The second part of the program focuses on the need to practice academic skills during summer vacation. Participants learn that failure to keep their skills sharp can lead to "summer slide" or summer learning loss. To prevent this from occuring, each youngster receives a Summer Matters backpack containing a grade-level appropriate workbook and a calculator. The worksbooks reinforce Core Content Math, Reading, Language Arts and Science skills that should have been developed in the grade s/he just exited.