Homeschooling

I was wondering if anyone here just homeschools over the summer and sends their kid(s) to school (either public or private) during the "school year"... you see, not only am I worried that my son may not be ready for 1st grade in the fall if I allow the whole summer gap between it kindgarten & 1st grade, but I also support a more year round approach to school (like the Japanese do), without that big gap of the summer months with nothing (unless the parents do it).

I'm considering using one of Usborne's "Ten Terrific Weeks" curriculums for this summer, debating between the Adventures in the Sea or the Medieval one (forget the title). Does anyone have experience with the Usborne curriculum? Or just homeschooling in the summer?

Hi, Joelle.  We homeschool full-time, but also school year round.  Many schools will send home activites for the summer.  Also, you may check into the "Summer Bridge" books available at many teacher supply stores.  I have not had any experience with the Usborne unit studies, though I do like Usborne's books.  Be sure to check your local library for summer reading programs, too.  There are all kinds of things you can do to have some educational fun over the summer.  Have fun and let us know if you have any other questions.

Hi Joelle...I think doing learning enrichment with your kids over the summer is a good thing!  We actually school more or less year-round, but the pace is more relaxed in the summer and if we want a week off for camping or some other activity, we just take it off.  Have you ever looked at your kids' workbooks and seen how much review is in the beginning of them????  I think the schools review for about a month, just to get the kids caught up to where they were when school llet out in the spring!!!!  What a waste.  We usually skip much of the review if we have one of those kinds of workbooks.

Just a follow-on about Summer Bridge activities: I've used them with both girls K to 1 and 1 to 2 (Hannah) and 2 to 3 and 3 to 4 (Katie). Both girls enjoyed them, thought they were easy. They go to a private school who has a reputation for being hard. I think the problem was that I left it up to the girls to do it, didn't make them sit down each day. So the books never got finished. But if you sit down and work with your child each day, they should be great!

Cheryl