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SimplyMom
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I have been having a few conversations with people who think schooling should stop during the summer. Their theory was that children need a total break from any type of formal instruction in order to process and absorb the information more fully.
This doesn't seem right to me. We always do some formal instruction over the summer, but I thought I might toss it out there to see what others say. I have been wrong before.
-Darcee
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Darcee
SimplyMom from Simply Catholic
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joann10
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We keep on schooling during the summer, but our schedule is lighter. We tend to do alot of science/nature studies, along with experiments and art projects. The things that we tend to not have time for during the rest of the year.
I do try to have the kids do math and some sort of writing at least 4 days a week. Of course, we do take off two weeks when Daddy is on vation and then days here and there just to have fun.
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ALmom
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Darcee:
I think you must be sensitive to the needs of your family. I'm still grappling with this. I do think the children need to feel rhythms where they have more time and leisure to use well and other times of very intense focus and work.
Here is where I look :
If we are all stressed and beginning to feel like we are overwhelmed, we probably need a summer break. My children look forward to greater freedom in the summer and we do need some time off from all formal learning. It is a chance for us to regroup and assess our year. The trick for me is finding the down time for me - as I'm planning all summer.
If the children are starting to squabble or suddenly have lost all sense of routine (ie sleeping till noon, forgetting to wipe the mud off the shoes before coming in on a regular basis) and starting to dump things all over the house and we all seem rudderless and are forgetting when to eat and ....  then we need to find more structure somewhere and I might decide to resume school a bit earlier than originally envisioned. At the very least, we do have some sort of talk about having leisure without total idleness  and I may help them discover something fun for focus. I may not necessarily call this "school" but usually what happens around here is that the children read every single historical fiction I've ordered for next school year - and one child has dug into every science book sitting in piles. We tend not to do the more distasteful academic things for the child during the summer.
Janet
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folklaur
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We take our breaks (due to weather) more in the winter months (dec-feb). We school through the summer as it is too hot to do anything else anyway. But even when we take our breaks, we don't break entirely. 
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Cay Gibson
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My children (except ds 15) would rebel if we didn't take a summer break.
Really...truly...summertime is our major "unschooling" time and it's always fun. But the 10 yr old feels that any day with Math in it is a school day. And we will be doing math...
Just this morning, my 10 yr old was saying how excited her baseball team was that they only had one more day of school. (There are two other hsed girls on her team).
Chels told them she was going to have to do school through the summer and they looked at her wide-eyed and said: "Where do you go to school?"
"I'm hsed."
"Ohhhhhhhhhh..."
She has a gripe because her cousin spent the week with us so she didn't finish her school work for the year. In the past I've just put the books away and let it go. This year I made a deal with her to do it first thing in the morning then play or continue on next week.
Guess what?
We're doing school next week.  And, of course, she blames me.
She thinks we're schooling all summer long but all I told her is that Teaching Textbook continues at least 3 days a week (one lesson). And reading. And we'll continue with the Author Fiesta. Weekly trip to the library. And Nature Study.
I don't see how she sees this as "school" except that it's a continuation of what we usually do, minus the CHC/Seton workbooks and outside activities.
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
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Mary G
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If it wasn't for summer, my kids would be science-deprived! 
Seriously, dh is a whiz and loves to do nature, geology, weather, botany, biology etc with the kids during the summer. I am learning right along with the kids!
We also do lots of reading ... I've even been known to create my own summer reading programs as the library ones are usually so  !
When all else fails -- rainy week or just plain doldrums -- we pull out word and math games that technically are "schooly" but the kids enjoy and we just "play"....
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MaryG
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my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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mama251ders
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We are schooling all summer this year. Probably a lighter schedule, but we're pluggin' through! I don't know if it's good for them, but we need to finish 4th grade before they turn into teenagers! We had a really flexible year and took many breaks, so I don't feel bad to keep going.
Blessings,
Betsie
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lapazfarm
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We like to spend summers traveling and doing things as a family. And although it technically isn't "school" we've had some of our most amazing learning experiences on those summer trips, diving head first into whatever we can find and absorbing it all like sponges!We've experienced everything from tide pools to tundra flowers to salmon fishing to Russian Orthodox churches, to white water rafting to WW2 bunkers and Coast Guard bases...you name it!
Which, of course made me wonder why we don't school that way all year long.
So, from now on, we are!LOL!
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Theresa
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pipandpuddy
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We take off the summer. My children always have so many projects at home that keep them busy the entire summer. In addition, I enjoy doing a lot of fun read alouds during the summer. Cay, I intend to do your slices of pie booklists with my younger children and some of the baking books listed in your newest book. We also enjoy going to the beach every week. Karen
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PDyer
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We're going to keep plugging away, I think. How it works out will be interesting since my son officially finishes with the brick and mortar school today (hooray!), so he's "off" by conventional standards, but he tells me he wants to work on some things with me over the summer.
At home, we had a challenging winter this year. We weren't as consistent as I would like and didn't get as much done as I would like. I helped out my husband during CPA busy season and I spent a lot of time at doctor's offices. I'm feeling a bit behind. Intellectually I know my dd is doing just fine, but I think we need to work on consistency for the future's sake.
With my ds, we're going to go through F&L 6 to finish what we started when he was home at the beginning of the 'school year' and because I like F&L better than the program the school uses.  He also told me he wants to work on math, and may go through the rest of the IEW program he started last fall.
My dd and I have been working on The Alphabet Path this year. We're well behind the postings to Serendipity, so we plan to keep going. My dd is also taken with Cay's Author Fiesta, but she doesn't call that
'school'.
The kids and I are celebrating the end of bricks and mortar school for lunch today, and I think we'll try to map out how we'd like the summer to look while we're there. We have a lot to work into the time -- all the above, swim team, Boy Scouts, baseball, playing violin, nature walks, PLAYING, organizing the house...
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Patty
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guitarnan
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We don't do formal schoolwork, but we do take trips and day excursions. My son usually goes to Scout camp, and my daughter to dance day camp - definitely both educational as well as fun. All those PE hours!
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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bfarmmom
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We have never been able to take off during the summer because life happens the rest of the year. (My mom was sick with a terminal illness last year, there have been new babies, bedrest with one of them, etc.) These have been the times that we have schooled lightly. This summer we or should I say I am hoping to really dive in and have fun. We don't have any extra activities to run around to, so we can be home and relax and learn!
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Peace,
Kirsten
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Cay Gibson
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Ohhhhhh, I love that!!! 
Give your dd a big hug and kiss from me.
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
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Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Willa
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We keep learning during the summer. I keep records, but we stay very informal -- "learning from life". No assignment sheets -- only 180 days of those and next week we are done : ). I have more time and energy to explore things that take longer, and we usually have more activities going on like trips and that kind of thing.
My purpose in logging these informal activities is so that I have a sort of head start on the following year, and so that I can observe things about the children, what they respond to, how they spend their time, how our relationships are changing, and so on.
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Willa
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PDyer
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Cay Gibson wrote:
Ohhhhhh, I love that!!!
Give your dd a big hug and kiss from me. |
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You bet, Cay. Madeline was thrilled (seriously!) to complete your suggested copywork for The Lemonade Club. She's just loving Patricia Polacco. And you've reminded me I need to go pick up more holds from the library!
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Patty
Mom of ds (7/96) and dd (9/01) and two angels (8/95 and 6/08)
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SallyT
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We keep going in an even more unschooly vein, doing life-learning, taking trips, and reading. This year the older kids are starting a schedule whereby they will do math 6 weeks on, one week off, all year, at the suggestion of my oldest daughter's algebra tutor. I do see the sense in that, so that they don't lose ground and have to spend the entire fall reviewing what they should already know. But we will do this lightly. I'm hoping to have my daughter do Life of Fred algebra for comic relief over the summer, and my son will do a light schedule as well: half an hour a day after lunch, when it's too hot to play outside.
But we are taking two weeks off at the beginning of June before we start all this. They do need some total down-time.
Sally
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Red Cardigan
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I've tried both, and what I've realized is that *I* need summer!
The summers we've had to keep going, even with a subject or two, seemed longer and more aggravating than any others! I never got out of "teacher mode" and couldn't focus on the things I was hoping to get done, projects, around the house stuff, etc.
But I know other people go year-round and love it, and take a whole month off at Christmas. So there's no one right answer, and a lot will depend on what Mom wants and what the kids need!
Which is what's so great about hsing in the first place...
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donnalynn
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Red Cardigan wrote:
| I've tried both, and what I've realized is that *I* need summer! |
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Oh my goodness - yes! That is just what I was thinking! My dh is a teacher who runs a day camp during the summer. Mine are all old enough now to participate in that. I'll be teaching the younger program one day a week. Goodness...what will I do with myself with the rest of the week? Actually, I really hope to go daily Mass!
This will also be our fourth year camping for 2 weeks in Cape Cod and I always put together a bunch of read alouds to go along with that.
I am hoping to pull out the RightStart Math games now and then. Maybe put in the Christina Latina CD once in a while. The girls will continue a botany project over the summer.
We're very busy but it is different enough that it gives everyone a break from our regular school year.
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mooreboyz
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I've learned over the years that my boys need a little school...a little structure in their day or things tend to get a little mad to say the least.
We had an exceptional "school year" thanks to discovering this forum and all the fantastic ideas you all offer. I've begun teaching in a different way...real learning, montessori, and cmish and my 5 guys are loving it and so am I! They've learned tons and didn't even know it.
Our year was long though. We live in upper WI and the winter was very long (it got down to 30 degrees just a couple nights ago). When the weather is yucky we don't take a lot of time "off". We'd rather work hard all winter and then be out and enjoying nature when it finally does get nice. So, we worked hard for a long time this year...but we liked it.
We just got back from a week in a cabin in the woods and will probably take a few more weeks "off". When they start to get squirrelly I will add some math (which they love) and probably some lit/writing. About an hour a day probably. We naturally do science whenever we're outdoors between our gardens and woodlands/lakes around us. The boys participate in the library summer program too as well as a great summer rec program our parks dept schedules every day.
So, yes, we'll be doing some school. Relaxed though for certain and subjects they enjoy. I guess unschoolingish.
jackie
5 boys 1, 3, 6, 9, 11
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Isa in Michigan
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Due to being pregnant frequently and having little ones around all the time, I find that going year round works well for us. We do have a lighter schedule during the summer, and this summer we'll be focusing more on science and nature journaling.
I do take time off when necessary throughout the year. This helps to avoid burn-out and gives us a lot of flexibility.
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4Real Forums : Philosophy of Education
Topic: Summer
