It’s the end of another school year. My daughter, who’s finishing ninth grade, is thrilled. Her dad and me…not quite so ecstatic. Sure, she’s worked hard throughout the academic year and deserves a brain break—but we worry about brain freeze. She’s doing an art-related summer program for four weeks, we’ll do a bit of travel after that, and she’ll keep reading because she likes to. But what about math? What about science? Will she head back to high school with a learning deficit? Call it what you will: the summer slide, summer setback, brain drain.

It happens in varying degrees to pretty much all kids throughout elementary, middle and high school, with learning loss typically greater for lower-income kids who don’t have access to or the means for enrichment programs and activities during the summer months. Children on average score lower on achievement tests at the end of the summer than on the same tests at the beginning of the summer, according to the National Summer Learning Association. But kids who participate in stimulating summer programs, who travel and who have access to many books actually increase their scores over the summer, says education researcher Karl L. Alexander, PhD, professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Still, studies show that summer learning loss is greater for math on the whole than reading on the whole, and math computation skills and spelling suffer most. Why worry about it? We live in a global society, and our kids must eventually compete with the rest of the world. “There’s constant news offering unfavorable comparisons of academic achievement of U.S. kids versus kids in Europe and Asia,” Dr. Alexander says. “Every school system in the industrial world that we think of as competition has a longer school year than we do.” But until Obama’s call for a longer school year becomes a reality or better summer learning programs become available to all, “it’s left to parents to make sure their kids have the summer experiences they need to move ahead,” he adds. “And not all families are equally good at doing these things.”

What parents can do:

If your child is enrolled in an academic summer program, you’re ahead of the game. Also consider asking your child’s math teacher for a batch of review worksheets for the summertime, and have your child spend about a half hour twice a week sharpening skills. Beyond this, here’s sage advice for summer learning from Dr. Alexander.

Get your child to the library. Research shows that kids who go to library and take books home don’t suffer as much summer learning loss. Plus, libraries have creative programs for enrichment. What to read? For kids who don’t read much, any reading is good to keep them engaged with words and language. Read with your child and talk about the content, plot development and characters.

Focus on words. As you read together, work on tricky words. Have your child use the dictionary to look up meanings and spelling. Elementary school curriculum such as this should also be home curriculum, says Dr. Alexander.

Learn in the kitchen (and other rooms in the house). Read recipes to understand what a formula is. Have your child explain ingredient measurements as you cook and bake together. Look at volume as you use spoons and cups to measure. A good home environment fosters curiosity and learning situations that engage kids’ energy.

Manage some money. How much do things cost at the supermarket and why? Have your grade schooler pay and count the change. Teach your middle schooler how to balance a checkbook. Talk family budgets and stock prices with your teen.

Talk sports. There are math lessons in most of them. For example, discuss baseball batting averages and how they’re computed. How many players are on the team and why? Figure out many outs in how many innings per game.

Hit the city. Science centers, museums and other institutions can help your kids stay sharp. Discuss astronomy, nature, fossils, the arts, the use of paint. The possibilities for learning lessons are endless.

Have a civics lesson or two. Every city has historic sites to see and talk about. Plus, Encourage your older child to engage in volunteer work to raise her sense of community. There are wonderful lessons in volunteering.

Have a smart parenting strategy. Sometimes setting absolute times for summer study and insisting on compliance can backfire and build resistance. This doesn’t encourage, say, a lifelong love for reading. “Most successful learners are engaged learners,” says Dr. Alexander. So know your child and what she’s likely to respond to, and be flexible. “You don’t want to be laissez faire, but you also don’t want to be authoritarian,” Dr. Alexander adds. “You want to be somewhere in-between.”