Anyone do light school work for summer, if so what are you doing with what age?

[Gamom3]

Dc are wrapping things up in the next 3wks. I do not plan on starting any new books until August. I know they will have a horrible time, if we put off school until then.

I have been thinking about it this morning and I am wondering if I need to do more than flashcards(I have planned on starting in 2wks, but haven't found what I need..considering CC but still not sure).

 

I dont want to do hours of school work during the summer.

 

 

What are your plans if any for summer?

[Linda...inOwasso]

My oldest dd plays softball & soccer so we're still pretty busy with her games through June. Youngest dd takes dancing lessons and her recital isn't until mid-June. We're also wrapping up our regular year within the next month (end of April) so..... my plans are as follows:

 

1. Assign summer reading lists for both dd's.

2. Continue with Math DAILY. My girls do math year-round.

3. 3 x week Latin vocab review w/ dd7.

4. Practice penmanship 3 x week.

 

And PLAY!! We've got a pool in the backyard that I plan to spend a lot of time in and then there's the neat summer camps that the zoo, museums, etc... put on. And last, I'm sure we'll take at least 1 vacation although we haven't planned it yet.

 

I'm ready for a lighter load... come on summer!! :)

[sadiegirl]

We usually finish up our school year around May 22nd-25th. We take off month of June for VBS,a couple of trips to grandparents/lake and then golf camp etc. So, that month is busy with activities. July is free and then we start back in August usually around the 15th or so. I plan on having them read, and do some math on the days we are doing nothing activity wise. Plus during the hot hot days, we like board game and so Scrabble and learning games are great ways to fill afternoon time.

[Tami]

Math lesson 2x a week (if I drop math for the summer, we almost have to literally start over)

 

Free reading one hour a day

 

Summer Science and Nature Study (I usually do this with a group and we run this for 6 weeks or so)

 

Otherwise, we spend lots of time bumming around at the beach!

[Hoggirl]

Ds continues doing reading each day. The summer between 3rd and 4th grades he learned how to type. Now, I try and plan projects that relate to our upcoming history year to do over the summer. We have a hard time getting to them during he school year, so this is a way to introduce the next history segment in a light and fun way.

[FriedClams]

We light school throughout the summer. We do it (and LOVE it) because:

+ a lot of our HS friends are traveling so there are fewer kids to play with

+ It's SUPER HOT here in the summer so we can't play outside anyway.

+ It frees up the pressure of taking days off in the spring / fall to play when it's nice or to travel, which we do a lot.

+ The ultimate motivator - THE POOL. Last summer we joined a pool that opened at 10. If we had school done - we'd head straight there. No complaints, quick effort, smooth sailing. It was awesome!!

 

We shoot for 4 days a week and do: math, lots of reading (also with the summer reading program - so there's a double benefit for the kids), daily Bible and assorted science through camps, fun, etc. We start history and grammar etc. in early August / Late July.

[Hazelt"nut"]

DD6 will be going into first grade.

 

During our 6-8 week break I will provide her with math fact drill sheets, some math review sheets and have her read read read from library books. That's it here. I will be planning for next year which will start in July for us.

[Mom2boys]

With younger kids, I continue to do math and phonics over the summer, because I find they lose too much ground otherwise. For older kids, beyond third grade, I would just keep them reading all summer.

[Jenny in Atl]

We continue Math, Reading (they choose titles), Latin/Spanish, and any other bits and pieces we don't finish by the end of May. This summer we will add CW Poetry. I have no set schedule, allow a couple weeks off for camps, and those needed afternoons of pool side leisure.

[Oakblossoms]

Probably catch up on Math UNLESS my oldest does well on his tests at the end of the year. Then I might just let him skip ahead and get started for the upcoming year.

 

We will continue to read a lot of books but a lot more child lead.

 

We do a lot outside since we live in Washington State. We love summer so we spend a lot of time at the beach, camping, nature walking, Museums etc.

 

We usually end up lighting a lot of "fires" for the upcoming year.

[Sue G in PA]

but this is our first year doing year-round school. I plan to have the dc keep up w/ math at least 3x wk. Drills for ds9 so he can get up to speed on his facts so Saxon 6/5 won't be a bear for him. Reading every day (we usually do our library summer reading program anyway). I'm planning an Election lapbook to inform dc of the upcoming Election. Nature study and possibly starting Apol. Flying Creatures only b/c dc are interested. Keep up w/ our family newspaper/letter (writing). Dd11 will keep up her Spanish and *I* would like to start Latina Christiana with ds8, 9 and dd11. THAT might not happen! Oh, and we need to finish MOH1 so we'll do that 2-3x/wk. It sounds like a lot but I'm being flexible AND realistic. Being our first year doind school over the summer...I'm bound to be met w/ groans and attitudes all around.

[SBP]

I'm going to try jumping back into Latin over the summer. We tried LFC a year ago and washed out for various reasons, and I've been a bit reluctant to add something none of us enjoyed back into an already-full schedule.

 

But I like the looks of Lively Latin and think it would be a good re-introduction to the subject, so I want to try that and just make it the only thing we do each day starting in June. In July, we'll add math lessons back in (can't take longer off than that or it all falls out of their heads) and then by mid-August, we're usually back to a full school schedule.

 

Wish me luck on the Latin. I'm seriously going to need it! :001_huh:

 

SBP

[Gailmegan]

Mine are still young, so we don't do a lot, but I try to keep their minds thinking. They like doing puzzle type workbooks Highlights, Puzzlemania, Kumon books, sudokus and simple crossword puzzles for Rabbit, hidden pictures for Piglet, etc. We also read a lot and go on field trips. We do a little bit each morning, because our swim club doesn't open until 11.

[skimerinkydo]

1. Continue with math

2. writing once a week

3. learn to type

4. swim lessons

[Daisy]

We use BJU's Vacation Stations. DH is teaching summer school so I also planned a really informal unit study on the human body with a DK book and sticker books. Oh, and we are going to read about Africa (since it gets sorta neglected in most history books).

[chiguirre]

We'll work 3 days a week and the kids will go to daycamp twice a week. For ds, I plan to just keep going with our R&S Math 1 finishing up the blackline masters and then starting Math 2. We'll read through the second half of Calvert 1st grade reading and some Sonlight readers before starting LLATL Red and Pathway Readers 2 in August. I have this stuff on hand and I'd like to get some use out of it so it will be our summer reading. For dd, we'll keep chugging with our Calvert K. Once we finish that we'll start LLATL Blue. For Math I'm still undecided what route we'll go, but we'll do 3 lessons a week.

[Part-Time Homeschooler]

We always do school work during the summer; we work for only 1 hour per day -- plus reading time -- and take Fridays off. Here's what I'm planning for this summer:

 

For ds7 who will be entering 3rd grade:

 

Math: Garlic Press workbooks and ABeka flashcards (add, sub, mult, & div); 2-3 days per week

 

Reading: McGuffey's and Pathway readers, plus other books of ds's choice; 30 minutes daily

 

Phonics -- Explode the Code 6; 2 days per week

 

Spelling -- Spelling Workout C; 2 days per week

 

History -- Listening to The Story of the World in the car

 

For dd4 who will be entering Pre-K:

 

We'll continue with The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading (15 minutes per day), read lots of books, and work on handwriting (15 minutes per day).

 

This schedule may vary once summer starts, depending on how hectic things get. We always participate in the summer reading program at the library and both dc will be taking swimming lessons, as well as participating in a few other activities.

[cin]

FOr the summer between 1st & 2nd we'll be doing Math, Thinking skills, catch-up in Science, a Reading Comprehension workbook, and we'll be going through the What Your (K, 1st & 2nd) Grader Needs to Know History sections. DH is so concerned that she doens't knwo enough American History. We'll also do some analogies and stuff. SHe LOVES those!

 

DD2 starts K4 this fall, and over the summer she will be listening in on science & History, some thinkikng skills and Math & Reading.

 

Part of it is not forgetting things, part of it is keeping a little structure in our days. Most of the kids on our street are in daycare, so we don't have alot of playmates, just each other. That can get old and listening to them bicker gets REALLY old. :tongue_smilie:

[Dawn E]

We will continue math 3-4x week as well as daily independent reading time. I have a unit study on horses for us to do, and we will continue Nature study with Barb's Green Hour. I'm ordering Song School Latin, so we might add that as well.

[elegantlion]

We do school lite over the summer. This year we are planning...

 

 

• read aloud with The Hobbit, using a study guide
  
• Singapore Math book 4A
  
• Logic
  
• assigned reading to himself
  
• finishing our Easy Grammar book

 

[ThelmaLou]

We continue math and finish up workbook-type stuff that didn't seem to fit in throughout the year. We'll also wrap up our last year of Veritas history this summer. My 9 year old might start typing. I think that's it.

[Heather in Neverland]

We do Math and Latin through the summer....and lots of reading!

[MelissaMinNC]

We will continue with math, handwriting and tons of reading for the summer. Reading won't be considered school work, it's just a part of life at this point. Math and handwriting will continue, mostly because I don't want to lose the skills we've worked on all year over a long summer break. Especially with math, but I know dd wants to start transitioning to cursive as soon as possible and I just don't think her printing is quite mastered enough to start that yet.

 

She'll be in 2nd grade in the fall (unless I go to year-round, in which case, it might be July-ish).

 

:)

Melissa

[gandpsmommy]

We took all of last summer off, but I'm planning to have her do a light schedule this summer, partly to retain skills that she has learned and partly to finish up some projects that we won't have finished by summer. Here's what I have in mind at this preliminary stage of thinking:

 

1. Daily reading from a summer reading list.

2. Addition and Subtraction facts practice at least 3x/wk.

3. Grammar review 3x/wk.

4. Science reading/experiments 2x/wk. until we finish the kit for first grade Biology.

5. History a few times a week until we finish SOTW.

[Plaid Dad]

We're doing Latin, math, and penmanship with a rising second grader. We'll begin the next level of math next week; once my dd finishes learning cursive, we'll drop penmanship as a subject and pick up CW Aesop. I expect that to be in the next month or so. I plan to continue on this light schedule at least until July (and possibly until August or September), at which point we'll pick up our other second grade subjects.

[Beth in SW WA]

We do Math and Latin through the summer....and lots of reading!

 

Same here :)

[Kate in Arabia]

Every year I buy those workbooks they have at Target/Walmart/Office Max that supposedly cover each grade. We work through those during the summer, just a couple pages a day in each subject, and I try to make sure they keep reading (English and Arabic). We travel pretty much the whole summer, it's great to have something steady to kind of keep the kids grounded when we're staying at different houses; but I also can't haul around a ton of resources, so this is something small enough to carry.

 

I think it sort of helps them keep from getting too "out of sorts", if that makes sense.

 

Kate

[Aubrey]

We've still got a lot to catch up on, due to major move & new baby, & we'll have to take time off in Aug for another new baby :tongue_smilie:, but other than that...

 

ds7 will read daily. He does that anyway because he wakes up around 4AM, & otherwise, he wants to wake someone up to play w/ him.

 

He'll do math daily, & I do mean Sat & Sun. Right now, he does about 10 min worth of math drills every AM on his own. He'll do *at least* that over the summer, but probably keep up w/ lessons, too.

 

I think if we finish all of our hist & sc, I'd like to pull stuff from last yr that we didn't get to--books & projecty stuff. The 1st g shelf makes me sad to look at, seeing all the fun stuff we haven't done yet!:crying:

 

And, although I haven't planned anything, looking at his writing skills, I'm thinking we'll need to do some, er, maintenance. His handwriting is fine, but his spelling is lacking. I'm not sure what to expect from his age, but I figure the sooner spelling issues etc get corrected, the better.

 

And like someone else said, it's hot here. My goal (though I haven't achieved it yet) is to get to where we can take as much time off in the autumn & spring as we want, when the weather is so gorgeous it's just wrong not to be outside & just do reg sch in the summer, when it's too hot to do anything else anyway. Unfortunately, I have yet to find an AC powerful enough to maintain much sch in the summers, either. :glare:

[Ravin]

DD is going into K in the fall. In coming years I plan to HS full-swing through summer, because it's so hot and not much else is going on with us and we always seem to be traveling and gearing up for holidays and events from Oct-Feb.

 

We're getting started this week with phonics--a review of letter sounds with Starfall and some miscellaneous workbooks followed by starting in on Tanglewood School's phonics program. We're also going to get strict about having a read-aloud time and resume our memory work (that DD enjoyed last year when we were more organized about preschool activities), and DD has several preschool math workbooks I want to finish working through with her.

 

We'll also do the summer reading program at the library this summer, something we've been doing since she was just a year old.

[Testimony]

I can only take each summer as they come.

 

Two things that I am praying about:

 

1. My church does a summer day camp program. I am doing drama and theatre at the camp this year.

 

2. I started a Lego club with my homeschool group. I am thinking of continuing it at the library during the summer. I need to think about this one.

 

Every year, we sign up for the summer reading program at the library. My boys will read and do math over the summer. That's it.

 

However, with summer camp, vacations, and possible a Lego program, we are very busy. In fact, it is a heavy summer. I signed them up to do one week of choir camp at the end of August. The violin teacher will have a summer schedule too.

 

This schedule was not always this heavy. Some summers, we did nothing, especially when they were little. Last summer, grades 3 and 1, I had my third grader doing some math over the summer. My first grader did not complete his math book. So, I continued until the end of July. I should have continued to do math because he needs it. My children will always do the following over the summer: reading and math.

 

Blessings,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[momofkhm]

I have tried getting those summer workbooks, but the kids don't do them unless I sit on them. I've tried rewards if they finish a section to no avail. I'm not going to spend the money this year. But by the time school is over this spring, we will only have 2 months off (May and June).

[Jenny in Florida]

When my kids (and I) were younger, we used to look forward to summer school. I'd work with each of them to decide on one or two regular school subjects that they would keep working on lightly over the summer. It was usually math and maybe something else. We'd pick out a workbook or whatever that they would use to review, and they would spend the first 30 minutes or so after breakfast on desk work.

 

In addition, we'd choose some topic to explore for the summer, usually a culture or historical period. I'd read aloud a book or two, and we'd do craft projects and watch DVDs that related to the theme.

 

Then, in the afternoons, we'd go to the pool.

 

I found doing just that much was enough to give them their daily innoculation of brain food so that they didn't get bored and go crazy. But it still left plenty of lounging and loafing time for them so that they could enjoy the summer break.

 

We quit doing this a couple of years ago, because I had a bad episode of burnout and really needed a complete break from teaching. But I have fond memories of sitting on the enclosed patio reading aloud while the guinea pigs ran around at our feet and the kids made mosaics or some similar project.

 

--Jenny

[Mandy in TN]

My 5yo ds started Kumon math last summer and will continue through this summer. This summer I also plan to continue with phonics.

 

My 14yo ds will have some reading and maybe some math.

 

My 16yo ds will definitely do math. He will read without being told, so that isn't an issue.

 

Mandy

[Novafan]

I don't think we will do any formal work beyond reading. Reading aloud, silent reading, reading for fun. I want them to have a break. To keep the pencils moving I'm going to encourage them to write lots of letters for friends and family and when appropriate, they can write in their nature/garden journals.

 

We have so much planned for the summer that attempting to do any formal work just isn't going to happen. We are traveling and the boys will go to day camp one week. Add that to swimming, hiking and lots of outdoor playtime and we will run out of time to work on "school" stuff. Our homeschool summer will be from June 13th - September 2nd.