# Info And Advice For Summer Homeschooling?



## clovis (May 13, 2002)

My daughter is finishing up her 3rd grade year in public school, and will be returning to the same school for 4th grade. (It is an AWESOME school!)

I want to have class for about an hour each day.

I am hoping to keep her in the swing of things over the summer, to help get a jump start on the 4th grade.

Currently, she is below the class average in math, reading and language usage. She isn't terribly bad when compared to the system wide class of 3rd graders, but she is below average somewhat...and it is consistently below in the three subjects I mentioned. 

Overall, her report cards are decent, and she has been learning by leaps and bounds. It is amazing how far she has come since the beginning of the year! 

Okay...here are my questions:

What do I have her work on over the summer?

Where can I find low cost or free worksheets for math? I need to make sure she is rock solid in multiplication tables.

Should I try to borrow the 4th grade reading and math books from the school?

If I do so, will she be bored when school starts if we have already read those stories?

On my DD's language usage and speech...where do you start? I know this could easily be a thread in itself. 

FWIW, we've had a tough time getting her to do homework, even with us helping. It is getting easier day by day, as she learns more and more. I think I am going to make this a work and reward deal for her. For example, if she works every day without a fight for a certain amount of time, I'll take her to an amusement park. As well, if she refuses to do the work, there will be no fun activities until that work is done.

I am mostly interested in keeping her grade level maintained for the summer, and not so focused on introducing new concepts. 

*THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! ANY HELP AND OR ADVICE IS APPRECIATED!!!!!*


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## KS wife (Jan 1, 2008)

Skip the workbooks, worksheets etc.

Get some good books and just spend time reading together. Find enjoyable, quality books that are above her reading level and use them as read alouds. Find books that are right at her level and switch off reading pages. If she gets stuck on a word, quickly show her how to pronounce it (break it down into sylables if you can) and move on so you don't loose the flow of the story. Also, don't hesistate to get her some good books that are below her instructional level for her to read on her own for fun. Try having a quiet time each day where she can curl up with any books she wants to read. Talk about what you read. You don't need to make it formal. Just have a casual conversation while you drive to the grocery store or dust the living room. The more good language usage she hears the better her usage will be. 

For math: Get her baking with you and discuss fractions. Double recipies or cut them in half. Don't worry about mastery, just do it for the exposure. Give her some extra chores this summer (on top of her normal responsibilities) and pay her for them. Have her keep track of what you owe her. Make sure you use odd quantities of money (16c, 27c, etc. not 25c 75c) to let her practice adding. Keep the $ in the bank of Mom and let her occasionally buy herself a treat (candybar or whatever suits both of you) and then she can practice subtraction. Money is a great motivator for improving math skills. Multiplication is a little harder to fit into everyday life on a consistant basis so you may want a simple set of flashcards for practice. You can also practice skip counting which is a good foundation for multiplication. 

Above all, have fun.


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

I agree with KS Wife to make sure you're doing plenty of informal learning, not just "school work". It sounds like she really needs to be shown that learning can be fun more than anything else. Perhaps try googling "unschooling" and reading for inspiration. 

That said, I would also highly recommend the book '7 Keys to Comprehension' by Susan Zimmerman and Chryse Hutchins. It will teach you how to teach her how to read, understand written language and comprehend what she has read. It's an excellent book that was gifted to me by an aunt who is an ESL teacher when my oldest was in Pre-K and I used it to teach my oldest to read and am using it now to teach my youngest to read and I can't say a bad word about it. My oldest, now in 3rd grade like your girl, reads at a high school level and has tested off the charts in all areas of language since Kindergarten. I really credit much of that to the tactics in that book.


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## BusyBees2 (Dec 10, 2004)

multiplication can be done with dice. 2 dice for the lower half facts, 4 dice for the upper levels. I bought 3" foam dice at the teacher's store in 2 colors just to make it more fun. Roll the dice, multiply what's showing. Make it a game or a reward scenario.

Read, read, read.


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

*You all are AWESOME!!!!*

We spend our lives doing informal teaching. There is hardly a thing that we do in our day to day lives that we don't explain _some_ aspect of it, and make it a learning time. When I say that we spend our lives doing this, I'm not kidding around. 

We spent most of the weekend watching qualifications at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (my favorite place on earth), and had more learning opportunities than you could imagine. Aside from reading, we worked with time charts and a stop watch, adding and subtracting car orders, etc.

I really feel like we need an organized learning time every day, and I feel that worksheets and the like are key to keeping her learning on track. 

As for the math, she has a decent footing for multiplication, but I am told that if she is rock solid with her tables, we'll be golden going into 4th grade math.

I hope this adds some clarification to what we are hoping to do, and will help you guide and advice us in this endeavor.

The ideas you have offered are GREAT!!!! Keep them coming!!!!!

I really do appreciate the help and advice!!!!!!


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## halfpint (Jan 24, 2005)

I would avoid the workbooks as much as possible. For language, lots of reading, looking up words that she doesn't understand, then discussion of the books or chapters. Take turns reading paragraphs aloud, so that she practices both listening and speaking skills. Use books on topics or people that she is interested in. Try some poetry - it's great for developing speaking and thinking skills.

For math, besides cooking exercises I would go with math games. My kids learned a lot from muggins and Knock-out. http://www.mugginsmath.com/store.asp

If you like worksheets, you might try the calculadder programs which are timed worksheets and they keep doing the same one until they can do it in the proper time.

Dawn


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

Google "free home school math worksheets". 
Flash cards. You can get them at a teachers supply school.
www.hslda.com Go to your state and see if there is a home school group having a used book sale close to you. There you will find TONS AND TONS of teaching things. Also your child can go with and put her hands on the stuff and you can get a feel for what she's really interested in.....
Google "used home school math books grade 4"

It's been a while since I have had a 4th grader. You could google your states educational requrements for each grade and see what they must master by the end of 4th grade, and that will give you direction......

HTH


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

I'm surprised to see another vote against using worksheets this summer.

It looks like I'm going to have to rethink this whole ordeal.

I thought the worksheets would add structure to what we are doing, and it would be a visual, tangible way of showing me that she has completed the work for the day.

FWIW, I was just thinking about having her complete a rather easy worksheet each day on math subject. One day, the WS would be on multiplication of 3's, the next day would be on 4's, etc., and then rinse and repeat. Sure, I'll spend time with flash cards, but I see the best progress from her with WS and the like.

When she will just sit down and not fight us, which has been a problem with homework, those WS only take 10 minutes at most. 

I thought we could then move on to reading, which also has been a daily fight, but she is improving in that area. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes at most?

Our third topic could be speech and language improvement/usage....but I am totally lost on this topic, and really don't know where to start.

I'd love to throw a short spelling list in there too. If she would just sit down and do the work without a fight, it wouldn't be more than 5 minutes max.

Then lastly, I'd love to do a 5 minute lesson on something fun...whether it be about a plant, the soil, a bug...just something cool about how the world works.

Oh, yeah, I need to focus on her being rock solid in counting coins. She is _almost_ there, but sometimes slips up.

Total time per day would be an hour or less. Is this too much, or too little?

Please let me know if I'm off base. Please tell me what you think is right, and let me know what you think I'd be doing wrong. Don't be bashful. I need the help!!!!!!!

Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

clovis said:


> I'm surprised to see another vote against using worksheets this summer.
> 
> It looks like I'm going to have to rethink this whole ordeal.
> 
> I thought the worksheets would add structure to what we are doing, and it would be a visual, tangible way of showing me that she has completed the work for the day.



With her being in school, she is used to worksheets. They do add structure, and it will be part of her daily learning this fall. As a home schooler, for your child, worksheets would be just fine.



> FWIW, I was just thinking about having her complete a rather easy worksheet each day on math subject. One day, the WS would be on multiplication of 3's, the next day would be on 4's, etc., and then rinse and repeat. Sure, I'll spend time with flash cards, but I see the best progress from her with WS and the like.


For me personally? I would not move to the next number until she mastered the first. You can get work sheets, and speed drill sheets for the multiplication tables from Abeka books ( www.abeka.com )
You can also make it a game when you are driving in the car.......



> When she will just sit down and not fight us, which has been a problem with homework, those WS only take 10 minutes at most.


Set a egg timer. Tell her that when it ding's she is done. Start out at 5 min a day, then increase it as time goes on, gradually.



> I thought we could then move on to reading, which also has been a daily fight, but she is improving in that area. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes at most?


The library is the best place on earth. Stat out with books that she can easily read, and slowly move her into more difficult reading. Again, set the timer, and read along side her. Get yourself a book and you two share. She reads from her book, you read from yours.



> Our third topic could be speech and language improvement/usage....but I am totally lost on this topic, and really don't know where to start.


www.abeka.com
They have amazing resources. Abeka Grammar is what we have used, and the kids love it. (And their grammar is pretty good too!!)



> I'd love to throw a short spelling list in there too. If she would just sit down and do the work without a fight, it wouldn't be more than 5 minutes max.


3 words a day, to start. 10 words max at the end. Again, timer. That way she knows there is an end to her work.



> Then lastly, I'd love to do a 5 minute lesson on something fun...whether it be about a plant, the soil, a bug...just something cool about how the world works.


What is she interested in? Is she into flowers? Butterflies? 
Pick a topic of her interest and then explore that. In a very relaxed casual way. You want her to be 'interested in learning'.



> Oh, yeah, I need to focus on her being rock solid in counting coins. She is _almost_ there, but sometimes slips up.


Have her pay when you go get ice cream. Have her pay when you go to the grocery. Have her pay when you go to a yardsale. Set up a little store at home where she can 'buy' things, and have her pay. 



> Total time per day would be an hour or less. Is this too much, or too little?


Ask her. Ask her if she wants to sit down for 30 min in the morning, or if she would rather break it up 1/2 in the am, and 1/2 in the pm. Ask her and see what she would prefer. This may help keep her from fighting you if she feels like she can have a say so......



> Please let me know if I'm off base. Please tell me what you think is right, and let me know what you think I'd be doing wrong. Don't be bashful. I need the help!!!!!!!
> 
> Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Do not be surprised if she fights you tooth and nail all summer.
Her friends have 'the summer off' and she may resent the fact that she is still 'doing school' when they don't have too.
Try to make learning, interesting to her. Not "fun" (I hate to hear that) but of her interests.....You don't want to make learning a 'chore' or a 'punishment'.

Be matter of fact. "I will set the timer, you will do the work, if you do not do the work, I will reset the timer." Make it clear to her that her time is limited, but, the work must be done if she wants to get up and go play.

I would find a homeschool used book sale, and go check out all that they have to offer.....you will be stunned and amazed!!


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

KS wife said:


> Skip the workbooks, worksheets etc.
> 
> Get some good books and just spend time reading together.  Find enjoyable, quality books that are above her reading level and use them as read alouds. Find books that are right at her level and switch off reading pages. If she gets stuck on a word, quickly show her how to pronounce it (break it down into sylables if you can) and move on so you don't loose the flow of the story. Also, don't hesistate to get her some good books that are below her instructional level for her to read on her own for fun. Try having a quiet time each day where she can curl up with any books she wants to read. Talk about what you read. You don't need to make it formal. Just have a casual conversation while you drive to the grocery store or dust the living room. The more good language usage she hears the better her usage will be.
> 
> Above all, have fun.


This is excellent, excellent, excellent advice! This will work better than any "workbook" every time! She will love the time she gets with you, and her reading/comprehension AND language use levels will seriously improve! 

I belong to a list of homeschoolers who are a bit older than me. They have produced MANY national merit scholars off of this list. You know what they all say? The most effective thing they ever did in school was simply to read good books - above the kids' reading level, that have rich language, well-written text, intracate plot... when their kids were young. They say if they had it to do over again, they would read, read, read, read, read, across all subject matter, and then write a little and do some math. That is the common denominator for all of the kids who were NMS in our group. It's not that they did more workbooks. It's not that they answered a bunch of comprehension questions. It was just that they were read to - at least an hour a day, every day, for years. IT WORKS! 

HTH,
Cindyc.


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## Dente deLion (Nov 27, 2006)

Wait, wait! Don't give up on the thread yet, I just got here! 

I understand the value and applicability of a good math worksheet: clean, concise, "let's just run through these few sheets quickly and get on with the day" easy. My favorite source is http://www.dadsworksheets.com/. Look down the right margin of the page under "The Worksheets" - you'll find tons of useful stuff! 

I would suggest one or two sheets for warm-up, then one or two sheets timed (either you challenge her to finish in a minute or 90 seconds or whatever, or just see how long it takes and then challenge her to beat her best time on the next sheet).

Hope this helps!


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## offthegrid (Aug 11, 2009)

It depends on what your child likes. Mine LOVE worksheets, especially those that are succinct and give them space to show their work. Or that drill one topic (spelling, plurals, etc.) These are great for practicing work they already know or have seen before (even if they don't know it well) but definitely could be dry if they were the only way you taught your kids. But short, succinct worksheets could be a great way to start your "school" hour.

You can find a lot of things online, although you may find a few good resources in a parent/teacher store if you have any in your area.

For reading/language/speech/usage, you could have her do some copywork from a classic books, dictation - where you read it and see if your daughter can properly punctuate the sentence you read, and some reading aloud....COULD be all from one book that you enjoy or want to read together. 

Also, I'm going to have my kids start spending 10 minutes a day on www.freerice.com for vocabulary and also the grammar section. It's fun and addicting, and if they want to spend time on the computer I'm willing to allow this instead of silly games.

For the fun stuff, you should allocate more than 5 minutes.  Maybe introduce a fun topic in the morning during "school time" and then revisit it later on....e.g. if the topic was bugs, for example, spend 5 minutes reviewing different types of bugs in your area, then have her make a chart and see how many bugs she can I.D. in the backyard? (Or birds, or wildflowers).....I'd try to use the "fun" work as a way to give her something to do later on. 

When my dd was in the science olympiad this year her topic was fossils and some of the fun things we did was to make molds of "fossils" using playdough. Even though she's almost 12 it was fun to play with and make internal & external molds of shells and other random things found in the house. That went on for hours! 

Have fun!


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

My concern isn't with the worksheets themselves, I think the reputation worksheets have these days are much worse than they deserve. It's the application that earns and deserves that reputation. 

My concern is that somewhere along the way your daughter has lost the passion for learning. It has become a job, drudgery, something to dread. IMO, _now_ is the time to step back from the narrow sighted goal of mastery and focus on renewing her interest in learning, reestablishing a good relationship with education in general. The multiplication tables will always be there, but learning them when that learning is dreaded work is going to be 100 times harder than learning them when learning is something she is embracing and looking forward to. If a child is "fighting tooth and nail" against learning day in and day out there is something terribly wrong and it's not the material at hand, it's the approach. 

If it were my child I would spend the first half of the summer working to make learning fun again, providing opportunities for curiosity to overtake the situation and then setting her up to be naturally rewarded for having learned (such as being able to show off her new knowledge to others and/or applying it in her life in order to gain something from it.) Once that interest was renewed _then_ I would slowly reintroduce more structured forms of education. 

And for the language one thing we do is that my daughter has a journal in which she writes nightly about her day, things she wants to tell me, etc. She gives it to me at night and while she is sleeping I write back to her in the margins, correct errors in grammar and punctuation, etc. The next day she is able to review her mistakes, read my comments and respond in writing again. She also is encouraged to correct any mistakes I make in my responses and many times I'll make a couple on purpose to aid that process. It opens a great dialogue between us and gives her an opportunity to improve her skills without seeing it as work.


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

> And for the language one thing we do is that my daughter has a journal in which she writes nightly about her day, things she wants to tell me, etc. She gives it to me at night and while she is sleeping I write back to her in the margins, correct errors in grammar and punctuation, etc. The next day she is able to review her mistakes, read my comments and respond in writing again. She also is encouraged to correct any mistakes I make in my responses and many times I'll make a couple on purpose to aid that process. It opens a great dialogue between us and gives her an opportunity to improve her skills without seeing it as work


This is brilliant! Awesome excellent advice!


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

For math: www.ALEKS.com. It's awesome. And only about $20 a month.
Thanks again Cindy-e!


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## Jakk (Aug 14, 2008)

>>>My concern is that somewhere along the way your daughter has lost the passion for learning. It has become a job, drudgery, something to dread. IMO, now is the time to step back from the narrow sighted goal of mastery and focus on renewing her interest in learning, reestablishing a good relationship with education in general. The multiplication tables will always be there, but learning them when that learning is dreaded work is going to be 100 times harder than learning them when learning is something she is embracing and looking forward to. If a child is "fighting tooth and nail" against learning day in and day out there is something terribly wrong and it's not the material at hand, it's the approach. >>

Absolutely! It doesn't matter how great your school district is, something isn't working for YOUR daughter. She needs to regain her love of learning again.


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

Dente deLion said:


> Wait, wait! Don't give up on the thread yet, I just got here!
> 
> I understand the value and applicability of a good math worksheet: clean, concise, "let's just run through these few sheets quickly and get on with the day" easy. My favorite source is http://www.dadsworksheets.com/. Look down the right margin of the page under "The Worksheets" - you'll find tons of useful stuff!
> 
> ...


This is the spirit that I'll have with the worksheets.

I'm not the dad that throws a work book full of worksheets on the table, grunt, and then say "Do 'em, or else, then you can play."

I was thinking about having one worksheet a day to hone her skills and to keep her in practice. Most likely, I'll be sitting right there with her making them fun.


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

olivehill said:


> My concern is that somewhere along the way your daughter has lost the passion for learning. It has become a job, drudgery, something to dread. IMO, _now_ is the time to step back from the narrow sighted goal of mastery and focus on renewing her interest in learning, reestablishing a good relationship with education in general. The multiplication tables will always be there, but learning them when that learning is dreaded work is going to be 100 times harder than learning them when learning is something she is embracing and looking forward to. If a child is "fighting tooth and nail" against learning day in and day out there is something terribly wrong and it's not the material at hand, it's the approach.


This is not really the case at all.

Thank you all for the help!!!!!!!!!


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## okgoatgal2 (May 28, 2002)

yahtzee. multiplication war with cards. (like regular war only you each throw down 2 cards, multiply them together, and the product wins.) 
those are the first two that pop into my brain as i think about my spec ed kids and making math more fun for them. of course, i teach 3rd and below in spec ed, so we do addition war, but mult works too. and yahtzee only works up to 5x6, but it does work.  and you can get blank cubes and write numbers on them and play that way up to 12 x 12 if you want to. makes it more fun and interesting than writing it on a worksheet, which does have drawbacks, esp for kids who struggle with it. we used to play in the car, too-call out a problem and wait for the answer, only a few each time. using applications other than worksheets helps cement the info. 

as for reading and comprehension, shorter books that are around her reading level. give her a who, what, when, where list and have her fill it in as she reads. who's it about, what are they doing, when does it happen, where does it happen. that's the sort of thing that needs to be fully cemented. she also needs to practice predicting. talk about the book before you read it. what does the cover make her think? if there's a blurb on the back or the inside cover, what does she think is going to happen? WHY does she think that? WHY's will become more important q's over the next couple of years. after the first chapter, assess what she predcited and how she has changed her prediction. maybe have her read the last page or two and predict how it gets to the end.  i know, that sounds odd, but it is useful.  above all, be relaxed about it.


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## uarelovedbygod (Nov 1, 2003)

some ideas that we do:

Math:
flashmaster.com
math games at iknowthat.com

for Language Arts, I have seen the best improvement in my 6-10 yr olds through email.
I encourage them to email grandmas, grandpas, aunts or friends. Before they send it, I read through it with them and teach them proper grammer and punctuation.
They also learn spell check and that slowly teaches them how to spell common words as well. At first, I don't get picky about every little mistake. I start with capitalizing the first letter of a sentence. Once they master that, I work on commas, and more spelling etc. I do let emails get sent with many spelling errors that spell check misses...cause I don't want to discourage them and it's so stinkin' cute. = ) Grandma's love it.
They love emailing and they don't feel like it's "School." My kids have learned SO MUCh from this though.


I also can't say enough good about the Leap Frog DVD's for learning reading. 

Misti 
Homeschool mom of 7 in KY


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

Thank you for the posts!!!! I'll put that stuff to good use!!!!


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

FWIW, after one week, our "Summer Fun Program" is doing just fine.

There are some BIG rewards for her if she continues the work. I know most of you will disagree with using a rewards system, especially since it carries such high rewards, but she is EAGER to earn the stuff we've talked about.

Every morning, save one, she has beat me out of bed to get her work done. I've been printing math worksheets two at a time, and she has been cheerfully doing _both_ of them!!!! I had only intended for her to do one a day.

We've only had one day where DD refused to read. I honestly think she was calling my bluff to see how serious I was about taking rewards away. While the other kids spent the afternoon swimming, she sat inside with me...that is, until she happily grabbed the book and read like a champ! It took her a few hours to figure out that I wasn't kidding.

Again, thank you all so much!!!!!!!!!

I really appreciate the help and the info!!!!

Keep it coming...I need to keep refining the work we are doing this summer, and your input is helping!!!!!


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

If anyone cares, our Summer Fun Program is progressing very well.

The math worksheets, at least for us, add the structure that I think we need.

"Reading for 15 minutes" seems so ambiguous to DD...I think...but the worksheets are there, straightforward, and a task that she can accomplish.

FWIW, I _think_ her reading is already improving over the summer....she is so behind, especially when the neighbor kid is reading the second Harry Potter book...and he is the same age she is!


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## Mommyof7 (Jun 24, 2010)

We always take part in the library summer reading programs. Barnes and Nobles and Borders are also both doing a reading program to earn a free book.

When I was younger we went to the library every week, I was allowed to pick 3 fun books and one non-fiction, then had to do a report before the next library day on what I learned. I thought the whole thing was fun...but then I love all kinds of school things and always have.

One of my favorite sites for worksheets is www.superteacherworksheets.com They have all kinds.

And glad to hear it is going well for you.


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