Stay Social: Managing Social Summer Slide

As a part of our series on how to manage Summer Slide, let’s take a look at social behavior. Summer break can look quite different from the rest of the year which sometimes includes spending extended periods of time in less structured environments compared to the average school day. Without the daily social interaction, social summer slide refers to the decline in social skills, behavior, and peer relationships. Some of these skills include:

• Communication skills like initiating and maintaining conversations
• Emotional regulation when handling conflicts or triggers
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Problem solving like coping with disagreement

When returning to school, things like social anxiety may be elevated, the child may have trouble with sharing and patience or they may experience big feelings and struggle to self-regulate. To minimize these potential issues, there are many ways to keep social skills sharp and enjoy summer break!

• Enroll your child in summer camps, like Beyond Camp or check out your local recreational sports program offerings
• Arrange regular playdates with family or friends
• Limit screen time or look for more social-based online games
• Model and practice social-emotional skills at home. For example, talk about emotions while watching movies or reading books: “How do you think that character feels? What would you do if you were them?” or involve them in family choices like meals or weekend plans. Talk through the pros and cons together.
• Use board games or role-playing to maintain communication and cooperation skills. Click here for some ideas.

A more consistent summer routine can help prevent summer slide and that can aid with regulation and being ready to learn once they return to school. For more information on the summer slide go to sources like edutopia, IXL Learning and scholastic.com.