The Soft Skills of Summer

"Hard skills are the foundation of a successful career. But soft skills are the cement."

                                                                                           -Dorothy Dalton

As summer approaches, parents have already become fixated on the "summer dip". Tutors are lined up, recreational reading programs selected, and you have thoroughly reviewed the approved educational apps list for the tablet.  Did you know summer actually provides an amazing opportunity for learning an entirely different set of life skills? Research has indicated that executive functioning skills are actually the best predictor academic and life success.

Summer is synonymous with camp. Kids make new friends, play games, create, explore nature, and a engage in a host of other activities. Disguised as fun, they are actually fine tuning skills such as cooperation, self-control, inhibition, working memory, and emotional regulation.  Picture it:  a group of campers would like to play dodge ball. They must pick teams, agree upon rules, compromise,  play fair and accept losing.  This isn't just kid stuff, but the building blocks of working for a fortune 500 company, becoming an inventor, entrepreneur, or a multitude of other 21st century professions.  

While traditional camps embody the behavior regulation portion of executive functioning, other experiences like coding classes, art, and stem programs cultivate the metacognitive skills required to achieve. For example, these opportunities require kids to initiate tasks, set goals, plan, and monitor their success toward creating an end product. This process is identical to what is expected with independent learning in the classroom setting.  Again, the summer embeds these skills within preferred activities, and kids don't recognize their inherent academic and professional value. 


Finally, summer is also a season in which there is often significantly less structure, and more opportunity for self-direction.  When kids have, and I quote, "nothing to do", this also provides time to develop executive functioning skills. There are more opportunities for play dates, which require compromise, creativity, problem-solving, and task initiation. For example, it is a perfect day for the pool, but Johnny and his friend don't have anyone to take them. Instead, they find balloons and a hose. Johnny's friend would like to play spray tag, but Johnny wants to make water balloons. How can they solve the problem? How will they manage their emotions? What skills are required to create a compromise? Packaged as summer fun, it is really a platform to practice executive functioning. So, to all the parents worried about the "summer dip", take a dip in the pool, and play some Marco Polo.