Debrief! What got accomplished? [fka Too early to talk about summer plans?]

[SKL]

Do you have organized (or not so organized) summer plans for your students?

 

I think I have my kids' summer camps all planned.  This assumes that I get them into some free library camps that haven't opened registration yet.

 

Not by design, but this summer will be a bit science-heavy.  Which is good, because honestly, they don't do much science at school.

 

ETA:  I'm going to treat this as a "to-do list" to keep track of what we've done ....

 

• Zoo day camp - 2 weeks learning about animal classification and food webs (age 9-10 class) [done]
• Scout troop weekend campout  [done]
• Latino Culture Camp - 1 week day camp, includes geography, art, music, sports, dance, Spanish  [done]
• 2 weeks off, hoping to travel in Eastern and/or Northern Europe this year.  (ETA Ukraine & Poland)  [done]
• Scout sleep-away camp - 1 week [done, though 1 kid was sent home mid-week for health issue]
• Cooking camp, 3 mornings  [done - this was a hit!]
• Magic camp, 5 afternoons  [done]
• Family zoo overnight - Africa theme  [done - great program!]
• Old-fashioned farm sleep-away camp - 1 week [done, but again 1 kid sent home mid-week :/ ]
• Jr. Medical day camp at Natural History museum - 1 week  [done - another excellent program]
• Back-to-school day camp (mathx2, science, reading, art) - 5 mornings  [done]
• Science camp (library program) - 5 afternoons  [done]
• Arts sampler - 5 mornings  [done]
• Computer camp - Wimpy Kid theme - 5 afternoons [done]

Evenings/weekends all summer:

• Horse riding [11 lessons and horse show done]
• Gymnastics [1 weekly summer class done]
• Swim team Swimming for fun  [done]
• TKD [1 belt test passed]
• Basketball skills [1 weekly summer class]
• Tennis [just a few lessons done]
• Family fun such as hiking and visiting other zoos and theme parks in our state.
  • 1 new zoo & waterpark with Mom [done]
  • Community festival with aunt  [done]
  • County fair with aunt  [done]
  • A little hiking with Mom  [done]
  • An outdoor music festival with Mom  [done]
• Museum exhibits
  • American History / Auto-Aviation Museum  [done]
  • Mughal art exhibit / activity day at art museum [done]
  • Sports Science exhibit at science center [done]
  • [Also visited several museums as part of a day camp]
• Summer Reading Skills class (5 weeks - Sunday classes + online home stuff)  [done]
• Middle school book discussions at the library (monthly)  [2 done; 3rd read; 4th started.]
• Library summer reading challenge (includes math and volunteering too)  [done]
• Family volunteering.  [socializing / walking shelter pets - started]
• Brain Chase program (5-6 weeks math, reading, typing, online writing etc.)   [~half finished]
• Dog show training.  :p  Aunt signed them up for some lessons.  [1 down, 1 to go]

Home activities: 

• Instrumental music [very little]
• Chess [not yet]
• Daily math and reading  [usually]
• Writing letters and journals  [some - pen pal letters & travel journal]
• Computerized reports and presentations  [they worked with powerpoint & word for fun]
• Finishing up old workbooks.  [some]
• Life skills - keeping the house decent, some cooking, and laundry.  [some]
• ETA: re cooking, also art:  try out some books I found that use cooking/art to teach science, math, geography and history concepts / information.  [later]
• Scout badge work.  [earned several "outdoor skills" badges]
• Audiobooks (in the car):
  • I Will Always Write Back [done]
  • Hold Fast [done]
  • The Westing Game [done]
  • The War that Saved my Life [started]
  • Rush Revere and the American Revolution [done]
  • Rush Revere and the Star-Spangled Banner [done]
  • Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims [done]
• Read-alouds:
  • The Black Stallion  [done]
  • Understood Betsy  [done]

I'm usually unrealistic about what we can really accomplish, but I'm always willing to give it another try.  :)

Edited August 24, 2016 by SKL

[SKL]

I keep hoping that we will go through the Beast Academy books that I bought a couple years ago.  One of my kids liked them and played with them for a while, but then they became neglected.

 

I also bought some storybooks that are built around science and math concepts.  If we have time, we'll read these together, as well as some other books that I bought when I was feeling optimistic.  :)  Maybe I'll even give Life of Fred one more chance.

[amymarie3]

This is my current working list:

 

Organized

- Swimming lessons

- Gymnastics camp

- Martial Arts program (?? Not sure on their summer schedule)

- Soccer

- T-Ball

- Weekly Library visits

- Weekly Nature Camp (?? have to find someone to take them)

 

Outdoors

- Daily Nature Journal

- Playtime

- Their own Garden

 

 

Enrichment

- Daily Copywork/Handwriting (10 min, print up for them)

- Daily Reading (10 min, whatever they want)

- Daily Math  (10 min, MEP worksheet or math game)(http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/default.htm)

- Daily Nature Journal (Draw anything in book from outside)

- Daily Rememborized Poetry Review

- Weekly Reading Lesson (They read from McGuffy reader)

- Weekly Artist Study (Show picture, talk about it, have kids draw it)

- Weekly Letter Writing to family (choose one person each week)

- Weekly Nature Connection book (work through lesson as a family)

- Weekly Individual Cooking Lesson (each kid cooks a meal, Start recipe book with each)

- Weekly Rememborize new Poem/quote

- Weekly Teach your Children Shakespeare

- Mom reads from Ambleside Y1

 

Outings

- Zoo

- Aquarium

- Hiking State Parks (Monthly)

- Camping (2x this summer)

- Visit with Grandma and Grandpa

- Visit GGma & GGpa

 

[Tsuga]

I can't decide. They did really superb with a nanny and swim last year and me homeschooling.

 

I am thinking we will do mommy boot camp and free time. I get so tired driving to camps and it's not much more for a nanny.

 

I want to finish BA 3 w/DD but oh my god the whines. She can do it she is just not a worksheet person. DD2 on the other hand will be ready for BA3A this summer!

[SKL]

Here, some of the best camps fill up ridiculously early.  They opened registration for some of them in January.  Last couple years, by the time I looked them up, many of the best ones were filled.  So this year I decided to be on the early train.  :p

 

I was bummed that theater camp will not be in the mix (although they will get some of that in the arts camp).  I just couldn't make it work this year.  There is a sleep-away theater camp available, but one of my kids didn't want to try it, so I honored that.  She can handle it for part of the day, but all week is a different thing.

 

That reminds me, I need to sign them up for spring break theater camp ....

Edited February 26, 2016 by SKL

[SKL]

I can't decide. They did really superb with a nanny and swim last year and me homeschooling.

 

I am thinking we will do mommy boot camp and free time. I get so tired driving to camps and it's not much more for a nanny.

 

I want to finish BA 3 w/DD but oh my god the whines. She can do it she is just not a worksheet person. DD2 on the other hand will be ready for BA3A this summer!

 

I am picturing me sitting with them and just going through the Beast books together, which is not our usual style, but may be better for some things.  However, realistically I have limited time, and they are really busy in the summer.  So we'll see.  I did drop the weekly math enrichment class, so I will have a couple evening hours per week that I didn't have last year.

 

I prefer camps to nanny for now.  My nanny is actually more expensive than many/most of the camps, and for the money I'd rather have them intellectually and socially engaged.  Eventually I look forward to them being able to keep themselves happily and productively occupied, but right now they can't do that for many days in a row.

 

Yeah, it's a pain driving them around.  This year, most of the camps are full-time, so that is an improvement.  The sleep-away camps will also help me to get caught up, so I can be more engaged when they are home.

[vonfirmath]

I keep hoping that we will go through the Beast Academy books that I bought a couple years ago.  One of my kids liked them and played with them for a while, but then they became neglected.

 

I also bought some storybooks that are built around science and math concepts.  If we have time, we'll read these together, as well as some other books that I bought when I was feeling optimistic.  :)  Maybe I'll even give Life of Fred one more chance.

 

Those story books sound interesting. Are they part of a series?

 

My son recently read PUNISHED and loved it so much he wants to read NUMBED too.

[SKL]

Those story books sound interesting. Are they part of a series?

 

My son recently read PUNISHED and loved it so much he wants to read NUMBED too.

 

There is a series from Teacher Created Materials called "Mathematics Readers," which apply math in the context of science (mostly) and a few other areas.  They aren't actually stories, but they cover topics that tend to interest kids.  Examples: amusement parks, ocean exploration, sports, animals ....

 

I also bought are a couple books in Spanish / English based on characters Payshapes and the Bear.  I also bought some Adventures of Mathella (which seem to range a lot in grade level).

 

We haven't read any of the above, so I'm not sure how they will go over.

 

We also have all the Sir Cumference books (they are mostly about geometry), but we have read them already.  My kids really like them.

 

ETA:  We read a couple of the Mathella books today.  They are kinda weird and, unless your kid is already a math nut, they require an adult to figure out.  My kids just embarked on a fractions unit at school, so today we did Mathella in Parts, which didn't really make total sense to them.  However, once they shore up some other neglected concepts (such as LCM / GCF) and discuss how these can help with operations with fractions, then I could see it making more sense.  Currently my plan is to read through the book again shortly before their next math test.  We'll see how it goes.  :)

Edited February 27, 2016 by SKL

[tm919]

Ugh, I don't even want to think about it. At the minimum, we'll continue the curricula we're doing at greater than the current snail's pace. We will go to the beach frequently, and do swim lessons. Also possibly a music camp.

 

I'm thinking of doing more organized reading this summer, but I'm not sure how. Last summer my kids did the library reading challenge and each topped 200 books, but many of those books were just blah.

[debi21]

SKL, I am sincerely impressed with the number of camps you've figured out already. I sometimes thing I am over-committed but you have me beat.

 

On the one hand I want to do less scheduled stuff, and have more free time with the kids to teach them, explore interests, field trips, parks, and do a lot of nature stuff.

 

On the other, I have already signed up my will-be-7 DS for four weeks of intro to lego engineering/robotics, 2 hrs a day 5 days a week. This is basically June. I am excited that I got him into the only afternoon section 12:30 to 2:30, because, based on last year there are a ton of morning-only options, but very few afternoon ones. Plus it's local (unlike may other places) and relatively cheap. Hoping it's good quality. Possibilities to match this up with in the morning include a theater camp, art camp, soccer camp, and swim lessons.

 

I have to consider my will-be-4 DS too, because I feel like he gets short end of the stick sometimes. The only thing he really qualifies for though is a city-run program which is basically two hours/day of running around and playing games and at a park. And swimming lessons. I will try to work it into the schedule if I can though. He needs to feel important too.

 

There are a couple of potential sources for 1 day camps that might be of interest that I'll look into as well. I have tried a few of these in the last 2 years. I'm not sure if I've been impressed or not. At least I'm going to skip trying camps farther away - simply reducing drive time will be good.

 

I would like to continue gymnastics through the summer. Both sons do this and I think it's good for them in terms of strength and coordination even if they don't have much potential in this area.

 

I find my focus, besides the 3R's, is science, art, music, and sports. Re-reading I guess this only means I neglect history & foreign languages (the latter of which I love but have no good resources for). At home, I do want to work on math (maybe 3rd yr Miquon and BA3) and also a writing program with my DS who is still struggling with writing expectations in his advanced reading class (I am wanting free writes and journaling to promote creativity and maybe 1 copywork sentence daily to improve his word spacing). With DS3/4, we are still working on getting ready to read. He knows a lot of his letters now, but he is one where his dad and I are always doubting whether he actually knows something because he can't seem to answer questions consistently.

 

I would like to fit in an extended stay at grandparents, a few camping excursions, trips to not-too-far-away National Parks, and one family vacation - currently thinking a drive to San Diego.

 

[SKL]

When my kids were young 4s, I don't think we did anything outside of their full-day daycare, except for swim lessons and playing at the park.  They did do half-hour sports classes and music and language lessons at the daycare.  They continued this program full-time until they entered 1st grade.  Summer was a lot easier in those days.  :)  That daycare does have a k-6 summer camp, but my kids like to try different things now.  Our local rec center also has a good full-time summer program, but my kids say they don't want to do too much of that.

 

When my kids were older 4s, I discovered the Natural History Museum's kid-friendly Discovery Center and special exhibits and planetarium shows, which were open late on Wednesdays.  Also on Wednesdays, there was a weekly outdoor (free) music festival near the museums.  And now they also have great kid-friendly stuff at the art museum next door.  These would be good options for a young 4 (and a young 7) if you have anything similar in your area.  The only cost was a <$100 annual museum membership at one of the museums (the other museum is free).

[theelfqueen]

11 year old will go to scout camp and maybe zoo camp

15 year old will go on a Philmont trek.

 

They usually spend a week in Florida with their grandparents, too. Haven't planned that yet.

 

No school.

[StephF]

So far just 8 weeks of a Spanish Immersion Camp. I haven't thought about "school" stuff yet.

[Dmmetler]

We have one week of a college campus based sleep-away program, a herp conference in New Orleans, and maybe Piano camp if they ask me to teach (they haven't yet). Plus research stuff-frog ponds, field trips, and things like that.

[Tsuga]

It is nice to see you here now that your daughter is doing more class work! A sleep-away program is a big deal. Has she ever done anything like that before?

[Dmmetler]

She did her first one last year. It's only been recently that she's been comfortable even being away from parents overnight, but she's getting much more independent, which is good. And for her, a college campus is a familiar feeling place.

 

I figure this is a good place to stick my head in, since I'm now more a coordinator and bus driver than a home educator!

 

 

 

[jessc]

For DD7, I'm hoping she gets into the free city summer camp through the lottery.  If she doesn't get in, she'll be in Mom's DIY Summer Camp.  The DIY summer camp will consist of :

 

Swimming lessons (lottery, crossing fingers)

Beach trips

City zoos, aquariums, and museums

Playground/sprinklers

Street fairs and miscellaneous activities as they come up

Library programs tba

 

Her school usually assigns a summer homework packet so we'll have to factor that in.  We're currently working on MM so we'll continue that and I'd like to try mixing in MEP with her also. We will continue read alouds apart from her independent reading.

 

DD4 is too young for the free city summer camp.  So she's automatically enrolled in Mom's DIY Summer Camp.  We'll continue reading aloud and I'll start MEP reception with her. She'll be starting kindergarten next year.

 

My plans are usually over ambitious as well. I'll be happy to accomplish half and not be a slouch all summer.  

 

[SKL]

I decided to add a reading skills class which meets on Sundays for the second half of the summer.  The externally-imposed structure will take some pressure off me, and both girls can use some individualized work on certain skills.  I will also have them complete the library summer reading program.

 

Someone mentioned school-assigned summer homework.  We had a big pile of it last year.  I don't know if we will this year or not.  If so, I'll just adjust my other expectations.

[AggieMama]

We are doing VBS, a missions camp, swim lessons, dance, various family trips, and lots of learning.

[AnnaM]

VBS
Church Camp
CORE Camp (STEM activities)
Lots of free reading programs

We will see how the money goes for any other camp type things

LOTS of time at the pool
Even more time at the pool
Volleyball
Soccer

As far as school:

Writing with Cover Story
Creative Thinking Activity books
Finishing their current math and grammar 
Science
History

As we finish the books I won't start the next until after our family vacation in mid-September. Timing has just worked out that we will likely be doing math right up until that week though :/ 

The biggest change is my daughter having dropped competitive gymnastics. That alone frees up about 20 hours per week! At the moment I am still feeling the urge to just replace that activity rather than just enjoy our new found freedom.

[lilajoy]

We're still figuring out our summer plans, but the hope is to be traveling/away for much of the summer. I'm a teacher, so I get to be a stay-at-home mom in the summer, which is nice. I'll probably sign the kids up for a week or two of camp, just for their enjoyment, but otherwise they'll be home with me.

 

For my son (age 7, going into 2nd grade next year), the plan is:

• Daily sentence writing -- not quite sure how I will structure it yet, but I want him to practice spelling, handwriting, and writing mechanics, and just to stay in the habit of writing daily as he does in school.
• Math workbook to practice addition and subtraction facts to 20. He is good at math, but I want the arithmetic to become automatic so that calculations never slow him down or trip him up as he moves on to higher topics in the math.
• Math enrichment -- if there's time and he shows interest, we'll preview some of the upcoming 2nd grade topics with him, like regrouping.
• Science and social studies -- we will continue to read about and discuss topics in science and history all the time. I'd like to do some cool experiments with him, which I find we don't have a lot of time for usually.
• Reading -- 20 minutes reading to me every day, plus lots of independent reading. And I will continue to read to him often.

 

 

[west_coast_mom]

This thread is motivating me to get our summer in order! So far I've registered DD11 & DD9 for one week of Girl Scout camp and a 2 week ballet intensive.

 

DD11 has not made significant progress this year in writing. We've used WWE sporadically throughout the year to help, but I just wasn't consistent with it. I'd like to combine WWE and either EIW or Killgallon over the summer. I just need to make a realistic plan with the time we have. If I have a schedule, it will get done! 

 

[SKL]

I was also thinking maybe I should write out a detailed schedule for school work at home, and then I would maybe get stuff done.  Then again, maybe it would just stress me out.  :P

[Rush]

We're planning a sport intensive programme this summer. There will be lots of swimming, tennis, gymnastics & dancing, karate crash-course, bmx and skateboard lessons, and of course, beach time every day from 7am to 11am.

Academically - lots of maths, science, programming & coding, robotics, creating and learning everything about bridges, art lessons with granny, who will stay all summer with us, and lots of reading. I'm so exited. I can't wait for it :)

Edited April 14, 2016 by rushhush08

[MeghansMom]

Meg will be taking a couple of theater summer camps, horseback riding, and guitar. School wise, she will continue her literature and we will work on her math. She does well in it but it falls out of her head. She is adhd but her therapist and doctor don't want her to take medication at this point.

[beishan]

I just signed up summer camp yesterday. We will do the same camp like other summers in the past. It's half academic and half fun activities. This summer my mom will take my niece here so we have Mandarin immersion environment at home this summer. I am planning to do more Chinese lessons through this summer. I also think about signing him up for Mathnasium summer session to see if it will help more than just doing MM workbook in summer. Swimming lesson and ice skating (he wants to switch to hockey track) will continue through summer. We also need to prepare his violin audition for Youth Symphony this summer. I hope he can get in and get some different experience playing in orchestra setting. By the end of summer, we will go on road trip to Boston and Acadia National Park.

[againstthegrain]

We're pretty set for summer here..... We are done May 13th (or sooner) but won't start up anything until May 23rd after we return from a family vacation.

 

 

They will have 1 Academic Day a week:

-AAS Lesson

-BYL Prehistory Lesson

-Math Lesson + Fact Mastery through Timed Tests and Fun Apps (I've got one working on addition/subtraction facts and the other on multiplication/division facts)

DS8 has a week of overnight bible camp, a 2 day overnight scouting trip and is thinking of joining the local swim team (4x a week practices)

DD6 has an overnight bible camp, a few day camps for girl scouts

 

We have homeschool group on Wednesdays which we will get back into over the summer

 

 

And I'll be taking 4 college classes online (8 more total to go for my Bachelors!) and spending time at the lake fishing with my parents as well as spending time at the in ground swimming pool at my in laws.

[SKL]

Hi again!  I changed up a few things in my OP as plans changed a bit.

 

Now my kids will be doing two partly-online summer programs for which they will need a laptop.  So I decided to surprise them with their first laptops this summer, in their favorite colors.  :P  The laptops come with a one-year Office license.  One of the summer programs includes daily work on Khan Academy, which can continue after the program is over.  It also includes a typing tutor, which will be helpful in many areas.  I'm pretty excited about the recent things I added, but now I am thinking these will render some of the other stuff redundant.  Oh well.  :P

 

I'm having way too much fun with all of this.  I hope my kids feel similar.  :P

[Rush]

We're planning a sport intensive programme this summer. There will be lots of swimming, tennis, gymnastics & dancing, karate crash-course, bmx and skateboard lessons, and of course, beach time every day from 7am to 11am.

Academically - lots of maths, science, programming & coding, robotics, creating and learning everything about bridges, art lessons with granny, who will stay all summer with us, and lots of reading. I'm so excited. I can't wait for it :)

We have a few changes with the sport activities this summer as my youngest had broken his leg. His full leg cast has just been removed, but we still have to do lots of physiotherapy and he definitely won't be able to do anything except swimming  :( My eldest ds will only keep his tennis, gymnastics and swimming lessons and take a hip hop class during the summer. My youngest ds will take lego and science classes as a substitute. 

Edited June 12, 2016 by rushhush08

[JulieA97]

Hope its ok if I jump in here. Ds will be starting Kindergarten.

 

-4 weeks total of camp at his former preschool. The first 2 weeks are in June and will focus on science. Doing fun experiments, learning about animals, even building a pond and learning about pond life. The other 2 weeks are in July and will focus on arts and crafts. Singing, painting, learning about famous artists. He is much more a science kid but I think he will enjoy those weeks too.

-VBS

-Summer league swim team

-lots of time at the pool

-continuing AAR Level 1 we started a while ago. He was more than ready to start reading and I want him to have a very solid phonic foundation before starting school where they will depend on sight words and using pictures to guess the words (grrrrr).

-if we have time and he wants to, continue to work on math and handwriting. A while ago, I bought Singapore K and we are on book B and Handwriting without tears (just the book).

-Kumon workbooks when we are at restaurants or having to wait somewhere. They have spatial reasoning and logic books we are working through now.

 

That sounds like a lot but mainly we will be at the pool or camp this summmer.

Edited June 12, 2016 by JulieA97

[Earthmerlin]

I'm a teacher & this past year I went back to it (at a challenging school w/ a needy population) after being a SAHM for 6 years. So this summer for us will be low-key & partially home-based because I want to give myself & daughter a well-deserved break. However, we will be in Belgium the whole of July & will travel a tad through Europe while there.* To me, that's plenty of stimulation & education for a 6 year old.

 

However, I have her enrolled in swim & diving lessons in August, per her request. We will take day trips to museums, the zoo, Hershey park, Luray caverns, Mount Vernon, baseball games & nearby parks. At home, we spend a lot of time in the yard so I'm stocking it with a rotating supply of toys & activities. She has expressed a strong interest in science so I have a series of topics & experiments lined up. Since we'll be home a lot, I'll get her in the kitchen to cook--another self-expressed interest. She's learning to read in French so I'll take the time off to bolster her French literacy skills. Of course we'll speak more Spanish to her too. I don't feel she was challenged in 1st grade so I plan to work on writing & math--especially arithmetic fluency. This past school year, it was hectic & chock full of extra- curriculars so we slowed down on the read alouds. Reading together is a cherished time for our family so I will bring that back this summer, in full force. We have camping & beach weekends planned too, but much later in the summer.

 

The travel & swim are set in stone but the rest are all dependent on interest & energy levels. The most important part of this summer will be spending time together as a family.

 

 

*If anyone has suggestions on off-the path, kiddie-friendly places & activities (or other tips) in Belgium, Luxembourg, Paris &/or Venice in July, please let me know!

Edited June 12, 2016 by Earthmerlin

[SKL]

Wanted to add that after we joined the library "summer reading club," I found that their website has lots of free math links, some of which my kids have used in school.  So that is a neat resource if anyone is looking for math skills practice ideas.  The summer reading "challenge" requires the kids to do some math and volunteering as well as reading.

 

We also signed up for the middle school book discussion at the library (monthly).  The first meeting is this coming Thursday.

 

 I wonder if I should keep a list of what we accomplish this summer, as a motivator.  Or just edit the OP....

[vonfirmath]

Please do not edit. With edits you cannot tell there is new information!

[Earthmerlin]

Wanted to add that after we joined the library "summer reading club," I found that their website has lots of free math links, some of which my kids have used in school. So that is a neat resource if anyone is looking for math skills practice ideas. The summer reading "challenge" requires the kids to do some math and volunteering as well as reading.

 

We also signed up for the middle school book discussion at the library (monthly). The first meeting is this coming Thursday.

 

I wonder if I should keep a list of what we accomplish this summer, as a motivator. Or just edit the OP....

Thanks for thd tip about library-provided online math resources. I'll need to check our county's site to see if they have similar things. It's always good to have more options, rather than less.

[mayath]

I'm counting down the days till summer. Our break starts next week -- and since I'm a teacher, it's as much a break for me as it is for my kids.  I love planning summer learning. This year, the focus will be on travel and history/culture, though I'll also encourage reading and some amount of math. So excited!

For me, the summer is a great time to both consolidate my kids' skills as well and to help them deepen passions and learn things that they may not learn in school. I  think of learning during the school year as a sort of sprint, but learning in the summer is more like a walk in the woods -- it's beautiful and enjoyable without any of the stress, speed, and competition of the school year. I'm such a fan of long summers!

Our plan is to work on Singapore math, read a lot (I have some great books lined up for the summer), and immerse ourselves in history projects connected to our summer travel. 

http://www.mayathiagarajan.info/

 

[SKL]

Well, we finished our Eastern Europe trip.  We did almost no schoolish work on our trip.  It was definitely an intellectual experience by itself.  The girls did a tiny bit of math via money exchange and budgeting their Ukrainian currency (which goes a lot farther than US$ goes here).  I also had a rule that they had to do a mental math problem each time they acted crabby.  They found this rather fun so they would make their dolls act crabby so they would get a math problem to solve.  Weird kids.  One of them read a couple books of folk tales & at least part of a Walter Farley book (or 2) & part of my grown-up book over my shoulder.  Not sure the other read much of anything.  :)  Learned a lot about the history of Eastern Europe, WWII, & the USSR.  Walked about 5 miles per day, swam 1x.  Spent a lot of time in old churches.  Experienced different languages and alphabets.  And the squatty potty (blech).

 

They are now almost 2 weeks behind on Brain Chase, and they won't be able to work on it next week (they have sleep-away camp).  So I will probably make them do a bunch between now and Sunday to try to catch up.  They have a light week as far as scheduled learning - just horse camp, book club, basketball, and TKD.

 

I can already see some of that summer learning loss they warn us about, in one of my kids especially.  But it's hard to be a stickler when they are supposed to be having fun.  :(

Edited July 7, 2016 by SKL

[SKL]

We are way behind academically, especially in math.  I just hope that all the other activities will make up for it.  The kids are intellectually engaged, that's for sure.

 

I signed them up for the online stuff because I didn't want to be a total slave-driver, but now it looks like I'm going to have to be a slave-driver to get them to finish the online stuff.  :/  TBH the online homework for the reading class is more than I expected.  And the Khan Academy review math is harder than I expected.  While they are away at camp this week, I will be re-working the home plans for the rest of the summer.

 

They say they don't want to do Brain Chase next year because it seems like a lot.  Well, that is mainly because they were out of town without their computers for half of the time.  I guess that will probably be true next year as well.  Oh well.  It was a nice idea.  :)  I might stick with Khan Academy but just do it around our schedule.  I have other ideas for reading and writing.

[tm919]

We are way behind academically, especially in math.  I just hope that all the other activities will make up for it.  The kids are intellectually engaged, that's for sure.

Here too -- the kids are having a great summer, but we aren't moving as quickly through material as expected because we're never home all day. At the end of the summer, I'd love to hear what everyone  THOUGHT they would do compared to what they have done... mostly to comfort myself, haha.

 

E.g., My older daughter is in Saxon 5/4. In the past month, she's done 7 lessons, +1 test/investigation, so really... she's only gotten 2 days of math in per week. 

[SKL]

Here too -- the kids are having a great summer, but we aren't moving as quickly through material as expected because we're never home all day. At the end of the summer, I'd love to hear what everyone  THOUGHT they would do compared to what they have done... mostly to comfort myself, haha.

 

E.g., My older daughter is in Saxon 5/4. In the past month, she's done 7 lessons, +1 test/investigation, so really... she's only gotten 2 days of math in per week. 

 

I have been editing my OP with some notes about what is getting done, what was a hit, etc.  I will do a sum-up post at the end of summer.

 

My kids stumbled initially with Khan.  The program was new to them and while it gives helps, they needed time to figure out how to use them.  I started them on 5th grade, which they both found intimidating.  Then I switched to 4th, which is still not so easy for my eldest.  She has come to dread and hate the math part.  She even said she has nightmares about it.  Of course she didn't tell me this until late last week.  I told her we'll move down to 3rd grade stuff.  Hopefully that will feel like easy review.  The point is only to keep concepts reasonably fresh, not to qualify for math olympics.  :)

 

I've put most other work on hold since we returned from our Europe trip, in the hope that they will get caught up on Brain Chase without feeling too oppressed.  They have done some practical math stuff as part of their various summer activities.  And they will do a somewhat intensive review a couple weeks before school.  I will probably go back to the workbooks after that.  One thing about a worksheet - at least you can see the end of it.  With online math, you don't know what they are going to throw at you next.

[Earthmerlin]

I'm a teacher & this past year I went back to it (at a challenging school w/ a needy population) after being a SAHM for 6 years. So this summer for us will be low-key & partially home-based because I want to give myself & daughter a well-deserved break. However, we will be in Belgium the whole of July & will travel a tad through Europe while there.* To me, that's plenty of stimulation & education for a 6 year old.

 

However, I have her enrolled in swim & diving lessons in August, per her request. We will take day trips to museums, the zoo, Hershey park, Luray caverns, Mount Vernon, baseball games & nearby parks. At home, we spend a lot of time in the yard so I'm stocking it with a rotating supply of toys & activities. She has expressed a strong interest in science so I have a series of topics & experiments lined up. Since we'll be home a lot, I'll get her in the kitchen to cook--another self-expressed interest. She's learning to read in French so I'll take the time off to bolster her French literacy skills. Of course we'll speak more Spanish to her too. I don't feel she was challenged in 1st grade so I plan to work on writing & math--especially arithmetic fluency. This past school year, it was hectic & chock full of extra- curriculars so we slowed down on the read alouds. Reading together is a cherished time for our family so I will bring that back this summer, in full force. We have camping & beach weekends planned too, but much later in the summer.

 

The travel & swim are set in stone but the rest are all dependent on interest & energy levels. The most important part of this summer will be spending time together as a family.

 

 

*If anyone has suggestions on off-the path, kiddie-friendly places & activities (or other tips) in Belgium, Luxembourg, Paris &/or Venice in July, please let me know!

Someone asked to give input regarding plans & what's actually taken place. Well, for us the travel's about to come to an end & I'm glad for the experiences it's afforded us. Although it's been a month of foreign experiences I've still managed to read aloud an entire novel--score!!--which was a summer goal (& hopefully sets the stage for future abundant read alouds). My daughter's heard & spoken tons more French but I've yet to make progress with her French literacy. Also, I haven't made any head way with arithmetic fluency. Soooo...those'll be my 2 areas of focus in August, for the remaining 3 weeks of break. Between that, swim & science it should prove an enriching 2nd half of summer break. Here's to setting goals....& hopefully reaching them!

[Dmmetler]

We really didn't do much academically either except for at camps and conferences (and herp stuff). I think the older DD gets the harder it is to work things in around her schedule. Next year, she's still at home but it really almost feels like after schooling because she has outside classes in almost everything, yet there's still stuff that she wants to do and I would like her to do.

[SKL]

Well, next year one of my kids isn't doing any sleep-away camps.  Argh.  The other one can go.  It will be a good excuse to start putting them both in different activities that better match their abilities / interests.

[vonfirmath]

Well, next year one of my kids isn't doing any sleep-away camps.  Argh.  The other one can go.  It will be a good excuse to start putting them both in different activities that better match their abilities / interests.

 

Does she not like it?

 

My sister has two kids that enjoy sleepaway, and one who it is like pulling teeth to get him to go. She put him in a couple of years when his older siblings will be there and he still maintains he doesn't enjoy so will not be going back now that his siblings have both aged out of the camp he'd go to.

 

I am anticipating possibly having the same problem with my youngest, who has more troubles being away from me.  We will see as she gets older as she is just starting K this year.

 

[SKL]

Does she not like it?

 

My sister has two kids that enjoy sleepaway, and one who it is like pulling teeth to get him to go. She put him in a couple of years when his older siblings will be there and he still maintains he doesn't enjoy so will not be going back now that his siblings have both aged out of the camp he'd go to.

 

I am anticipating possibly having the same problem with my youngest, who has more troubles being away from me.  We will see as she gets older as she is just starting K this year.

 

She hasn't really had difficulties in the past, but she got sick and kind of harassed at scout camp a couple weeks ago, and they sent her home early.  I was hoping it was a fluke, but it made her really nervous and she couldn't settle into the camp she went to this week.  The heat isn't helping matters.  She is a bit of a wuss when it comes to physical trials.  :P

 

Sleep-away camp sounded like such a good idea, until I found out it would mean three 3-hour driving trips per week - two of them in the middle of a work day.  :P

[Dmmetler]

You may want to look at sleep away programs on college campuses. It's a different feel than most camps, even if it's the same age group.

[mayathiagarajan]

I always plan on doing so much over vacations, and then somehow, we never get as much done as I would like. But then, I think that my kids and I do need a real break -- and i'm glad that we got that break. I was feeling pretty burnt out by June, and I'm feeling much better now.

So what did the kids do this summer?

- Travel to visit family; lots of family time and outdoor time/time in nature (very important for our minds and bodies)

- Lots of reading; my daughter (age 7) worked her way through all the Harry Potters; my son (age 11) read a wide range of books.

- We took a break from math while we traveled, but then for the last 3 weeks, the kids did fairly regular math (Singapore math)

- A couple of sessions of grammar, but not much

- Some fun outings -- kayaking, hiking, the beach, and a couple of museum trips

Overall, I think it was a lovely summer. We got some afterschooling in, but more importantly, the kids had fun, they spent time with their family, they got outside a lot, and they're energized for the new school year.

[Mabelen]

I never posted about summer plans. My daughter is 12 and going into 7th grade. I had 2 main areas I wanted her to work on, Spanish grammar and math. I also hoped she would get some work done on programming. Our summer is pretty much finished as of this Tuesday when she goes back to school.

 

For Spanish grammar I got the Breaking the Spanish Barrier ebook so she coud do it independently. She got some done but not as much as I had hoped. This was pretty much the first thing to go on busy days. We still continued to use Spanish at home as always, but grammar is something that I still want to keep doing long term.

 

Math was the one thing I insisted on daily and which got done pretty consistently. I had her use the 7th grade math mission on Khan Academy.

 

Ev3 programming was more haphazard until just recently when I got her a book and stopped relying on YouTube lessons. She will be using this in our first ever FLL season with an all new team.

 

Everything else she got done during the summer was her own choice: dancing, piano, sailing, paddle boarding camp, and bassoon lessons. I also never assigned any reading, she picked and read whatever she wanted.

 

Of course we stopped everything during our family vacation. This year it was only a week and stayed in California since we had spent 3 weeks in Sri Lanka during winter break visiting family.

[Dmmetler]

DD11 survived ACT camp (her first "high school" experience) and did well on the ACT (although I'm not sure the camp helped-her pre-camp practice test scores mostly matched the real test). She did her sleep away program and enjoyed her time on the college campus, and went to the Joint Meeting, where she reallt is coming into her own. I don't know that she really needed me except that at 11, she can't check into hotels or ride Amtrak by herself.

 

Other academic stuff...well, she did some herp stuff, some science blogging, did an online marine biology class, and put together a microbiology event for some of her homeschool friends using Ellen McHenry's curriculum. We really didn't do anything else, making this the first summer we didn't explicitly do math since DD entered K.

 

We're trying to get back into the swing of school. This year, DD's classes are almost all outside the house, but we're also supplementing and adding on, so I'm not sure if I'm homeschooling, afterschooling or what. Because of different start dates, we have stuff starting over a 4 week period. It's weird, and I don't think I like it.

[AggieMama]

We started off the summer doing okay, but lost steam after a few weeks. It was a constant battle with DD6 to get anything done. She thought since she was on vacation she didn't have to do anything. We switched over to primarily computer stuff, but DD6 became obsessed with being on the computer all day (possible ADHD, addressing issues through behavioral therapy). DD6 read through all the Bad Kitty chapter books and read a few more. I'm trying to improve the quality of what she reads, but she is super finicky. I failed at my attempt to teach DD5 to read. I guess I'll have to really tackle that once school starts. She just seems super immature for her age. She'd rather be silly than do than do school work. Hopefully I can get my act together for the school year.

[tm919]

Mine is below. We didn't do as badly as I thought, but writing and math really suffered since they were outside/with friends most days for most of the day. Not that this is a bad thing, but I wasn't smart enough to see it coming.
 

BOTH DD6 and DD-almost5 did:

Gymnastics camp [done]

Went to the beach once per week ([done, with with one exception]

Swim class (weekly) [done]

Summer reading - library program-- DD6 read maybe 10-15 books that were challenging to her, DD4 read maybe 60... but her "challenging" books are sooo much shorter [done]

Play strategy games every day! [partially done --does averaging 2 out of every 7 days work?]

Nature ID of every plant and animal in our yard [done]

Singing Made Easy Level 1, first four songs [done -- but we wanted to do so much more!!]

Brainpop and brainpop Jr Video of the week [done]

 

What didn't get done… as in we didn't even touch it.

 

Zaccaro challenge math

Home Art Studio

Bicyling

The Great Return to "life of fred"

 

Other

6 year old

MATH Saxon Lessons 5/4 40-53 (with tests & investigations) -[1/3rd  done  I meant to do lessons 40-80]

             Xtramath on average a few times a week [done]

            IXL - once a week for 20 minutes [done]

             Fact practice  [done]

LANGUAGE ARTS  All about spelling 6, steps 1 to 21 [done]

                                 Wordly Wise Levels 2, 3, 4 (lessons 1-3 so far) [done]

                                 IEW SWI-A Lessons 1-6 [1/3rd done, I really wanted to have finished this… ugh]

                                 Shurley English 3, lessons 1-11  [done]

                                 Evan Moore Reading Comprehension 3, weeks 1-11 [done]

OTHER Peterson Directed, Cursive Step 3 [done]

              Evan Moore Daily Science Level 1 , "Big Ideas" 1 and 2 [1/3rd done, I would have liked to do more]

             Duolingo Spanish (very little, we just started in anticipation of possibly starting Spanish this year… but we'll c all it [done]

           Logic - I had 3 workbooks, we got 1.5 done [1/2 done]

        Typing - dance mat typing         [done]

 

4 year old/almost 5

All about reading level 3 [done]

Letters and Numbers for Me (HWT K)  [done]

All about spelling level 2 lessons 1-20  [done]

Saxon 1, Lessons 1-85 [done]

 

Edit: I messed up the font and can't seem to fix it. Looks crazy now. Also I keep remembering other stuff we did... weird how easy it is to forget.

Edited August 14, 2016 by tm919