Zombies love brains. It’s a fact.

Oh, and they’ll strike at any time and suck your brain up like an ice cream cone. This summer vacation, there will be zombies lurking around every corner waiting to drain your brain – of every valuable piece of information you learned this past school year.

These zombies could take the form of your video game console, your buddies hanging around all day, cruising websites, your comfy bed, or the TV in your room.  Like we said, they’re everywhere. It’s your responsibility to fight back.

Summer Brain Drain is the “zombie” we’re talking about, and this summer slump isn’t just a myth that teachers and parents warn about to spook you into reading your summer reading assignment: it’s a loss that’s been proven across studies and test scores for years. In fact, ask your favorite teacher what they plan to cover in the first month of school next year, and they’ll probably tell you they need to re-teachstudents what they already knew when they left in June.

Worried about zombie brain loss this school vacation? These frightening facts might help prevent you from getting zombified this summer:

• All students experience learning losses when they don’t use their brains during summer activities.
• This learning loss is more detrimental for math than it is for reading.
• Students lose about  2-3 months of math skills during the summer.
• Research shows that students score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer than they do on the same tests at the end of the school year.

So what can you do to keep your brain from being eaten up this summer? Fight back! Read good books, do math problems you’ll see next year, and learn about science topics that interest you (who doesn’t like volcanoes, for example?)

When it comes to staving off the zombies this summer: get armed and ready. Your brain will thank you next fall.