how do you keep your children from forgetting everything they learned during the school year during summer vacation

this is our first summer vacation, so i'm still trying to figure that out!

It was fairly easy when the kids were little, but now, forget it. LOL! We read a lot over the summer and have many discussions on different topics and always point out interesting and educational info during outings and trips. Other than that, I'm not going to hold formal lessons or make them sit down to practice math facts, etc. Summer is short and sweet and we like to enjoy it to the fullest. Life experiences are educational, too. :)

Our school district does offer a summer program, and they highly encourage it for everyone, but honestly, since my kids are doing so well in school, I won't make them go unless they really need it.

this is our first summer vacation, so i'm still trying to figure that out!
haha me too!!!

Even though we had many disagreements with our daughter's teacher this year, she did send home something useful on the last day. It was a note that explained that the kids in her class are used to reading a lot. She suggested encouraging our kids to keep reading throughout the summer. Going to the library and picking out a couple of new books at the beginning of the week is a good idea. Have your child read them during the week days and then return them on Friday. Our daughter will mostly be at her grandmother's each day of the week so this is a good option for her to continue reading.

thats a great thing Mark!!

well I am trying to get Nichole ready for Preschool, since we are not in that break yet. She now knows her ABC's, can count to 30 (almost lol misses a few 20's). Is starting to get her colors now (she is a auditory learner). CXan recognize some letters and numbers now. Can count objects and can take away things now. Like if you give her 3 apples, ask for 2, then ask her how many she has left kinda things. So we are on our way!!

DD has been using beestar and loves it very much. It’s a cool website offering weekly math and reading exercises. I registered the summer session. This summer, DD keeps doing worksheets on it to prepare for the coming semester. It really helps.

Lisa

She suggested encouraging our kids to keep reading throughout the summer. Going to the library and picking out a couple of new books at the beginning of the week is a good idea. Have your child read them during the week days and then return them on Friday.

I agree with Mark. I've done a little volunteer work with kids myself even though I teach college students. When summer begins, you can once in a while refresh there memory by recalling what they've learned in class, you can do that by asking for some book recommendation with their teacher.

Very good point. The big thing for us is to always stay involved. During the school year we always make sure the teacher knows to contact us for anything. Likewise, we are there when something is not being done properly or if our daughter is having problems. I think that her first grade teacher was a little surprised at how involved we were as parents. I also noticed that many of the times there were parent-teacher conferences, only moms would show up and not many dads. It is sad that things are like this and our kids need all the help and guidance they can get.

My parents used to make us do like 30 min a day just to refresh...

That's what we do with our daughter (eventually our son too). 30 minutes is not that long either. :)

We have been using the hooked on phonics thing to keep Bennett reading this summer along with trips to the library. Also I have been keeping him up with his writing by keeping a summer journal we write a sentence almost every day about something he did that day or would like to do.