Long Summer Breaks - How much does this set you back?

[Mom0012]

I keep seeing all the announcements about people finishing their last day of school. Congratulations to you! I can feel your joy.

 

We continue with school over the summer, but lightly. Sometimes I feel like I'm cheating my kids out of that feeling of exhilaration I remember on my own last days of school. But, I just can't see dropping math or reading over the summer. I don't know for sure, but I feel like one of my kids, in particular, would probably really forget a lot if we took the whole summer off.

 

So, if you do take the whole summer off, do you find this to be the case? Or do your kids just pick right back up where they left off? If they have to do a lot of review in the fall, is the break worth it to you anyway?

 

Lisa

[amy g.]

I wouldn't know. In 11 years of homeschooling, we have never taken a summer off.

 

Once, my BIL said, "Boy, your kids are going to be so mad when they find out what they have been missing."

 

My oldest told him, "That's just stupid. Why would anyone ever want NOT to learn?"

[Avila]

I keep seeing all the announcements about people finishing their last day of school. Congratulations to you! I can feel your joy.

 

We continue with school over the summer, but lightly. Sometimes I feel like I'm cheating my kids out of that feeling of exhilaration I remember on my own last days of school. But, I just can't see dropping math or reading over the summer. I don't know for sure, but I feel like one of my kids, in particular, would probably really forget a lot if we took the whole summer off.

 

So, if you do take the whole summer off, do you find this to be the case? Or do your kids just pick right back up where they left off? If they have to do a lot of review in the fall, is the break worth it to you anyway?

 

Lisa

 

I take summers off. We still read a lot and play some educational board games and PC games, but no formal school.

 

I have not found that it matters, with my kids at least. They always struggle through the first week or two of school, but that is more getting used to the schedule than the material. Our main materials (Saxon and R&S English) do schedule review, and we don't skip that. But most things we are doing spiral back around anyhow. We rarely learn something just once and then don't come back to it. So I have not found it to be a problem in my homeschool.

 

I like having time off and time to just be Mom instead of Mom/Teacher. So for us, it is worth it.

[Mommy22alyns]

We took last summer off except for Summer Bridge workbooks. I hadn't planned to do that, but I had a Very Bad Summer. The girls were fine when we started back up in August.

 

This year, they're both finishing math and doing the SB workbooks again.

[Karen in CO]

We took off most of last summer, and my dd hated how long it took her to refresh her math skills. By her request, we will do math 3 times a week over the summer - worksheets to review only, with no new learning. The youngest will have math and phonics. We do lots of reading so that won't change for anyone.

 

I've gone back and forth over the years between an attitude of letting the past learning rest and the mind mature over the summer and feeling like we are going backward. I've learned that math skills seem to lose the most ground so that is where I'm going to try to focus. I'm sure that if you ask me next year, I'll have a different answer.;)

[Mama2Many4]

I've schooled year round in the past, and this will be our second summer off. I've noticed no difference in how my kids learn, retain knowledge, or get back into the swing of formal learning.

[MariannNOVA]

We will do school over the summer -- reading (lots of reading) and math and history dvds.

 

ds10 needs to 'stay in the routine' of school - it has nothing to do with retention or skills, once he is out of the routine, he resists getting back in it. So, it's best to continue. I prefer to continue through the summer as well.

 

The girls -- dd12 prefers to continue and dd10 also needs to stay in the routine.

 

Honestly, the days are so long otherwise, I cannot imagine not devoting at least a few hours to academics.

 

And, I've been a classroom teacher -- typically, I would spend from the first day of school until about the end of October (which would be when the first marking period ended) doing review and getting most of the class back up to speed.

[Parrothead]

I've never really noticed a difference. Nothing ever seems to be forgotten due to taking summers off.

[Chris in VA]

YMMV, but for us, summer holds a different type of learning opportunity. My dd reads more than the average kid anyway, so reading never suffers--it isn't "school," it's fun! She'll review in math--she's ahead, so it doesn't matter if she forgets some things; the neural pathways are already established and will more easily be "cleared" if they get mucked up by not reviewing.

 

We like the difference in routine.

 

This summer is very different, however--she's going to ps again in the fall, and I'm working about 4 hours in the middle of the day, so no real "lazy days." I've never worked in the summer before (when I've had kids).

[Mom0012]

We will do school over the summer -- reading (lots of reading) and math and history dvds.

 

ds10 needs to 'stay in the routine' of school - it has nothing to do with retention or skills, once he is out of the routine, he resists getting back in it. So, it's best to continue. I prefer to continue through the summer as well.

 

The girls -- dd12 prefers to continue and dd10 also needs to stay in the routine.

 

Honestly, the days are so long otherwise, I cannot imagine not devoting at least a few hours to academics.

 

And, I've been a classroom teacher -- typically, I would spend from the first day of school until about the end of October (which would be when the first marking period ended) doing review and getting most of the class back up to speed.

 

I think we fall in this camp, but I had kind of forgotten this is part of the reason we do school lite in the summer. It's great to take a week off here or there and it sounds like it would be wonderful to take off the whole summer, but I need some structure and so do the kids. They do have various summer camps they attend and days we go to the pool or do something fun and we don't do school then, but really, a couple of hours of school on the days we are home gives us the structure we need.

 

I don't know for sure because we've never completely taken a summer off, but I suspect one of my kids has benefitted tremendously (academically) from not taking long breaks (mostly from math).

 

It is interesting to hear how other families are able to enjoy that time off and not have setbacks though. Good for you guys!

 

Lisa

[LittleIzumi]

We keep going all summer. My kids would go nutbar without something to occupy their brains. We just do more outside, is all. Many parks :p

[bookfiend]

I've never really noticed a difference. Nothing ever seems to be forgotten due to taking summers off.

 

I think I like your opinion the best, and it's the one I'm going to go with! Summer here I come! BTW - my to-do list is waaay longer than the 8 weeks we have off.

[FO4UR]

I'm a year-rounder at heart, but we'll need to take some time off this summer whether I want to or not. (travelling, life stuff, etc...)

 

We will not stop entirely, but scale way back to 45min worth of work; reading instruction, a bit of copywork, and a bit of math. Maintainance mode...for several weeks at least.

[MaMa2005]

We take the summer off from the rigors of the regular school year, but review math and do LOTS of independent reading. Last summer, I acquiesced to DH's plea of no schoolwork. Not this summer and with DH's blessings, too! He got to witness some of the difficulties we had with recall of multiplication/division facts, etc. and realized that reviewing previous material really does make all the difference.

[Plaid Dad]

ds10 needs to 'stay in the routine' of school - it has nothing to do with retention or skills, once he is out of the routine, he resists getting back in it.

 

This is our situation as well. I'm not up for the theatrics that ensue after too long a break. :glare: We do take short breaks during the summer - dd is going to a one-week sleep-away camp, for example - but we keep up math and Latin at the very least, and she participates in our library's summer reading program.

[OnTheBrink]

The only thing I've noticed is some temporary amnesia regarding math. However, I might have dd do the Money Matters book this summer, just so all the math doesn't leak out of her head. ;)

[Tammyla]

We take the summer off now, but didn't when they were younger. Mentally, I plan for a few weeks of retraining the habit of lessons. It's easier with my oldest; my ds resists the routine for as long as possible.

[In The Great White North]

This is our situation as well. I'm not up for the theatrics that ensue after too long a break. :glare: We do take short breaks during the summer - dd is going to a one-week sleep-away camp, for example - but we keep up math and Latin at the very least, and she participates in our library's summer reading program.

 

Welcome back!

[LisaKinVA]

It does set us back... getting into routine, breaking bad habits... not that I would think that a *lot* would actually be *lost* (I can't imagine not doing anything educational at. all. even if we didn't homeschool.)

 

However we are working during our 3 week break (this is actually our longest break of the year). We are working on making workbooks for next year (which starts June 6th). We are cleaning up & cleaning out. And, we are getting ready to move.

 

School starts on a sliding scale. Math and Health starts June 6th (although my oldest will also be reviewing Latin all summer, and starting his history work). Our challenge reading lists begin. There is no formal grammar, no formal history, no formal science, etc.

 

Everything is in full swing by August.

 

Our summer schedule looks like this:

 

June 6- 19... math, health, reading (oldest has Latin) for about 2 hrs. Chores and free play until 4:00 (dinner, then leave for swimming at 5pm. Swim practices from 5:45-8:30pm)

 

June 20- first week of August: Bible reading/memory time in the car on our way to 8:30am swim practice. While older kids practice, younger kids do reading, math & health with me. While younger kids practice, older kids do math & health with me. On the way home, we eat lunch in the car and listen to SOTW. We arrive at our house under construction... plug in Latin Chants, the kids play (or help me lay tile/paint/clean/whatever).

 

We should be living in the house in late July/early August...just in time to really "start" school."

[Plucky]

We don't take the summer off. We usually do math & any other subject a child needs to work on or get a jumpstart for next year. This year my almost 9th grader has been clamoring for a real break. I may give them a week or two. An hour or two during the summer does not kill us and keeps us fresh and progressing. We take off plenty of days for fun, too.