Summer School? Yes or No?
Perhaps your local school is offering summer school and you’ve wondered if you should enroll your child or not. Will it ruin their summer?
Maybe you’re a homeschool parent and you’re wondering about working on some school goals during the summer as well. How do you go about that while still having a memorable summer?
Summer school comes in ALL different shapes and sizes! What I generally recommend for other parents is something I do myself: continue reading, writing, and math.
WHAT?! Every. Single. Day? Well, not exactly. It doesn’t have to be every single day to make a difference. Furthermore, it doesn’t even have to look like a typical school day.
Let’s think about it. When children don’t EVER pick up a book or work a math problem for 3 months at a time, the month they return to school is filled with review, review, review! Not to mention, it can be tiresome to adjust the child’s attitude of having to do school work again.
If you’re wondering about a summer school program your child is offered at your local school, stick around to the end. I will address that. But before I get into that, let’s talk about what SIMPLE things you can do over the summer to help your child retain skills WITHOUT consuming their summer.
Encourage Reading
Make books available for your child. Honestly, it could even be magazines! Think of different kinds of books: nonfiction books filled with facts like science and history topics OR picture books and novels that tell stories.
You can check out lots of books at the local library so your child has options in case one book doesn’t work out.
You can read alongside your child if the motivation is not there to read alone.
Keep a protected time and place for your child to read. Once the child knows there is NO OTHER OPTION but to read during that time period, he will adjust. Reading should be every day or at least ALMOST every day. For us, it’s usually in the evening as a winding down time. For you, it might be books at the kitchen table to read at breakfast time or books in the car for a long car drive. Brainstorm what works best for you!
The benefits will pay off. Your child will gain confidence, learn vocabulary and concepts, and develop stamina to read for longer periods of time. If your child can’t handle 20-30 minutes of reading, start out with 5-10 minutes and increase it gradually over time.
Watch my Reading series here! Help Your Child Read Better (10 video series)
Continue Math
You have several options here. Bare minimum: WORK ON MATH FACTS. Depending on your child’s age, it might be addition and subtraction facts or multiplication and division. I have known countless high schoolers that never truly learned their facts. Whether it be a regular workbook you purchase online or a math fact app for a tablet, choose SOMETHING to keep your child fresh in these skills. Even 15-20 minutes a few times a week will make a difference.
Perhaps your child needs and review of the previous grade level’s math. You can purchase workbooks online that cover math for a particular grade level. If you’d rather have something else that is self checking and grading, look into an online course, such as Teaching Textbooks. You can have an entire year’s worth taught, assigned, and graded for around $50-$60. If you’re expecting that your child might give your resistance, that’s normal. Keep it positive and keep your expectations up.
You can choose 2-3 days a week for practice and work out an agreement between you and your child regarding certain privileges like outside play time, social time, or screen time. What motivates your child?
EVERY. SINGLE. SUMMER TUTORING CLIENT I’VE HAD HAS NEVER REGRETTED COMING. It will pay off for you by continuing math. Think about it, your child’s teacher will review in the fall and your child will enter class with a new confidence. Or if you homeschool, you will already be in the swing of things when August comes.
It doesn’t have to be every single day to make a large difference for your child. It won’t consume the summer. This is not an 8 hour school day we’re talking about.
You can watch more about multiplication facts here: How to Help My Child With Multiplication Facts
Journal
It’s always exciting for my children to pick out a journal—whether it’s a dollar journal at a discount store or a fancy sketch journal or leather journal. There is NO ONE RIGHT WAY to encourage your child to journal.
Even if your child starts off with simple drawings about what they like or what they did on a particular summer day, it’s still documentation and an encouragement to write. You are still establishing a habit of journaling. Choose a quiet time of day after outside play or resting after lunch. You know your routine best. Even if you do it only once a week, you will see progress!
Use crayons or colored pencils. Watch videos on what interests your child whether that be volcanoes, sharks, ancient Egypt, or how to draw a parrot! You can journal about what you learned.
Each week, increase your expectations and praise your child for effort and hard work, as well details in their drawing and writing. You might expect a few words the first week, a sentence the next week, and by the end of the summer a full paragraph! It really just depends on your child.
The best part is that at the end of the summer you have a memory book—even if your child only writes/draws a couple of times a week.
You can watch more about journal writing here: How to Use a Primary Journal
These 3 simple things you can do weekly during the summer will make such a difference! The best part is that they don’t have to take away the joy of summer. You can continue most of these even if you are traveling.
SUMMER SCHOOL OPTIONS AT YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL:
If you stuck around this far, let’s chat about summer school options at your child’s school:
-If there is a safe option for your child to attend summer school, I encourage you to look into it. If you personally know the teacher and have seen the program that will be covered, it can save you some time and money. A few of my tutoring students are taking a break from sessions with me this summer since they will have June summer school as an option.
—If summer school is only lasting a week or two, I wouldn’t expect it to make much of a difference. You’d be better off following my advice for these three activities that will give you more flexibility and make a bigger difference for your child.
Consistent practice you give your child pays off. Developing an attitude of working on something over time and being proud of one’s accomplishments will take your child far in life. You CAN do this!
Remember, you are your child’s most influential teacher.