Do you make your kids do a little schoolwork over the summer?

[LilyK]

I make my kids do half a page of math at least twice a week. I find that September is a lot less painful if I don't have to ask, "What!, you forgot how to divide?"

This summer, I am actually going to have ds do a little bit of Diogenes , (the beginning of the curriculum is very light) so that we can take some of the pressure off during the school year.

Am I the only mean mom out there?

[5wolfcubs]

After a three week complete break, we started back daily with a light math book (Comic Strip Math -- word problems) and an outlining workbook (Remedia Press's) for my two older dds. My 8yo is doing a line of cursive (Happy Scribe Rocks & Minerals) and page of telling time (Math Mammoth) and 20 spelling words done orally (All About Spelling's website list for 3rd grade). My 5yo started phonics (OPGTR). This is our second week of this easy routine & I thought we'd do this for all of June and start the new year in July.

 

However -- I'm going to be using CLE which has 10 workbooks...so I'd kind of like to start those in June so we can do 6 before Christmas and only 4 after (or at least not feel behind if we only do 5).

 

So to answer your question, yes, we're doing a little school work this summer! :)

 

And yet -- there are several "summer" things that have come up that make me want to just wait until August!! A chess class, swimming lessons, volunteering at a local organic garden, etc, etc...

[melissel]

Well, at least for this year, we're going to be schooling through the summer, and we'll probably school year-round in the future too. That way our weeks are lighter in general, we can take time off easily throughout the year (for example, I'm planning to take 2-3 weeks in December/January), and we won't have the "back to school" backlash. We don't do a lot of traveling in the summer anyway.

 

So I guess my answer is, yes, I make my kids do some schoolwork in the summer :D

[Oakblossoms]

We do to a point. Our year is kind of light so it balances everything out. Plus, we lean towards the unschooling side of things and see learning a bit differently than just textbook guided...if that makes sense.

 

But, we live in Washington State and are summer beach bums. So, we need to enjoy the good weather while it's here. I'll take summers off or heck maybe just the winters when my dh figures out how to get us back to So. Cali:D

[Laura Corin]

I make my kids do half a page of math at least twice a week. I find that September is a lot less painful if I don't have to ask, "What!, you forgot how to divide?"

This summer, I am actually going to have ds do a little bit of Diogenes , (the beginning of the curriculum is very light) so that we can take some of the pressure off during the school year.

Am I the only mean mom out there?

 

I do continue with Mandarin lessons, and I think I might do some maths this year - Hobbes has just learned long division, and I don't want to lose that.

 

Laura

[PeterPan]

There was a poll a while back, and I think at least half of us school year-round. In our house, we tend to lighten up or hit more "fun" subjects, but we still continue, definitely. She'll get one month off, then we'll be right back at it.

[Christine]

I make my kids do half a page of math at least twice a week. I find that September is a lot less painful if I don't have to ask, "What!, you forgot how to divide?"

This summer, I am actually going to have ds do a little bit of Diogenes , (the beginning of the curriculum is very light) so that we can take some of the pressure off during the school year.

Am I the only mean mom out there?

 

We school year round, with our start date of 1 July. My kids get a summer break "only if" they get their year studies done.

 

In reality, they rarely get a break, instead choosing to cut their last couple of weekly schedules in half. (We schedule 12 weeks of break throughout the year.)

 

Part of this is because should I ever hear, "I'm bored", I find work for them to do. (Despise those 2 words). Part of it is truly because they get bored. . .

[michaeljenn]

We are just doing a lesson in Saxon Math and reading right now. I have plans to begin our new school year in July too. For some reason, when April hits I AM DONE!! It happens every year. So, I decided that April and May are better spent with a break! This is usually when all our recitals, plays, ect.. are performed, and when the weather is nice and not burning hot. So, this may be our new summer break... April, May and some of June.... BUT we always continue to do math. They know to get up and get that math done!! PERIOD I refuse to "forget" math ever again:lol:

[Langhaven]

Yes, we do light school and start early for the next school year so that when May rolls around and we all want to be outside, we have freedom!

[tinkgumby]

My kids are currently in public school (K and 1st), and are looking forward to homeschooling so much that they WANT to start this summer! So we'll be doing Sonlight K at an accelerated rate, but just "fun" math (like Hershey fractions, money) and no official LA until the fall.

[tnmomofboys]

Yes, we will do some schoolwork over the summer interrupted by a summmer camp or 2. We had a very busy year and will be finishing up in the next month and then just continuing. Hopefully, we will get up and get finished early as there are neighborhood children they will want to play with.

[Love2Learn]

We don't school year-round, but I let the kids pick a subject to continue during the summer. They also need to continue reading and I plan on throwing in a little math. My son is going to start touch typing and my daughter wants to dive into her Rosetta Stone Spanish course. We also plan on going for some nature walks -- which will add in some science, writing and art on the side :001_smile:

[farmnwife]

We will be doing a lite schedule. They will have a reading list, do narrations and writing. And do the Constitution elective from Alpha Omega on cd. I'll probably throw some math in there.

[ncmomo3]

I usually give each of them a subject that has not been their strong suit during the year and all get a bit of math. We do 2 or 3 days a week and as we start back the first week of Aug., are only on this sched. for 2 months. It certainly gives my brain a much needed rest while I gear back up.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Yes! We are not the most disciplined homeschoolers and have more breaks during the school year, so we may not finish everything. We usually go to a light schedule - 3 mornings a week for my oldset and 2 for the youngers.

Our plans:

Ds14: Math (NEM2), Latin (LC as a warm up for h.s. latin) and Teaching Company chemistry as a warm up for a online honors chemistry. Reading for pleasure.

Ds11: Math (start NEM 1), Latin (LCI), History, reading.

Dd7: Math (Singapore 2A), OPGTR, FLL.

 

These should get us caught up to where I want to be, plus prevent the "summer slide."

[Michele B]

You better believe she is doing school this summer! There is so much whining after a three or four- day break, I cannot risk a summer-long break.:D We will be more laid back (2 days a week) but we will continue with science since summer is such a great time for observations.

 

Michele

[hsmamainva]

We take a few weeks off in the summer (this year, it's from the middle of July through the end of August), but I wouldn't take an entire summer off! I'd never get my kids back to the table if I did that!!

 

My oldest, however, will be schooling all summer -- she's getting ready for a pre-calculus class at the community college and she wants her math skills to be sharp, so she's reviewing all of the math books she's completed since 8th grade to get ready for it! ;)

[Pensguys]

Typically, no we don't do anything during the summer....but we are this year. With my younger ds being diagnosed with dyslexia and him making some big gains in his reading this year, I'm afraid of those going away (and his spelling has improved). We will take 2.5 weeks off (starting tomorrow!!! :D). Then we'll work 45 min/day for 2 weeks, 1 week off, 2 weeks on 1 off. Older ds will just do some reading of his choice and finish up Life of Fred Fractions and review Latin to keep it fresh.

[SkateLeft]

I guess you could say that we do some school over the summer, but the difference is that it's usually kid-directed, rather than me assigning work to them.

 

My oldest daughter is taking four summer classes at the university, two of which are writing classes. That's totally of her own volition, and she's got a couple of friends who are doing the same thing and will be in the same classes. She's got a list of "summer projects" she wants to do, but I'm not sure how much time she'll have. :D She's said she'll continue with Teaching Textbooks over the summer, but again, we'll see.

 

My younger dd will spend loads of time reading, as she usually does, glad that I'm not interrupting her to go do her math or something. :)

 

My girls are off to Belize in August with my in-laws for two weeks to study manatees and howler monkeys, so that counts as educational!

 

I'll probably continue to do phonics with my ds, who is still learning to read and needs more practice, and my little guy will continue to get OT and speech.

 

My kids tend to spend the summer doing all the projects they wanted to do during the school year but that we didn't get around to doing. :)

[moosemomma]

It was just to hard to get my eldest back into school mode last year. This summer I will devote one hour to reading, copywork, and math in the morning. Then in the afternoon, an hour to SOTW or mom reading aloud time. For one reason or another, we really didn't get started into history until the beginning of this year. I spent the first part of the year working on narrating skills, copywork and developing his reading. I am glad I did. He can narrate the SOTW better now and can read some of the books in the literature section. So I plan to devote this summer to doing the program and finish up in the fall.

 

Jill

[Tabitha]

Yes, we try to. If we go 2 weeks without it, they are miserable and fighting. As soon as we start schoolwork, they stop. I would like to try for 2-3 days a week, but we're having a gal from Germany to spend the summer with us and I don't know what we'll have time for.

[starlashine]

Yes, we will continue through the summer. We will stop when we have finished certain things-OPGTTR, FLL1, SOTW1, and Saxon 1. This will hopefully occur at the end of June. I want to plan out next year and give O. a break during July, then start up in August with a light schedule of mostly reading and Math before going to the local Renn Fest to experience life in the Middle Ages before starting our full year.

[Jen500]

This is our first year, but I'm planning on continuing school throught the summer. For the reasons everyone else has mentioned. More field trips though. My main goal is to finish Singapore 3B.

Jen

[WTMindy]

Yup. We will continue with math and spanish during the summer. We are also doing a plant study.

[Zoraida]

Yes, next Friday is our official last day of school. Than we take two weeks off and than start summer school. For summer school we only school Monday thru Thursday and the kids get a three day weekend. We do religion, math, and and grammar assignments. On Thursdays we review Spanish and Latin vocabulary so that they don't forget everything by September. We can start school at 8 in the morning and than be done by 10 or 10:30. After they get everything done - I require that they get a couple of chapters read in a book of their choice and to keep up with piano, violin, and cello lessons before lessons resume next year. After this they are allowed freedom for the rest of the day.

 

Blessings

 

Zoraida

[LisaKinVA]

Put us in the "YES" camp.

 

We are on the quick down-slope of our end-of-school-year -- but don't officially begin next year until 8/1.

 

My son has completed Science -- and will get a break from formal science until August. We also take a break from spelling, vocabulary and literature study (son must still read one hour a day, though).

 

We do math 5 days a week -- the littles have a work book, the oldest will simply be working on fact review and some math games. Although, if he gets bored, we may add in a couple of day of his new math text instead.

 

In general, we try to only have 2-3 hours of school work during the summer (which includes special projects, daily art and a bit more fun stuff).

 

The children will have about 3-4 weeks off this summer, and in August we'll be back to our normally-scheduled routine.

 

Next summer will probably be a bit different in how we do things... but we'll still school in the summer.

[kpupg]

Am I the only mean mom out there?

 

Nope! I'm a big meanie, too. :)

 

We do math 6 days a week, year-round. Now, the summer lessons are shorter and easier, and only 5 days a week, and we do break entirely for family vacations, scout camp weeks, etc.

 

This year, we will add a daily Latin recitation through the summer, and maybe a tiny bit of new vocabulary. Mainly I want to prevent forgetting, rather than add new material.

 

When ds13 hits the summer between 8th and 9th grade (next year), I plan to use summers for him to knock out state requirements that are more busy-work than substantive (e.g. Health class). Or if he prefers, I'll help him go really deep and do a bigger course in the summer. He'll need to use that time, though, because he is aiming toward quite advanced work in math & science, which will take tons of time in his Jr. & Sr. years.

 

Karen

[Mom2GirlsTX]

We will do a lightened version, but school about 3 mornings per week. My big concern is not slipping in reading/math with my youngest. My oldest has several science type camps so she will be doing no school during that 4 weeks, just camp related. After that, she will be hitting the math 5 days a week.

[AngieW in Texas]

We have always worked through the summer, but we have much lighter schooldays in the summer. Once we finish our history, science, and readalouds for the year, we drop them until August. I generally cut out writing when we finish history. During the schoolyear, my kids work 4-6 hours/day. During the summer, they work 2-3 hours/day and at least half of that is reading.

[paula j]

We finish up any of our sonlight books we may not have gotten to during the school year and also any sequels we're interested in. We will also be doing math. We will be starting pre-algebra in August and we will also be switching to BJU so I plan to have him work from BJU 7th grade math this summer.

[linders]

other kids have the whole summer off. We are early birds and can get quite a bit done before the neighborhood wakes up, so we will continue math, history, science, and lots of reading any weeks that we don't have other major activities.

[Shenan]

Yes! (but don't tell our kids):D

 

We don't touch the textbooks. But we read quite a bit, play lots of brain teasing games (building thinking skills, etc.) do a lot of science related research in our backyard :D, and those video's and computer games they 'think' their having 'fun' playing and watching are actually educational. (shhhh!) :D

 

Plus we spend the summer taking tons of educational field trips to our local parks and recs. But I'm not too sure about this summer with gas prices. We might have to slash our tons into some. :( Were going to the zoo next week and I have already taken note of their educational programs they will have that day. We also try to schedule 2 or 3 camping trips within close proximity of something educational. We spent one summer camping trip touring a civil war battlefield and museum, another spelunking and another learning about aquatic life. :001_smile:

 

PLEASE don't tell our kids that this stuff is educational. They think their on summer break.:D

[Mommy22alyns]

This is all fun for Rebecca, so she's eager to start! :D My plan is to go year-round and scatter shorter breaks throughout the year rather than have a long summer break. Becca does best when she has things to do.

[Melanie]

We school year round, but we do less of it in the summer. This year we'll still do math and Latin, but that's about it.

[Chris in VA]

We will this year.

Dd8 is going to school next year, and I want her to retain her math facts, so we will do some fact sheets during the summer. I also want to finish SOTW 2, so we'll probably do the rest of that, which might take us thru June.

 

Ds18 is going to graduate a semester early, so he can take more CC classes in what would have been his senior year. So, he has to continue with maths, and I'm having him do the Short Story portion of his English credit.

 

Usually,we take the whole summer off, because I believe there is much to learn then that isn't academic. We will take most of August off, because Daddy has 4 weeks off then, and we will be traveling at least 3 of those weeks.

[momto2Cs]

We actively unschool during vacation breaks, in that I let the kids pursue their interests and help them explore them. For example, right now my son, who got a microscope for his birthday, is really into looking at things close up. So, I taught him how to prepare a slide, and he makes sketches of what he sees. We read a lot too, year round, and I have him help me with price comparisons and paying at the grocery store. This year I do plan to sit down with dd a number of times to work on alphabet and number stuff, but she considers that fun.

 

On a sidenote, 5wolfcubs - I had never heard of Happy Scribe before - THANK YOU! I already found a bunch of them that I plan to download!

[amary]

Yes, math drills through grade 6 and study in any weak areas. This year it will be composition. The older children jump start the school year work by putting in a few hours a day on their own. At that point it's habit to study a little over the summer and they don't even need to be asked.

[Paula in PA]

We'll finish up this year around mid-June, take 3 weeks off, then start back up the Monday after July 4th with our regular full schedule. Of course, at this point, that only takes a few hours, so we'll do lessons during the hottest part of the day when we would be inside anyways. :001_smile:

 

I told my dd that most kids take the whole summer off. She didn't like that idea at all! I was told, "No more than 3 weeks, Mommy!". Hopefully, she'll keep that attitude when the workload gets heavier later! :D