And as usual he will design and build a large model of a historically famous building, packed with fireworks all connected by a length of cannon fuse, and on the 4th of July, with one stroke of a match, it will go up in a spectacular conflagration. The Parthenon, The Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Sears Tower, the Pyramid of Cheops, all have gone up in flames. It’s one of the highlights of the year.
Aside from that, he’s got the summer all to himself.
Yup. There’s nothing wrong with the kids being assigned a book or two for school, to read over the summer so that they can get stuck into discussion straight away, and nothing wrong with parents encouraging their kids to read something a bit more educational than they normally would (like the baseball biography), but beyond that? It would never occur to me to tell them what to read or count how many books they’re getting through.
My kids requested, and have, lots of free goof off time. They go to the park and hang out with friends, or just play in the sprinklers in the backyard.
But I let each kid pick one organized activity, plus I forced them into a few.
The 6 year old boy is doing an art class 3 times a week for a few hours. He loves to draw so this works well.
The 8 year old girl does ballet camp Mon, We, Fri from 9 - 12.
The 10 year old boy has a week-long science camp coming up.
And the 12 year old boy is going to band camp (he plays the clarinet) for a week.
Plus they are all on the swim team at our local public pool and are doing the summer reading program through the library (you win prizes for reading a lot).
I think that is enough organized stuff, kids need time to be free, be bored, and let their imaginations take flight.
I don’t know. If they’d started pulling crap like that when I was in school, there would’ve been a revolt, even if I was the only revolting one. I was an A student, and I liked reading (provided I wasn’t being forced, and I could pick what I read) but if you try and make me do something, anything for school during summer… That was MY time. They already had most of the year. Summer was sacred.
That’s not to say there can’t be any learning in the summer, but it would have to be learning disguised as fun (like that Lego camp or whatever mentioned in the OP), not stuff for school.
My kids had a week at camp, then some time with the non-custodial parent, then some
time (when they were old enough not to need a sitter) on their own. Both asked for some extras, depending on availability - he wanted to go on a ten day canoe trip; she wanted to have accelerated lessons to become a swimming instructor.
He wasn’t a reader until he was 12 or 13. She read at age 5, so library books were always split equally between fiction and non-fiction. [Off Topic: He decided to become a reader when his sister introduced him to the Robert Asprin “Myth” series - who knew it was that easy?].
It all depends on the child, on what resources are available locally, on the affordability.
“In my day” we left home as soon as the chores allowed, and were back before the streetlights came on.
Every year we got a summer reading list for my daughter (before I started homeschooling). There were at least a dozen and they were all required to be read. She managed to suffer through it, although she nearly revolted over that Terebithia or whatever it’s called. Those lists aren’t meant for enjoyment. There are quizzes on them when the kids go back to school, and I’m pretty sure it’s a city-wide thing and all the schools have the same list for each grade level.
As far as I know she hasn’t been damaged by the experience.
Even a book or two? We’re talking fiction here. They’re not exactly going to take long to read, and will probably be fun in themselves except for the few kids who really hate reading and for them it’d be better than having to try to cram it in alongside all the other homework when they go back to school.
Well your brain isn’t like a sink drain. You pull out the plug and all the information leaks out. I guess the real question is how to continue a child to have good study habits so he doesn’t get out of practice during the summer.
I think reading books is probably the best answer. It’s enjoyable for kids and they don’t realize it’s learning so they like it.
Wow. That’s one busy kid. Our kid is still only in preschool and we have no weekend activities except goofing off with the family, cleaning, whatever outings we feel like taking (some educational, but many just to run off energy) and the occasional birthday party.
During the day, my son’s preschool is mostly like camp in the summer, though they still have the topic of the week. Last week it was insects. This week it’s geology. He also takes swim lessons, but that’s during preschool, too.
The baby is in daycare and she’s mostly an accessory now, but I’m guessing she’ll do the same. Although I feel like a somewhat delinquent parent for not including my kid in a lot of after-school programs, my son turns into a bit of a brat if we overschedule, so we opt for family dinners instead and drawing and playing together. When he gets older, we’ll probably let him take the lead in afterschool programs, but my husband and I have already agreed that we’d prefer to limit it to one a week, two max.