic retention rates.

Was the summer break of old a time when no learning occurred? No. Young people essentially received an internship in farm management, horticulture, business, animal husbandry, food preparation and preservation, etc. while working under the mentorship of their parents and other adults in the community. Their work required students to apply their book-learning to real life. Summer was an opportunity for focused work, intense social interaction and practical learning which balanced the rigorous academics students pursued in the colder months.

Cycling theoretical learning and practical learning during different seasons of the year has many benefits. It gives balance to a young person’s education, while building in elements of respite and refreshment without self-indulgence or idleness. A 2007 study commissioned by Nellie Mae Education Foundation (Learning Season), examined several approaches to minimizing the summer learning loss. Summer programs which provided students with extended time for experiential learning, strong social interaction (particularly with adults), and academic application activities proved not only to help students to maintain their standing academically, but even to advance up the learning curve. Sounds suspiciously like that old-fashioned summer work in community with adults.

Here is what Dr. Beth Miller concludes:

“Summer learning is not just about retaining information; it is about problem-solving, analyzing and synthesizing information, generating new ideas, working in teams, learning to be with all kinds of people—all skills that help build learning in a broad way, and can, at a time when schools are narrowing the curriculum, lend breadth to student learning.” (Learning Season, p. 17)

Consider summer your perfect opportunity to seek apprenticeships, to focus on an entrepreneurial project, to use your skills in passionate service to others, or to bring a large or long-term project all the way to completion.