Planning for summer for 1 advanced and 1 challenged 6yo

[SKL]

So glad we are into the 4th quarter at school! Things are going better with my eldest, but she still struggles with keeping up on classwork / finishing work "on time." I have some meetings coming up in April to find out what the experts see in her future.

 

I'm starting to plan our summer in prep for 2nd grade. I work full-time, but I will continue to spend evening time on academics as I do during the school year. The girls will attend one or more summer camps during the day. For day camp, I have to choose between rec center (more active) and daycare (more academic) or some combination thereof, as well as some possible mini-camps such as theatre, dance/movement, science museum themes, etc.

 

For academic work at home, here's what I'm thinking.

 

• Math:
  
  • Eldest: Finish going through the Singapore math practice booklets I just got, for 1A and 1B. Ensure true mastery of these concepts, and then if ready, begin 2A.
    
  • Youngest: Singapore Math Practice 2A/B as she desires.
    
  • Both:
    
    • Flash cards - addition and subtraction.
      
    • Re-read the many living math storybooks we have.
      
    • Solidify skills of telling time and counting change.
      

     

     

  [*]Language Arts:

   

  • Both: Read daily, switching off between something challenging and something simple.
    
  • Eldest: Finish going through 1st grade reading practice workbooks books A (easy) and B (advanced) for their school LA program. (They use book "O" in school, which is the average level.)
    
  • Both: Look for materials to encourage creative writing. Work on improving penmanship / reviewing spelling / mechanics as we go.
    

  [*]Therapies for eldest:

   

  • Vision therapy
    
  • Retained reflex therapy
    
  • The Listening Program
    
  • Possibly working on speech
    
  • Activities from "See It, Say It, Do It"
    

  [*]Other, for both girls:

   

 

• Practice piano most days. Add guitar if interest and time allow.
  
• Begin horse riding lessons.
  
• Trip to India in June.
  
• Trips to local museums / zoo etc., shoot for at least biweekly.
  
• Weekly Spanish and art lessons.
  
• Something physical daily.
  

 

 

What do you experienced parents think? Anything really helpful that I am missing?

 

How do you deal with an advanced child who is stubborn? She doesn't "need" to practice skills, yet it seems wrong to have her just sit around while her sister is working for hours. She enjoys reading and will sometimes write or do math for fun, but as soon as it's a "should," she doesn't want to do it. Should I just let her be, or is there something out there that works with kids like this?

[Greenmama2]

 

 

 

 

There's no reason to give an advanced child busywork -- you can't correct the 'injustice' of one child having to work hard at a skill while the other finds it easy due to physical differences from birth.(see Vonnegut's story of Harrison Bergeron) Instead of having her sit around, she can play or work on projects of her own. If you want to give her something to work on, I'd suggest looking thru the 4H catalog and finding something that draws her interest; otherwise she should develop her own interests. If you want to add an academic, I'd suggest math enrichment so that she develops her problem solving skills or anything the school does not cover.

Yes, I agree with this. What about some logic or problem solving workbooks for her to go through while you work on maths with her sister?

[Uff Da!]

nm

[wapiti]

FWIW, in our house, I always plan more for summer than we (*I*) end up having the energy for. I recommend prioritizing your list in case you don't have time for it all - but almost everything on your list looks important! I'd probably need to write out a schedule for the week in advance in order to get all that done.

 

Eta, obviously the therapies will have priority, and that's a lot for each evening (for your dd's energy as well as for your time), which is what prompted my post. If someone can help you get the therapy done during the daytime, that would help. Near bedtime is not the greatest time to do VT (BTDT); morning is the best time.

 

I would shoot for math 2-3x per week, if there isn't time every day. I tend to avoid rote learning (math flash cards) if possible; I'd use games or other activities as a PP suggested. Telling time would not be a huge priority; there seems to be a point in development when telling time gets a lot easier, though that sort of thing is easy to work on briefly at any random moment (with regard to how many minutes until you leave for a horseback riding lesson, etc.).

 

I'd have the advanced one keep advancing in math (or at least partaking in any math games/activities) to keep skills fresh. In our house, we have math time, though that's during the day.

 

Good luck - the summer goes fast!

[Nart]

I am planning for summer for my six year old too. I just had his kindergarten conference and his teacher told me he is advanced in language arts, which is not surprising since he is a fluent reader and is finishing All About Spelling 2 at home. So I plan on continuing with AAS 3 this summer.

 

What was surprising is that his teacher said he was on grade level in math. He is about to finish Singapore Math 1B and is in kindergarten. I think because he is slow and not solid with his math facts, it is hard for him to show his conceptual knowledge. While I was great at math facts, my husband told me he really struggled and never passed the timed tests at school. I am not going to have him start SM2 until he has really mastered his math facts. He is getting frustrated that he can solve problems with manipulatives or pictures but can't hold numbers in his head long enough to mentally manipulate them (ex. 57+16).I am going to enroll him this week at Kumon math center so in 5 months when he starts first grade he will have progressed with his math facts. Hopefully then he will be able to show his teacher what he knows. The other reason is that I know the math will get done even if we are on vacation or our schedule changes 7 days a week (which I think he needs to really master his math facts.

 

Your list of summer activities looks exciting (horses, India, Art). I need to start looking for some fun activities to do too.

[MistyMountain]

That seems like a good plan. I would do stuff with your younger dd too but I would do different stuff for them since the are on different levels. I plan on working with my dd this summer to help her keep up her skills and hopefully advance in math. I just plan on having her read but I thought about adding in writing with ease. I want dd to not only conceptually get addition and subtraction but I do want her to learn addition and subtraction facts.

 

What is addition and subtraction war? What are other ways besides flash cards for kids to get their math facts down?