Photo By: Brisbane City Council
This week, we had the opportunity to visit with my niece and her children who are still fairly new on this homeschooling journey. She wasn’t sure what to do about math this summer for her oldest, a second-grader. The will soon complete schooling the required number of days, but it’s taken him a little longer to get through some of the math lessons. He won’t be finished with the text by the time “school” is out.
Math in the Summer
That scenario is a familiar one around our house. In fact, I can’t remember (and I’m sure my children can’t either) a summer when we weren’t working on math. And I’m okay with that. We have time before the next year to finish the book – three months, in fact. Besides, doing some math during the summer helps keep math skills sharp.
But it is summer, after all, so we do take a much more relaxed approach. Instead of insisting on a daily math lesson, we work on it about two or three days a week, giving ourselves permission to enjoy the fun activities of season. Some of those activities may be educational, such as a field trip to a nature park, zoo, or museum. But they might also consist of just fun times out and about – days of window shopping in the mall, seeing a summer matinee, or running through a sprinkler with friends.
The best time of day I’ve found for my children to work on their summer math is the same time they work on it during the school year: first thing in the morning. Then everyone is free to enjoy the rest of the day. By the end of the summer, the book is complete, the children have had a lot of practice, and they’re ready to move into the next grade with or without a review.
Do your children do math year-round?