Your child worked hard all year to learn new skills and manage challenging behaviors. Summer break can be wonderful, but the change in routine can also lead to regression. With some planning, you can help your child maintain progress and even continue growing.
Why Summer Can Be Challenging
Understanding why summer is tricky helps you plan for it.
What Changes
- • Less structure and routine
- • Different expectations
- • More unstructured free time
- • Changes in sleep and eating schedules
- • Loss of school supports and relationships
- • New environments (camps, travel, activities)
What Can Happen
- • Old behaviors may return
- • Skills may slip without practice
- • Anxiety about the transition
- • More family conflict
- • Boredom-related behaviors
- • Difficulty returning to school routines
The Good News
Summer is also an opportunity. With lower demands, your child can practice skills in a less stressful environment. You can reinforce progress and build confidence for the next school year.
Before School Ends: Prepare
A little planning in the final weeks of school sets you up for success.
Talk to the School Team
- • Ask what strategies worked best this year
- • Get copies of behavior plans and data
- • Ask which skills to focus on at home
- • Discuss Extended School Year (ESY) if your child qualifies
- • Get contact information for fall
Create a Summer Plan
- • Identify 2-3 key skills to practice
- • Plan activities and camps (and communicate your child's needs to staff)
- • Think about how to maintain structure
- • Prepare your child for what summer will look like
Creating Summer Structure
Structure does not mean a rigid schedule. It means predictability and clear expectations.
Building a Flexible Routine
Morning routine
Keep wake-up times somewhat consistent (within an hour of school-year times). Have a predictable sequence: wake up, breakfast, get dressed, first activity.
Daily rhythm
Alternate active and calm activities. Build in outdoor time, creative time, and some structured learning or chore time.
Evening wind-down
Maintain consistent bedtime routines. Screen-free time before bed. Predictable sequence to end the day.
Visual schedules
If your child uses a visual schedule at school, continue it at home. Even a simple whiteboard list helps.
Practicing Skills at Home
Summer is a chance to practice the skills your child learned at school in real-world settings.
Replacement Behaviors
If your child learned alternative ways to express needs or handle frustration, create opportunities to practice.
- • Asking for a break
- • Using words instead of actions
- • Self-calming strategies
- • Problem-solving steps
Social Skills
Playdates, camps, and family gatherings are natural opportunities to practice.
- • Taking turns
- • Joining activities
- • Handling disagreements
- • Reading social cues
Keep It Positive
Summer should still feel like summer. Practice skills naturally within fun activities rather than making it feel like school at home. Praise effort and progress.
Managing Common Summer Challenges
Here are strategies for issues that often come up during summer.
Boredom and "I'm bored!"
- • Create a "boredom jar" with activity ideas they helped choose
- • Have a few structured activities each day
- • Teach independent play skills gradually
- • It is okay to be bored sometimes. This is a skill too.
Screen time battles
- • Set clear limits at the start of summer
- • Use visual timers
- • Earn screen time after other activities
- • Be consistent even when it is hard
Sibling conflict
- • Schedule one-on-one time with each child
- • Create separate space when needed
- • Teach conflict resolution skills
- • Avoid always mediating. Let them practice solving problems.
Transitions and meltdowns
- • Give advance warnings before transitions
- • Use visual timers or countdowns
- • Keep the strategies that worked at school
- • Stay calm yourself. Your calm helps them regulate.
Preparing for Fall
A smooth transition back to school takes preparation.
August Action Items
- ☐ 2-3 weeks before school: Start shifting bedtime and wake time toward school schedule.
- ☐ 2 weeks before: Practice morning routines (getting dressed, eating breakfast on time).
- ☐ 1 week before: Visit the school if possible. Meet the new teacher if you can.
- ☐ Contact the school: Share what worked over summer and any concerns for fall.
- ☐ Talk about it: Help your child know what to expect. Read books about starting school.
Take Care of Yourself Too
Parenting a child with behavioral challenges is hard year-round. Summer can be especially draining without school as a break. Your wellbeing matters.
Find respite
Arrange breaks for yourself when possible.
Connect with others
Other parents of children with challenges understand.
Be kind to yourself
Perfect summers do not exist. Good enough is good enough.
Summer Is Part of the Journey
Your child's progress is not a straight line. There may be some regression over summer, and that is normal. What matters is that you are continuing to support them, practice skills, and maintain connection.
When fall comes, you and the school team will pick up where you left off, and your child will have had a summer of practice to build on.
Take Action
Put what you've learned into practice with these resources.
Key Takeaways
- Structure and routine matter as much at home as at school
- Focus on the skills that helped most during the school year
- Summer is a chance to practice replacement behaviors in new settings
- Stay connected with the school team for a smooth fall transition
About the Author
The Classroom Pulse Team consists of former Special Education Teachers and BCBAs who are passionate about leveraging technology to reduce teacher burnout and improve student outcomes.
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