lisamarie Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 What do you do over the summer? Do you take a break from all schoolwork? Do you keep up with just reading and math? This is my first year HSing so I don't know what to do over the summer. A break sounds nice, but I'm just concerned the kids will forget everything they've learned over the summer and come fall, we will have to do a ton of review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 What do you do over the summer? Do you take a break from all schoolwork? Do you keep up with just reading and math? This is my first year HSing so I don't know what to do over the summer. A break sounds nice, but I'm just concerned the kids will forget everything they've learned over the summer and come fall, we will have to do a ton of review. You're right to be concerned, we didn't do anything the first summer I homeschooled, my daughter forgot most of her math facts. This last summer, we played some RS math games and didn't have that problem. Until they are reading well, I would do some phonics review as well, my game is fun and there are some more free games from Mona McGee that look good, although I haven't tried them yet. Foreign language vocabulary also many need some review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 We took a break our first year but last year we were so behind in math that we did it ALL summer. We went right up to the new year and then took one week off. They forgot everything in that one week. I thought going all summer would help avoid the ramp up but it did not and I won't ever do school all summer just for that reason. They didn't mind doing ETC and math daily. I liked the routine. So maybe for fun stuff but it didn't help my kids retain much ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galtgrl Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 We have never "schooled" through the summer, but we have always continued reading books together, playing games, and now that they're older we have alot of time taken up by 4-H projects. *I* need the break as much or more than they do, and I use it as my time to read homeschooling books (now the focus is on high school/ college) and plan for the next year. We've never had an issue with any of them losing a lot of ground over the summer break. HTH. -Jen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patchfire Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 We definitely take a summer vacation, but ds (who will be 5 by then) will still do phonics, handwriting, and math throughout the summer. It takes at most 45 minutes out of the day, so it's not a big deal. Dd is older (4th grade this year), and she'll be required to keep up her memory work (not adding anything new), read 2-4 specific books, review Latin vocabulary regularly, and do some amount of math. Usually we try to do summer math out of a different curriculum than our main math curriculum. She reads a lot on her own, or I would required x books of her choice in addition to the specific assigned books. We did this last summer and it was a smooth transition back to full school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 We schooled year round (taking December off) until ds was in about 6th grade, then we both needed a break. The first year, we took 1 month off, the second year, we took 2 months off. Both times, we did 1/2 school for the remainder of the summer until PS started. My goal was to sign him up for as many camps as we could afford to get some time apart. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry gardens Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 We have never "schooled" through the summer, but we have always continued reading books together, playing games, and...*I* need the break as much or more than they do, and I use it as my time to read homeschooling books ...and plan for the next year. We've never had an issue with any of them losing a lot of ground over the summer break. :iagree: I need the break. Summer is a great time to "unschool". Encourage reading and read books together out loud, play educational games, take field trips, spend time with nature and tend the garden...all of those activities are educational without all the mommy-guilt and worrying of my regular home-school days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 We do math all year long but during school breaks we take a break from our regular math curriculum and do real life or real world math. We do alot of nature hikes in the summer & the kids compile a nature notebook, learning about local plants, animal, insects, trees & leaves and dont realize we are doing "school work" because they are having fun! We go rock climbing and talk about geology. Make summer a fun time of learning! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 My kids do a day camp for six weeks each summer. During those weeks they just do individual reading once they hit the 2/3rd grade level, and math, for the youngers from a different program than the school year. The rest of the summer we still "school" but for only about an hour a day, unless it's science, for which most of my kids have a passion. They would do science all the time if you let them. We tend to focus on anything that might have been difficult and add lots of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsiew Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 Last year was our first year hsing so we've only had one summer. We took it completely off and I won't do that again. For us, it wasn't so much a loss of knowledge (they did fairly well maintaining), but it was horrible getting them all back into a school routine again. It took us until October to feel like we were back into a groove. This summer I'm planning to do "school light" during the summer. I haven't cemented my plans, but I'm thinking school 2-3 times a week for a couple hours a day. That would be about 1/2 of what we do now. We'll do math to keep it fresh, science, history (because they really love both, we'll probably cut back on the narrations) and art (hoping to cram a year's worth of art into one summer! We are SO not good at getting to it now!). My kids are avid readers so I'm not concerned about them reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 12, 2010 Share Posted February 12, 2010 Everybody needs a break. We read aloud all the time, even now that my daughter's 13, so we just kept that up, and she listened to books on tape. Some of the read-alouds included math books -- there are so many, many cute picture books. I remember my daughter being so taken with "Measuring Penny" that she made an entire similar book based on our dog -- lots of math, all done for fun and on her own! We also made a "My Numbers Book," in which we did stuff with numbers that had meaning for her: her age, height, weight, but also shoe size, length of her hair, number of steps between her room and the kitchen, number of pancakes she could eat at one sitting, how many jelly beans she could hold in one hand, how long it took her to run up and down the stairs five times, etc. There is also Peggy Kaye's book "Games for Math," fun, active stuff that my daughter would again ASK to do, that reinforces basic skills without any of the drudgery for the kids, any of the prep work or "work" work for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ester Maria Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 We travel. Most of the summer, about two full months, they're in Italy either with my, either with my husband's family, either involved with kids' activities there. It's a time to grow in some other aspects of life: learning practical skills, being in touch with their family and friends whom they can't see so much during the school year, changing a climate and a culture, catch up with Italian slang (:D), and learn a lots informally by visiting new places. Other than that, we also travel a lot together. They certainly spend some time in Israel every year as well as in Italy, we travel as a family to other places, and last winter I had them sent on skiing / winter camp with a group of their friends in Austria and I plan to increase such activities. I think it's very good for them to be independent, away from us a little, travel, meet new people and learn informally. It helps "mental health" a LOT, and they're always refreshed after it, so I like to break our school year with small breaks, and take a big time off in summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 The 2009 summer was my first homeschooling summer. I didn't do anything in particular; treated it like every other summer. DS is involved in 4H and the reading and activities involved with his many projects were time consuming. He is also a Boy Scout and the summer months are busy with campouts, extra trips, summer camp, etc. With the reading and hands on activities for merit badges and 4H, along with the personal reading DS does, there was no need for me to add in anything else. This summer may be different. There are many things DS is interested in and he has asked to school for June and July and use August for vacations and downtime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Well, we never stop reading, but it's anything goes in the summer, rather than something tied to our history or science studies, as so often during the school year. We do tend to do some math during the summer, but not on a regular, daily basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anotherbrother Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 I have always tried to maintain math during the summer. I think we will continue on a light schedule. We are busiest in June and July, so will probably only do school a few times a week for a couple of hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 I have come to the conclusion that I need my summer break. My dd will back up a bit in the skill subjects like math, but that can be reviewed and might even stick better the second time. We do some summer camps so that they can enjoy some of the great resources of our community (art camp, zoo camp, science camp, natural history museum camp). Our weather is wonderful during the summer, and we love to be outside. We hike, camp, and visit family a lot during the summer and there is no way I would miss that. I think that it is great for us to take a break from they dynamic of student-teacher and just be parent-child for a change. It give me time to focus and recharge myself for the next year. I get to read wonderful grownup books about the time period we will be studying in history, learn some science, and get ahead on a few of those classics. And I get to sit in the swing under my big cottonwood tree and watch the grass grow and the children play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 My boys have a book a week to read year round - they also read for pleasure. I don't do anything else with them over the summer - we all need our break. However our summer break is short - never more than six weeks. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aquiverfull Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 (edited) We actually follow the public school schedule around here taking off the same holidays and having most of the summer off. We do this because my oldest is in public school (due to a split custody situation, I can't homeschool her). It just usually works out easier that way for us, although it hasn't always been exact. There were times my other children were sick, etc so we scheduled differently. Also last year in preparation for a new little one coming we worked much through the summer so we could have time off when she was born. I have actually been considering going year round with my children that I do homeschool. Edited February 13, 2010 by aquiverfull Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 This is great! Where, oh where, can I get one of those creative minds that so many of you seem to have!? When one has stretched the mind on the rack of thought, and then flogged it with desperate necessity, all kinds of unheard-of things will pop out.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaHappy Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 My dh is a public school teacher so we take summers off when he's home. I'm new to homeschooling too and have also wondered what to do over the summers....reading? Reading and math? Nothing?? LOL This summer I plan on having my oldest ds keep up with his reading and that's it! Nothing else!! I want our summers to be a true break and not a "light" version of school, if that makes any sense. I've also thought about what if the kids forget everything? I guess I'll cross that bridge if we ever come to it but I don't see it being too much of a problem at this point for us. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iquilt Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 We have a lot of summer camp opportunities in our area that we take advantage of, as well as many fun summer activities. We will continue reading daily as that is our habit as a family. We also continue many of our games, art and anything else that they want to do. There are always a couple of family trips over the summer (we are the only family not using ps currently so all big family events are scheduled around ps calendars anyway). Now in our area they school until almost the end of June and won't start until after Labor Day, but in our homeschool we try to end by the last week of May and will start again in August as I've found that makes it much easier to take a real break at Thanksgiving/Christmas. We can divide the year more evenly. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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