I know with school nearing a close for many of you, you’re wondering what you’re going to do so your kiddos don’t forget all those precious tidbits you so carefully lodged in their brains over the course of the year. While I don’t plan anything super hard core for summer (we all need a break, me included!) I do keep the kids reading over the summer, mostly fun books. They get to pick what they want to read and as long as it’s appropriate for them, that’s fine.
Just to keep all of the other subjects fresh in their minds, we also do some activities out of the Carson Dellosa Summer Bridge activity books! They’re literally ZERO planning on my part, and great for keeping kids skills fresh over the summer.
Keeping up with your students reading, math, and other basic skills over the long summer break is important. I’m not sure if this happens to your kids, but it seems like a few weeks after school is out my kids seem to forget everything they’ve learned the previous year.
Depending on the day, I usually have the kids are do 1 lesson per day out of their workbook. I don’t usually force the issue too much, there tends to be a time each day where they start getting bored, and the Summer Bridge activities are the perfect solution! The great thing about them, is that they’re colorful and fun, so it’s not hard to get them to do a page or two.
Just to make it a little more fun, we use our Educational Insights Smens pens to make it a little bit more fun. They LOVE IT!
And I kid you not, one of them said “Wow, this is so much more fun than regular school!” and the other came up later in the day and actually asked me if she could do some school in her new workbook! Are you serious? YEAH!
Interested in some summer bridge activities?
Visit Carson-Dellosa for more info:
This would be great for the summer. We finished today and I was just thinking about what to do this summer!
We always participate in our library reading program and play all kinds of games. This year I had a baby in April so school from January till May has been strictly mandatory subjects. So we will be enjoying Expedition Earth! The kids can’t wait to get started!
We are going to continue with some unit studies over the summer. And continue reading lessons with my 5 year old.
We join our local library summer reading program. (The kids enjoy choosing a new book for the prize.) We also do daily math practice… they don’t yet know that not everyone has to do daily math! I bought some Professor Noggin Card Games that they are enjoying, so we’ll keep using those to brush up on geography, science, etc.
And lots of messy outdoor art projects too!
AHhh!! This would be so awesome to have! We do fun little activities about 3 times a week
(units) throughout the summer! My preschooler loves it…
I actually stumbled onto your blog via Pinterest as I was searching for ways to keep my talkers in practice over the summer! I have a Pre-K –> Kindergarden and a 2nd grade –> 3rd grade (the talkers) and a 15 month old (the walker) and a deficit of patience when it comes to schoolwork, but I’ve found your site awe-inspiring – lol! I actually adapted your Calendar Time on a MUCH smaller scale to help my 5yo who really struggles with days of the week and such – and both talkers LOVE IT!
We read a lot, even through the summer, but mostly I just follow my kids around and provide learning activities for anything of interest. If they show interest in a bug, for example, then we dive right in and learn more about that particular bug. It’s just a more unschooled version of what is done during the school year.
We read a lot, even through the summer, but mostly I just follow my kids around and provide learning activities for anything of interest. If they show interest in a bug, for example, then we dive right in and learn more about that particular bug. Summer is simply more relaxed and unscheduled (unschooled) for us.
As we are getting back into the swing of things, I am determined to not let my almost-kindergartener lose the groove of learning this summer. Sadly, my uncle that I was taking care of, he had diabetes and kidney failure, was called home to the Lord last month on the 8th. I took care of him for two years and I’ve had to take a lot of time away from academic studies to explain some of life’s hardest lessons and experiences. We read a lot and we do a lot of hands on learning. My husband and I take every opportunity to teach our boys inside and outside the books. We are always looking for new material and activities. We live right next to the library, a 30 second walk, and they have fun group activities on Tuesdays for children ages 4-6, so that will give us the best excuse to get out of the house when the heat is really beating down. There is also the children’s science center and bounce & play place near us. Of course, we also look to the Lord to guide us with our teaching and learning, so VBS is a absolute must this summer. Thanks for the opportunity!