I was a teacher before I had kids.
A young, opinionated, judgemental teacher.
I often found myself saying,
“How hard is it?”
How hard is it to clean out a backpack?
How hard is it to fill out a permission slip?
How hard is it to check your kid’s work?
How hard is it to sign a reading log?
Well, now that I’m on the other side, sometimes it can be pretty fucking hard.
Life gets in your way.
Sometimes you just don’t have the energy.
Sometimes you forget.
Shit happens.
When school ended on June 21st, I was going to let the kids relax until July.
Then, I would get them on a schedule.
Have them do an hour of school work before they went outside, or went swimming or did anything else.
30 minutes of reading, and 30 minutes of writing in a journal and practicing math facts.
Then July came.
So did swim team.
And travel baseball.
And 90 degree weather.
Screw it.
We’d enjoy the first week of July too.
No schedule.
Just be kids.
And have fun.
I thought the same thing the second week of July.
And the third.
And the fourth.
Okay, we’d start in August.
We’d still have 4 weeks to practice math facts.
And fill out reading logs.
Three weeks ago I finally got around to emptying out the kids’ backpacks.
Number 3 had about 17 packets of work to do this summer in his.
I decided their “work” time would be during Number 5, 6, and 7’s naptime.
I let Number 4 relax and read in our bed.
Number 3 went out by the pool with his book and packets and sat in the shade.
I don’t know if they actually read anything, but they were quiet.
And they didn’t bother me.
I let them know when their time was up.
Number 3 and 4 went back to playing until Number 5, 6, and 7 woke up from their naps.
We had somewhere to go, I don’t remember where, and once everyone was awake, we rushed out of the house.
I never checked to see if Number 3 picked up his stuff and put it away.
He didn’t.
The weather changed while we were out, and it got super windy.
All of his papers blew into the pool.
And disintegrated.
Just like the rest of my plans to keep them on a schoolwork regimen.
You know what?
It’s fucking summer.
My kids have learned a lot.
Number 3 learned a million rules about baseball he never knew.
He learned how to do a flip turn.
He learned about the value of teamwork.
He learned how to handle losing like a good sport.
He learned how to ride his bike.
Number 4 learned what’s involved in running her own business when she made $30 with her lemonade stand.
She learned how to handle disappointment.
And look for the silver lining in every situation.
She learned how to measure 1 cup.
And make meatloaf.
She even made her own cookbook.
Because she wanted to.
She learned how to change the style, and size, and color of the font on a Word document.
They both learned stuff they are going to really need to use when they grow up.
But you know what?
It woulda been totally fine if she hadn’t done any of that.
I don’t give a crap about elementary school test scores.
I couldn’t care less about the summer writing packet.
Besides…
Those summer work packets your kid brings back to school at the end of August?
You know what happens to them?
Nothing.
Your kid could write This summer packet is bullshit on every page, and it would still come home with a smiley face or a sticker on the front page.
Nobody actually checks the work.
And I don’t give a crap about the Summer Reading Challenge either.
We read to our kids every day.
They read to each other all the time.
Number 4 reads on her own for fun.
Number 3 doesn’t.
And quite frankly,
I don’t want to force him to do it.
He loves to read to Number 6 and 7.
And that’s good enough for me.
He hasn’t forgotten how to read.
I’ll wait until next week to make him read when it’s a homework requirement.
I’ve got other shit to deal with.
Like enjoying these last few days of summer with my kids.
Want to exercise consistently but don’t have time to do it?
I’ll teach you how in a way you can manage.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN.
I am totally with you! Summer is for summer. Kids today are so stressed out during the year with so much shit piled on their plates. Why can’t they just relax for 2 friggin’ months? Good for you!
I agree 100%. Why can’t kids just enjoy the summer as we did as children. The stress of having to do all the work is overwhelming. All that we put our children through during the school year is enough!!!!
Amen
Your post really made me smile. I often talk with the mister about balancing our opinion of things with teaching our children to listen to other adults (i.e. summer reading package). I remember resenting summer math problems and reading I’d do as a kid and much preferred to pick what I read myself. Our kids are only two now, but I can see myself being sent to the principals office for writing “the summer reading package is BS” on every page of a take home project and even now I can tell that my daughter would be mortified.
My daughter does not like to read, so I have to push her to read for about 10 minutes every night. I do it, because she just wants to veg in front of the TV. She learned a lot this summer…riding her bike and tying her shoes (finally). One thing for sure is that she had a lot of fun this summer and that is what counts.
reading doesn’t have to be books.
get her on the computer and into games – many of them require a fair amount of reading if you want to actually get anywhere in it. role-playing games, esp – there’s help boxes and character dialogue that you have to pay attention to for the clues.
games like scrabble and trivial pursuit – where the whole family plays – are also great for reading.
comic books – get her the archie comics.
recipes are a great way to get a kid reading – most kids love cooking with mum or dad.
Not sure how your summer reading works, but at the school I work at you have to read books and then take a computer test to get a score. Your child is required to get certain number of points. Not saying I agree with it as a parent I’ve always hated summer reading, but as a school employee I see what happens when they don’t read. Your students summer reading program is added to their first quarter grade. It equals 50% of their grade. That can do a lot of damage if they receive a 0 for the points.
Our lower grades 5-8 had to do the same thing. My 2nd child faught me all summer by the last test date she did her 2nd book and still didn’t reach all the points. The lady said you still need 2.7 points. At that point my daughter threw herself to her knees hands in the air and screamed you have ruined my summer!!
Frankly this taking a test and having to get so many points to get a 100 for the first test grade was just not worth all the fighting our family had gone through. I asked the lady what would be her grade with the points she had. She said oh only an 80. What!!! I said that’s good enough for me. This whole thing has ruined our whole families summer. From the next summer until she graduated she never did her summer reading. Started the year with a zero. By 1st marking period she would always have at least a 95 on report card. And we had peaceful summers
My 3rd, to punish her I have to take away her books and reading apps. LOL All kids are so different. When my 3rd had hit the MS they decided to do away with the summer testing. They just have to read a required book or 2 for English and answer a few questions. But we still have the math packet. We have 1 week and still not math done and one books questions not done. I will not fight and ruin the whole families summer. If she chooses not to do the work then she must deal with the consequences.
That’s ridiculous! There shouldn’t be anything given during summer, let alone work that counts towards the first quarter grade! These schools need to relax! Kids don’t know how to do normal everyday things, they need summer to spend with family to learn those things. There’s plenty of time for reading during the year!
She wasn’t asking for your opinion.
Reading recipes counts right? Lol My kids learned how to cook this summer. They hate reading, and while I did make them do some, I mostly snuck it in on the sly. Their teachers will hate me for being that mom who doesn’t force the summer time workload, but oh well. The kids learned about our nation’s history on our vacations, they learned math skills, reading skills, and the importance of following directions through cooking. I’m calling it good. ;o) Lol
Carmen
recipes are an AWESOME way to strengthen reading and comprehension skills.
and math skills…I’m just saying.
The best way to create a Non Reader is to force him/her to do it. Especially telling them what to read?!!! Let them read anything they want- comic books, magazines, cereal boxes, websites etc, but don’t force to read something someone else chose. How does that instill the love of reading?
YES! Summer is a break from school. With my son just starting school last year (kindergarten) I couldn’t beleive how much has changes. I couldn’t beleive how much learning has been pushed from the classroom to home after school. I had no idea they even send stuff home for the summer. I never had that and I am really not looking forward to it as my son goes into grade 1.
I definitely agree. Summer is about making memories not forcing your children to sit inside and miss out on opportunities. Life flies by so quickly. Before you know it summer vacation will over and they’ll remember the fun times- not the reading logs.
I don’t understand – you mean your kids did NOT complete their summer homework packets, all the reading, the daily math calendar, etc? I made my kids do double – hey, I have to work all day, why shouldn’t they? Oh wait – that was just a dream I had… I just found out my kids had summer homework the other day – Ha! It’s not getting done. It’s all I can do to get the homework done during the school year when we “have to”. My youngest, going into 3rd grade, said – well, if you do all the reading, you get an ice pop after lunch the first day of school. I went to the freezer, grabbed a box of ice pops and let her have one – and then I promised her that she could have another one after that first day of school too. She’s over it, and so am I 🙂
I’m so glad that I let my kids be kids this summer! They will one day have to grow up, just like us, and never have a summer break as they know it now but rather work through the summer to support their families. And the only reason their backpacks are empty is we needed them for a trip
love, love, LOVE IT!!!! I’m not alone!! 🙂
My kid’s backpack is still full….I havent emptied it. I will do that the day before school starts. I will fill out the reading log because I know (roughly) how much he reads a day/night. I dont make him do schoolwork during the summer (the teachers dont assign any. They “suggest” things but don’t require it).
Whoa.
Jen, I take it this is your first time here.
I didn’t check the backpacks one Summer. Not until two days before school started. You know what I found? An exploded bag of rotten tuna sandwich.
I check the bags now, but we still don’t do the packet.
We do math when making a double batch of cookies and have to convert the recipe. We read when the we’re all jammed in the car for 19 hours on the way to grandma’s. We do all the school stuff, just slower, more laid back, and disguised as fun.
Wow. I’d be careful about giving out parenting advise to a lady with 7 kids. My bet is she knows a whole heckofa lot more than you about what’s best for her kids.
Wow Jen your brave and quite rude. Now go ahead and tell me I shouldn’t have the nine children I have.
Wow. For a start, I totally disagree. The quickest way to turn a child off something (reading, for example) is to force them to do it. Secondly, it’s a summer HOLIDAY. I don’t expect to work when I’m on holiday – nor should children. They work hard enough during the school term and they are only CHILDREN. They need to learn through play and learn about work-life balance as well as a healthy work ethic. Thirdly, don’t start judging people when you don’t know the whole story. Fourthly, learn to spell. It’s ‘You’ and ‘Your’. Harsh and judgemental comments come across as simply laughable when they are spelled wrongly and couched in bad grammar!
AMEN! I second what Kerry said.
I bet her kids know how to spell “you,” “your,” and “you’re.”
LMAO
i generally throw the backpacks out instead of unpacking them. by the end of the school year, they are usually demo’d anyway.
as for summer homework, sod that – if they are expected to do schoolwork during the summer, then i’m pulling them from school and homeschooling.
I agree. Kids work so hard for 182 days in school,even in kindergarten . Maybe,dare I say , they are overworked and over stressed at 5 years old. Kids need to be kids. Yes, keeping up with math and reading skills is important,but so are the invaluable lessons of summer. How do you teach : the fun of ice cream before dinner, losing track of time from playing outside, getting dirty and surviving, staying up late to catch fireflies, lemonade stands, waking up late and not rushing to be anywhere, and the countless other life experiences of some down time? We could all use to break the rules and not finish the summer packet. Lighten up, school police…guess what ? The kids who haven’t had there backpacks emptied yet, well ,I bet they had a blast this summer!
School is back,so is math and reading and writing. Oh, and so is counting down to NEXT SUMMER. Kudos Mom!
The question you should be asking yourself is, why do you feel threatened by summer reading logs? You clearly feel strongly about this issue, but if you used to be a teacher you probably understand that the purpose of reading logs isn’t to make you feel terrible as a parent; it’s a tool to help parents who are not readers and who didn’t grow up in a household full of books understand how often and for how long their children should be reading, as a baseline. It also gives kids targets to strive for on their own. The point of reviewing math facts isn’t to regiment your children’s whole summer but to make sure they don’t forget division and fractions and decimals – if you do that through working with recipes or learning how to calculate pitcher’s ERA that’s fine too.*
It’s like how one my professors in college wanted his son to learn math without ever using a calculator, and became infuriated when his son’s class went over basic calculator use, because he felt it was stupid. But he couldn’t get that the reason they did that in school was because not everyone in the class had a brilliant academic economist for a father and grew up in a home where calculators were used on a regular basis. Many of those students had probably never seen a calculator before in their lives, not even the little Windows Calculator utility. Instead of understanding this he threw a fit that accomplished nothing but making him feel smug and making the teacher’s life a little bit more difficult.
Don’t be like him. Be understanding.
*You want to talk about forcing kids to do things? My mother made me go through the entire sixth grade math textbook the summer before so I could move up to the more advanced course. I love her for it now, because it made me slightly less bored in class and because it taught me that you don’t need a teacher to learn, but I hated it then. Importantly, though, I never hated her – the important takeaway here is that no matter how much your kids hate the things you make them do, they will never hate you.
I love this reply. I work in a low-income school district and see firsthand how much kids suffer when they are in families where the emphasis is NOT on learning….for a variety of reasons (many are well-intentioned, but under-resourced themselves while others can’t get out of their own way).
I know that my own kids are exposed to sooooo much because we visit libraries, museums, the beach, sprinkler parks, grandparents’ and other family members’ homes, etc. all summer long. My husband and I are both college-educated professionals who read all the time, so our kids see us reading, too. We have hundreds of children’s books in our home. We cook together, we visit the farmer’s market, I take the kids grocery shopping, we talk about the value of money and how we pay for things.
Not every child is exposed to those experiences. When you are in a family where all of that is just the way you live life, then all of the summer school work seems mundane and useless. For some kids, it’s really important, though. Also, it’s important to learn that sometimes you just need to follow directions and respect authority figures…not in all cases, and not blindly, of course, but sometimes you just do what’s asked of you.
Lisa–thank you, I was waiting for someone to make this point.
As a guidance counselor in a school with predominantly low-income families, I have read multiple studies explaining how these students fall behind exponentially when their summers don’t include anything stimulating. Two months of TV, Facebook, movies and the mall will cause the best student to back slide–do athletes take two months off?
With both parents busy working two jobs, these students rarely read anything more strenuous than Twitter and it shows in September after September. My school sends home kitchen-ready science experiments for the summer which I think is a pretty cool idea.
What can I say to this post? I am a teacher and a mom of three. My kids all struggle with learning to one degree or the next. My son plays two travel baseball teams in the summer and my other two are into many activities and sports.
I, too, hate that summer reading!! I, too, just want to let them be kids. And I do, most of the time.
However, I strive to teach them discipline and the importance of following through. They don’t like it, or me, but they read. And do math. All summer. Not every day, but they do it. And they don’t hate me.
And I don’t leave that responsibility to others. And I join teams with their teachers. I don’t sabotage them. She will be with them more than I will most days. I want my kids to love their teacher.
Perhaps this school year you can spend some time organizing and prioritizing for your children’s education.
They are your kids and you chose to have seven. It’s a lot of work, to be sure! I bet those teachers could help you out, if you asked.
susiej – I think you read her comment wrong, and typing shows no inflection ….
-she didn’t say she didn’t think you had discipline in your home
-she said having seven children “is a lot of work, to be sure!”, she didn’t say it was easy
-she just said to pick up a book or do some math problems
My kids…did nothing. Went to the beach, played baseball, rode bikes, played wiffleball and dodgeball, walked on the boardwalk and went on rides….I had all the best intentions, like you. We’d start next week, then the next and now NEXT week we start school. I do wish I did some math problems and more reading. Maybe NEXT summer.
I couldn’t agree with this more. My kids have summer packets too. My oldest loves to read and does so before bed EVERY night without having to ask. Her math portion was divided up into days on the calendar so there was a new task everyday. They were so easy for her I knew my only course of action with her was to wait until this week. Lol the week before school. She finished it in an hour. Quite obviously she has not forgotten her even and odd numbers, addition and subtraction, fractions and other life math problems. God blessed me with two very bright children. Summer is for fun and staying up late and being a kid. Let them be kids and stop summer packer non sense
2 months is a long time to be off. I think there’s enough time in the summer for reading & math work and to be a kid. I didn’t force the issue but the couple of weeks that I let any work slide I could see the struggle my son had with the work that I know he could do. Some kids don’t need that reinforcement over the summer but a lot of kids do. It doesn’t have to be a lot, but 30 minutes a day is not too much to ask over the course of the looooong summer break. There is plenty of evidence to back up the summer slide and many kids do lose skills over the summer if they don’t practice. I think it’s my obligation to make sure he doesn’t lose what he learned the previous year over the summer. But then again, I don’t think our current school year calendar is that effective for retaining what is taught & would rather see year round school with breaks distributed throughout the year than 2 1/2 months at once.
I am happy to hear that I am not alone in this. I always feel guilty that I am not pushing my children to do more shcool work during the summer. Somehow the 8 weeks fly by and we barely have enough time to get through the fun family activities that have been put off all year until “summer vacation”.
Still, I encourage reading (especially on the hammock). I initiate conversations that include math (economics around gas prices when driving to a vacation spot, etc). We watch the world news nightly and have discussions around the dinner table about what is happening in country and the world. I happen to believe that a summer without formal educating is important and allows our children the opportunity to explore things they just don’t have time for during the school year.
All that said, I still feel a little guilty for not forcing them to practice those math facts every day!
The idea of having students read and do math packets, etc. over the summer began when the high stakes testing and their publicized and penalized results started to control everyone’s life. That’s when the fun stopped and the “business” of learning began. Keep practicing so that we do well on the tests. Don’t get me wrong, by continuing to read and applyiing your math knowledge over the summer IS important but there are so many other ways for kids to learn and create memories at the same time by using these same skills in different ways. Informing parents of how to continue the learning without the prescribed packets is something we can do more of.
I am a former teacher, principal and district administrator who realized that one is not a child for very long so enjoy it while you can. There are many ways to learn…we just have to know what they are.
Gramma Lucy…..I couldn’t agree with you more. One of the reasons I send my kid to private school. No “teach to the test”….My kid will be practicing his math skills tomorrow. At his annual lemonade stand
(susie….#4 had a lemonade stand and a tag sale….she practiced her math facts. She helps with dinner….READING a recipe and doing the math for the recipe……math facts and reading)…..
If anyone that has had an issue with this particular post they are more than likely not regular readers….because I remember you posting about all the reading that was getting done by your kids on numerous occasions.
Too bad people don’t follow their own advice and read (before responding….)
Lucky for you…those recommendations have the largest impact for the most part) on kids who don’t live in middle class families…families where parents have the time and energy and money to have kids on swim teams, to take kids to see great sites, or to provide them a whole variety of other enriching experiences. Reading comprehension is driven by background knowledge…which your kids are lucky enough to gather A LOT with all the wonderful activities and resources you share with them.
Some kids don’t have all of this, and books are gateway for them to experience so many of the things that their socioeconomic status doesn’t grant them. That’s where the reading recommendation (in part, again) comes from…
My son loved to read when he was younger. Once he got to the upper grades (middle school) and was forced to read what they chose and even during the summer, it turned him off from reading. He still does it but because he has to and not because he wants to. He’s a great student but I’m sad that the joy of reading was taken away from him.
YES!!!!!!!!
Have to say that I concur whole heartedly! Let your kids enjoy their summer vacation, AND, enjoy it with them. Sure, they can read on their own and let them do so at there own choosing. The older I get the more I realize how screwed up our society is. We bust our asses for 51 weeks out of the year to pay for over priced mortgages, automobiles, groceries, clothing, utilities and all the other necessities that we can barely afford but we only take 1 week a year off to plant our asses in the sand somewhere and enjoy our families. I guess thats why we enjoy vacation so much. A good work ethic is important but teaching your kids to find a balance and learning how to enjoy their down time is equally important. Otherwise, they’ll become what the majority of us have become, over worked and stressed out machines. Good on you, Susiej. I hoped you had many chances to walk barefoot in the grass, ate a lot of ice cream cones with the kids and watched the waves splash in while your ass was planted on the beach for at least a week!
This was a recent FB post of mine.
OK, so my kid didn’t finish the math calendar or do all of his summer reading pages. But what he DID learn this summer is far more precious. He learned to play in a large group without adults working everything out, he learned to use a watch and come home at a specific time, he learned to have unstructured free time without getting into trouble, he learned that if he is responsible he will gain more privileges, he wrote books about subject HE was interested in, he learned to use the phone to let us know where he is, he learned that sometimes he just wants to hang out and do nothing, he learned that he doesn’t need to go somewhere to have fun, he learned that not everyone on the team wants to be there as much as he does, he learned that if you clean the house before mom gets up it makes her very happy, he learned to swim and he learned that summer is fleeting and to enjoy it while he can.
And isn’t that what it’s all about?
In my opinion, this is exactly what’s wrong with today’s youth. Parents just don’t care and if parents don’t enforce the importance of doing their assignments, the teacher’s job becomes that much harder. I remember when I was little, we would be playing outside after doing our homework/summer reading; reading would be a family thing to go to the library and pick out books and we would all read quietly for a couple of hours per week. During the day, we had the chance to play outside and try new things. But I do think kids need a schedule and making them do their math and reading during the summer makes it so much easier once school starts. Why would a kid want to do reading and homework during the school year if you don’t care whether or not they do it over the summer? Because of the weather? Really? Does a 10 year old (I just picked an age) really need to learn about “balancing life?” He’s 10; his only job is to go to school and do well and the only way to do well in school is if you put in an effort even when it’s not required of you. And to not care about the CMTs? Do parents care about the CAPT? PSATs? ACTs? SATs? I really do think it’s all just building blocks to prepare kids for their futures. I find it hard to believe that a school system would torture kids with summer work for fun. But that being said, it’s just my opinion. Who am I to judge?
Amen Nina!
As a teacher myself, I also felt that I should have done more with my kids this summer. In the beginning, I started out very strong. The kids would do a 1/2 of reading and writing most days of the week. When August hit, we all ran out of steam and I was feeling guilty. The other day I saw my aunt, who is now a retired teacher, and she told me summer is for fun. If you give the kids too much work they will learn to hate reading. I honestly never thought of that. So in one conversation, my whole perspective changed. My kids are not struggling readers in any way. They are both very bright. So I am with you! Let them be kids and have fun. School will be there in September.
It’s possible to both enjoy summer and do the work; there’s a balance, it doesn’t have to be one extreme or the other. And that’s healthy! If one’s motivation for reading is to get a sticker or a good grade, that’s too bad. Learning about the world around you is fun, and it certainly makes one a more interesting and adept adult. The reality is that competing on a high level in the real world requires intellectual curiosity and critical thinking. I love fun, but I do worry that our culture has become too casual about education. America can’t compete if we don’t hold our kids up to a standard or two. My kid and her friends love a little intellectual challenge. She wants to become Indiana Jones, not just watch him in a movie or play him in a video game. And really, it’s not so bad, the brains thing…
Thank you! 🙂
omg, i think i may have written this article!! early childhood teacher here with 2 elementary school kids who most certainly may start school next week with incomplete summer math packets and reading logs… and who cares?!! it’s summer: let them enjoy it!!! ;P
If I had any say (their mom is the “boss”), summer packets would be used to start a summer campfire. I’m not rich by any means, but I do well. There no such things as summer packets when I was in school. Summer is for family and friends, going to camp, staying out a little longer, and making memories that will last forever. Who do these school systems think they are? How the hell are they going to tell me what to do with my kids over the summer? If a child was behind, I see the logic in it. The point is, I trashed my daughters packet last year without her mother knowing. My daughters grades for all four marking periods after that summer were higher than they were prior to her getting the packet. So in closing, the packet will be used to start the first campfire of summer 2014.
It’s great that you do so much with your children, but many parents need guidelines by which to help their child make continued progress throughout the summer. Many parents work multiple jobs and don’t have time to oversee every moment of their child’s day. These parents need to know exactly what is expected of their child so that they can see that it is done. I think you are sending a far too general message saying that “you don’t care whether your child did their summer school assignments” because they learned either way. This is not the case for all students. Please take some time and volunteer in inner-city schools so that you know what I’m talking about.
I was making a joke, Liz.
If you read yesterday’s post,you’d realize you are 100% wrong!
Amen!
My son going into 5 grade MUST read 4 books over the summer, then do 6 projects on 2 of the books, get 3000 points on a math website and recreate 5 math puzzles. It drives me crazy that he has to do all of this work during summer VACATION. I completely don’t mind him having to read but being forced to read from the schools list and these projects are too much especially when at this age kids still need their parents assistance.
Loved the blog … but not the foul language. Really… the ‘f’ bomb ~ several times? I agree 10000% with you on everything else.
A-freaking-men! Couldn’t agree with you more. 🙂
I feel the same way about reading logs that I used to feel about breastfeeding logs. I suspect that they were subversive ways to get people to actually HATE doing both things. I ignore/ignored both, and this is coming from someone currently reading the 1,100-page “The Power Broker” and who nursed all three kids until they were 3, 2 and 4.
Applause! Applause! Applause! And damn funny! And damn right, too! Excellent! Thank you very much. This has made my day …
My last child just graduated High School and I have been saying this for many many years! With all the freaking projects and reports during the year, they have earned the summer off! I always voiced my opinion on it and some teachers actually agrre but they have to go by the rules! lol So glad Im done with that crap! lolol
When I had my kids I figured I had to make some sacrifices to my personal life. Maybe make some changes to what was viewed as important and what was a priority. I believe it’s is our Job as parents to make sure that our kids are prepared for life. Yes, Life has some fun moments, and they are the ones we need to enhance but, we can not forget that a boss or manager will not except the excuse ” I had a busy summer.” The bank isn’t going to give you a three month grace period when your mortgage is due. You know… Reality. Stop being Lazy with our kids. Work hard. All day and night. to maximize their potential.
Parents stop using your own laziness as a crutch. Our children’s success is your hands.
1/2 hour to an Hour a day is not too much. Maybe cut an hour of TV out at night. Do something!!
I think most of the nay-sayers missed the entire point of this post. If I may, it SEEMS that the author feels that it is much more valuable to take the already mastered information and integrate it into daily lifestyle habits, such as reading by the pool, or baking, or running a lemonade stand. And she’s totally correct. The ENTIRE REASON behind silly summer reading logs is to instill a love and habit of reading. If this is already present then ‘forcing’ a child to read is actually counterproductive. I mean really, did you all even read the same post? Kill and drill math worksheets are worthless if a child is unable to apply the concepts…which is much higher-level thinking. She states that there are other ways to learn and apply the learning. And yes, the summer reading lists and packets are guidance for parents who may not know any different. This isn’t true reading. Life-long learning and reading is something that adults CHOOSE on their own time. Do adults force ourselves to read every night for a specific amount of time? Or do we take suggestions for books from friends and other sources? We read when it is naturally appropriate to do so in our lives. My kid reads non-stop. I never forced him. He’s in love with comic books and Captain Underpants. He reads EVERY sign while are driving. He reads in the car. He reads on a comfy chair in our living room when it’s quiet. He reads the back of cereal boxes in the morning. He reads to his little brothers all cuddled together. It’s a natural, embedded part of his life. My toddler picks up a ‘gook’ and curls in my lap when he wants me to read to him. It’s not every night. I’m not going to hold his squirmy butt in my lap and force him to look at a book if he doesn’t want to do it. I could care less what’s on a reading list.
And why would you ever use reading to teach discipline?????? Discipline is all about self-control. Forcing yourself to read when you no longer want to is only going to kill any love for reading! I’d suggest using chores such as cleaning up after dinner or rooms or making beds a way to teach discipline. Those are all things we all HATE to do, but force ourselves to do it. Or teach self-control….
Work hard all day and night? Have you never taken a vacation? Geez. Kids are kids. Children are wonderful-even when they’re not so…wonderful. Why make them feel not good enough? Pushing someone to capacity will just make them miserable. And resentful. I’m not against having expectations for your children. But it has to be based on a child’s desire too. Or else we get those crazy dance and pagent moms we see on TV!
Good luck everyone. In the end, we are all just trying to do our best, I guess.
Agree 100% and not only during summer, but they shouldn’t be bothered with tedious projects on every holiday break.
I have mixed feelings about summer homework. As the parent of two college graduates who are employed or pursuing another degree, I feel I have some perspective on this. My youngest started in a Montessori school at 18 months because, even as a stay at home mom I couldn’t keep up with her. Her school had a short summer session so the children wouldn’t “forget” and still they sent home some summer work. I took her to the library and we each would get a pile of things to read and sit and read. Of all the family habits we had, reading time for everyone was one of the best. Our other child needed a bit more encouragement. I think because we genuinely like to read in this house and fostered reading as an enjoyable activity, we created two readers and that seemed to have been one of the biggest contributions to academic success and personal entertainment we made. Typically they did sum we packets AND had loads of fun during summers which included structured activities and free time. We even traveled during summers an school holiday times. Oh and both of ours had learning disabilities, just in case that’s supposed to be some type of persuasive argument. There will be plenty of time to haggle with school admin over truly ridiculous policies. To me the packets were never enough of an inconvenience to not do them.
I agree kids should have fun during the summer BUT when your child doesnt practice things through out the summer they fall behind when the school year starts. Im not saying someone is a bad parent for not turning in school work when the kids go back but that also doesnt make a good impression when they go back and meet a new teacher for the first time. My son goes away for the entire summer to his fathers. He supposed to read 60 minutes a day (which isnt asking alot) i send down math problems from his school book because he struggles in math. Its also in the court order for it to be done. When he comes home 10 days before school starts and its not done through out the summer his GPA goes 3.0 86% to failing and takes months for him to catch back up to where the rest of the students are. I work with him through the year and by the last marking period hes back up to a 86% then falls back down by the time school start. It does make a difference having them work through out the summer. Some might now see it that way but i do, i notice a difference when its being done and not being done. When we were kids it was different but kids smarter now and are expected to be a different level and GPAs do mean more now then they did back in the day. I understand why teachers give homework though out the summer its to keep them on the level expected when going into the new school year. Taking an hour out of a 24 hour day isnt asking alot its just to keep what they learned though out the year fresh in their head. The teachers arent giving them 8 hours of work a day during the summer but more like an hour. They can read in the car going on a vacation or on a plane. It really isnt that hard to keep them on track. This is just my opinion but to noy turning in theit school work isnt showing them that they have to be responsible. You cant do that when they are ready to go out in the real world and have a job. So i teach my son now about responsibilty and like it or not thats not a choice. If its homework then it gets done and there is no options. Its only an hour out of the day. Its not that hard. Im not judging anyone but this is how i was raised. Tgis is how i raise my kids. They may not like it and might not be fare but if isnt and when they have something thats supposed to be done it gets done. My kids will not show up on the first day and not have what supposed to be done. Thats like showing up to work and not being prepared for the day. School is getting the children ready for the real world so they must be prepared just like you mist be prepared for work its setting them up for whats to come when your on your own. There are rules and those rules must be followed. There is a time to have fun but there is time for homework also. An hour a day wont take out the fun they have during the summer. Yes it may suck but atleast they will be on the same level as the other kids.
I agree. My granddaughter who just got out of kindergarten came home with her packet and was panicking because she “needed” to work on it that day when she got home from school. She had approximately 60 double sided sheets to do. Her 8 yr old sister on the other hand was not worried at all- did not take anything out of her backpack or mention anything. She wanted to ride her scooter! She understood the concept of “Summer Break from school”.