Go Play?

I always did summer bridge activities with my children. We'd do learning and enjoy it together and then have plenty of playtime.

There's nothing wrong with a little academics. It helps children know that learning doesn't just happen at school...

Kids need free time to play.

Please google "children learn while they play" or "what do children learn while they play?".

Kids need to play.

When he gets back to school they will review the stuff from last year so there's no need to stay sharp during the summer. Kids need to play.

We homeschool, and we do stuff during the summer but it's light. She reads books or watches an educational-slanted show. Nothing written down.

He will be fine. Go play!

Not sure why you care what other people are saying to do. You don't seem to be questioning your own beliefs and you say it's not a question, so what's the problem? Do what works for you.

Personally, we do lots of academic activities over the summer because instead of being burdened by the one-size-fits-all formula and mindless homework the school delivers all year, we can focus on the things the kids like and/or where they need extra help. Plus, my daughter's new school sent a large packet of work home that they will have to hand in when they go in August. I don't want to find the last two weeks of summer to be a giant cramming session for all these assignments and I want my daughter to learn to plan and complete work ahead of schedule. And both my kids are identified as gifted and both are on honor roll, so I don't see how that makes a difference. My kids love to learn and are always curious, so it's really not hard -- I usually find them playing math games on the computer or reading for fun. And my daughter made a challenge with my husband that if she reads the whole Encyclopedia Britannica, which she loves, we will take a trip to the Grand Canyon. So she's highly motivated to follow through.

We just don't see play and learning as mutually exclusive, and we as a family we love learning outside of school. We want lifelong learners who learn because they can, not just learners who do it because they have to at school.

ETA: Trust me, our kids dig in the dirt, ride bikes, swim, and pretty much live outside all summer without any trouble. Maybe we have time to do all of it because we don't watch TV.

Over the summer, kids can do both.
Sure summer is a break from school. Sure it is typically less structured.
But it is up to you.... on how "structured" you make things or not.
ie: a kid can learn math, while having fun and it not being structured.
Wow, what a concept huh?
My kids do that.
We orally, say math problems, and my kids love solving them, verbally. Using paper/pencil if they must, to work it out.
We tell them "story" math problems.
We "play" this for as long as my kids want to. When they want to stop, they say so. Then we stop. And do other things.
My kids are 6 and 10.
It is fun. It is not "structured." We make it into a game.
Even my 6 year old can do it.

And sure, my kids PLAY over summer. What kid doesn't? All kids play. Whether or not it is summer.
Playing and having fun, is not seasonal.
I don't know why, fun/playing/relaxing is only seen as a summer thing.

Next: you do not have to do what your various group of friends are telling you. YOU are your own person. You are the parent, of your son. You know him, best. You do what you think is beneficial and constructive for him, over the summer.
That's it.

Kids can do both -- play and learn. But they do need to learn in ways that fit with what they were doing in school before summer, and what they will be doing in school when fall comes. That means some structure over the summer. I know a lot of parents don't want to hear it but they should look at the research -- there is a lot of research to show that kids DO lose learning over the summer if they do nothing. Look at "summer learning loss" on Wikipedia as a start.

It's lovely to think about the golden days of lazy summer and nothing but mud pies and fun under the sprinkler. But studying does not mean a child can't do those things too. They don't have to do full-on school every day. But they do need some work to keep up skills at a minimum.

Math is a muscle. Use it or lose it. Someone posted that if your son is doing fine in math, he doesn't need it over the summer but would only need it if he were struggling -- not true. He needs to practice those skills or they will get rusty. Same for reading and writing. Everyone will say, "Oh, well, yes, my kids read over the summer, that's part of the fun," but kids also need to do at least some minimal writing, and they should be reading books new to them, and books that challenge them at their next grade's reading level or above if possible.

Check your local library and bookstores; most have kids' summer reading programs where kids read X books over the summer and get rewards for it. As for math, frankly, that's a not-so-fun chore that must be done unless you want your kid to do catch-up in the fall; online sounds like a bore but if you can find a good math program in your area (and in Chicago I bet you can) that is fun, have him do it -- it does not have to be hours and hours. Our daughter does Mathnasium (no homework!) maybe three hours a week in summer at their facility. She also attends a writing "camp" that's one week, half days. That leaves a ton of time for fun and games. And she chooses to go-- she's 12 so we don't force her but she loves writing camp in particular. We go to museums a lot but we also do that during the school year because there are so many where we live.

You can do stuff at home if you prefer.

It's not about some future job years off, or about being competitive with other kids. It's about ensuring a child keeps up not only the content of learning but the discipline of learning. During the school year, kids require personal discipline to keep going and meet their deadlines. A three-month halt in that discipline just makes it that much harder to get back in the groove later.

I would bet that many parents who advocate "let them play all summer, no study, no academics" are parents of younger elementary kids. Once they have middle schoolers they just can't do that any more or their kids are going to lag at the start of school and feel so rusty -- both in terms of academics and in terms of discipline to get things done before they have their fun.

The kids who are at writing camp, or at math, or my daughter's friends who are doing other academically-related camps this summer, are kids who actually enjoy this stuff, maybe because they were always encouraged to enjoy it. Treating academics as some unpleasant chore to be confined to the school year and "escaped from" with glee over the summer sends a pretty bad message-- doesn't it?

Hey I am with you. Summer should be for relaxing and fun. No summer online classes.

my kids will do some schoolwork most days this summer.. we do 20-30 minutes of math or writing or language arts.. we usually do this in the morning before we go someplace fun.

many days in the later afternoon when it is hot.. we have quite reading time.. they get a book to read on their level.. I get my ladies home journal. we all read quietly to ourselves for 15-20 minutes..

The rest of the day is fun.. fun fun.. my little bit of school work will not ruin their summer or their fun. there is still plenty of tiem for fun.. and relaxation.

School is much harder than when we were kids.. the curriculum moves fast. my kids are good students.. but they get extra work and extra help at home..
...

kids learn THROUGH play. Kids need the experience of playing. They learn by discovering new things outside. Like playing in the dirt, finding worms, listening to the sounds of nature, getting dirty and learning large motor skills. Riding a bike actually teaches them the basics for driving a car when they are older.
My kids are going into 1st and 3rd grade next year. We do not do any sit down academics in the summer. It's a time to play and get outside, swim, ride bikes, BBQ, and get dirty, lol. Kids don't get a lot of time to do that during the school year because they are in school until 3pm and then it's dark by 4 or 5pm in the winter.

Well, I chose to have my son tutored once a week over the summer. We lightly incorporate 'school' into our summer routine; he is moving into first grade and has learned so much this year, I think it would be an easier transition if we are able to keep his skills sharp. So, aside from the two-hour tutoring, he reads aloud to me for 20 minutes 4 times a week, writes in a journal (two sentences, one picture) 2-3 times a week and does a math activity 2-3 times a week (a fun one, too).

We chose to do this because the transition to kindergarten last year was so wretched for 2.5 months that we felt he needed this for now, at this young age. I do very much want 'fun' for my son, however at 6, doing 30-45 minutes of learning activities each day leaves plenty of time for him to pursue his other pleasures. It's all about balance. Had my son had an easy transition, if he didn't need as much support with his homework this last year, I might have made a different choice in regard to having a tutor, but we'd still be doing something to keep his skills sharp. As kids get older, they get the math in games like Monopoly and other board games and read for pleasure, write as they choose. He's not self-directed in those pursuits yet, so we need to give him a little help.:) I'm not worried about the job market 12 years from now, I'm wanting to ensure a smoother transition when we return to school in 2+ months.

I think it is very important for kids to play. They need to be going outside, using their imaginations, swimming, riding bikes, etc. But I also think it is important for kids to practice what they learned the previous year in school. The "summer slide" is a phrase referring to the learning loss that Leigh mentioned. Research shows that kids can lose one-two months of the previous year's learning. Reading daily is really important. Kids should also be practicing any skill that they struggled with in school. Online math and reading games are great for reviewing and practicing skills because they are fun and most kids enjoy them. If a child struggles in writing, getting a journal/spiral and having him/her write using an open ended prompt a few times each week is great practice. Here are some examples: http://topnotchteaching.com/time-saving-tips/31-daily-wri...

A little bit of practice each day goes a long way! :)

Summer is a break from studying for school. However, that doesn't mean it's just sitting in front of the tv watching garbage or playing video games. If your kid is just fine academically, I really wouldn't worry about tutoring, bridge, etc. I think we're becoming a little hyper about all of that. Instead, I would enforce a mandatory 30 minutes reading time (not sure what the age of your son is, but something along those lines would work) and then use some time to go to museums, maybe take an art or music class through the city parks and rec center, etc. Learning happens a lot more ways than out of a workbook.

You don't say how old your son is.

But no, if he's an honor roll student, he does not need to do math online during the summer, no matter how old he is, and no matter how competitive the world is. Unless he loves math and wants to do it.

If he were struggling in math, then it would be a good idea to have some summer math instruction.

Go play.

We home school so we do stuff year round.
I will admit that when it gets to be 115 outside at the peak of summer we all slow down. We run the A/C of course but there is still something very oppressive about that heat even with the A/C running.
But Summer is also when we have a lot of family fun time planned. Their grandparents normally come to visit for a couple of weeks from out of state. We have the San Diego Comic Book Convention that we go to every year. There are always more activities available during the summer around the city, the zoo has evening hours that it doesn't normally have and so on.

Other than encouraging my kids to read for pleasure and going to the library we do not do any academic work over summer vacation. They learn about nature, about teamwork, how to swim and how to relax. That's a lot of learning already. They have the other ten months to learn about math.

for me, age is the deciding factor. Grade school/pre-teen.....let them play. High school....summer school is a great way to get a jump on those credits, allowing for Jr/Sr year & pre-college academics.

My 16yo son took P.E. last summer, & is taking Government this summer. 2 requisites out of the way! + he loves total immersion academics. A win-win for him. :)

I require my kids to spend some time reading and I have algebra books at home that they will start next week. They get 2 weeks to not do any "learning" and then they might spend 45 minutes total during the day with their books. Of course, if they want, they may spend more time. Then they have all day to goof off and have fun.

http://www.amazon.com/Simplicity-Parenting-Extraordinary-...

It's funny you bring this up because just yesterday my pediatrician's office posted this book on Facebook encouraging parents to read it. I think it deals directly with this topic. And I personally agree with you. Children need time to be kids. How can they compete in a job market as adults if they're burned out by the time they're 13? I think it's more important that we limit things like TV and devices, which can get out of hand during the summer when they've got so much extra time. But there are so many studies about what kids learn on the playground. For example, climbing on jungle gym walls and swinging across monkey bars teaches them risk management skills. And when they fall down and get hurt, they learn how to get up again and keep going. Playing games like tag and Mother May I with friends teaches them how to cooperate, how to take turns, and how to follow rules. These are all key skills for success. And that's just a few examples. To me, bottom line is this - too much academia isn't good for anyone, let alone a kid. Real world experience is what gets you ahead. And the real world is out there, not behind a math problem on a computer screen.

Learning was always fun for me. I was a nerd, but I also enjoyed running around outside. In fact, there was LOTS of playing outside. During the summer months, we participated in library reading programs, and we learned curricula for the upcoming year. I thought that it was pretty normal.

Most kids today just sit and watch tv or do video games during summer. If they really go out and play all summer...wonderful!

I have mine do a camp each day all summer so I know they are playing hard. Yes, every single day. They run, do lots of sports, do art, etc. There are even science-type camps they do, but all fun. Just tons of fun stuff! And they learn a ton doing that.