Parent Council: Staying on Top of Studies in the Summer

After nine long months of quizzing spelling words, proof-reading reports, double checking math homework and signing planners – summer arrives!

The first week or so it feels just fine to relax from the regiment of homework. What a joy to just soak up the sunshine with walks to the park or play kickball in the cul de sac till 10PM. No social studies test tomorrow!

But then after a week or two of not logging reading minutes, I begin to worry maybe we should carve out some book time.

Then it’s baseball practice, or beach day, or Grandpa’s farm and I push it off. Now it is early July and that stack of books from the library just pinged is as being due. Apparently they have been here three weeks – uncracked. Yikes.

My youngest just asked me how many “h’s” are in “sure”. Hmmm, maybe it’s time to hit the books again.

In past years I have purchased the workbooks offered by the school and found them to be very helpful -- when we do them. Barnes and Noble has a wonderful selection of targeted workbooks as well.  With review, your tween can keep up on how to factor a polynomial. Do you really want to revisit that delight come the fall? Countless studies have proven the benefits of year round school or in our US case – a structured summer program that keeps skills fresh. Teachers will tell you they spend most of September re-teaching the basic facts students did not retain over the summer. That is almost a year of schooling lost from their lifetime over the course of their elementary and secondary academic careers. What a shame!

I also recognize the need for children and parents to fully embrace these few months of sun and warmth and endless outdoor options that entice us through the summer.  From bike rides, to pool parties to neighborhood barbecues – there is always something higher on the fun meter to do than sit and write an essay on Benjamin Franklin. Or worse – factor polynomials. 

Once I do decide to get serious and have all four kids work on schooling, what to do? How do I keep skills fresh without shifting into full scale school mode? How do I know what to work on with each child? Push them on new material? Review old material? Special projects? Just focus on reading books?

How do you keep your children’s academic skills sharp all summer? Or do you think summer is just for fun? If you do work on academics -- is it a workbook, your own program, set reading goals? Share with us your philosophy, failures and successes, in keeping their school year knowledge from fading like those summer tans come fall.