Suggested summer supplementation for rising 1st grader?

[Anonymous]

Although the school and DC's kindergarten teacher have advised to keep up reading/math skills over the summer to avoid learning loss, they haven't provided any concrete recommendations for doing so. Does anyone have suggestions? DC is more comfortable with math than reading in general and would probably benefit from some more challenge there- they seem bored with the nightly math homework. Whereas with reading while they've mastered memorizing the kindergarten sight words, actually sounding words out is more of a challenge.

There's just so much out there I don't know what is best. This isn't something I'd want to spend more than a half hour per day on however. Any suggestions would be appreciated and doesn't necessarily need to be free, willing to pay for resources if they are helpful.

[Anonymous]

Read books for fun 30 minutes a day. Talk about them.

For math, Beast Academy level 1.

[Anonymous]

Get your kid on Khanacademy.org (make a parent account and a linked child account. They have a lot of engaging math practice all the way down to pre-K. Once your child knows how to use it and takes the initial placement quiz, just let them explore. You can assign topics if you want, but I think they will be more engaged making their own choice about what to try.

In summers, I did 20 min Khan Academy and 20 min reading for summer work with my three kids all elementary. It worked well.

[Anonymous]

All About Reading is geared toward homeschool students and is easy to use for teaching phonics. Math I would probably focus on real world skills like time, money, measurement, using a ruler, etc as well as fluency of basic skills like skip counting, addition, etc. These are easy to incorporate into fun summer activities. Try number run app for math fluency.

[Anonymous]

Go to the library, let them pick out a pile. Read them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go to the library, let them pick out a pile. Read them.

+this is perfect, I did this with my kids all through ES and sometimes even now they're in HS. We browse the library, borrow and read books and the ones that they've really loved, we can buy a copy of them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to the library, let them pick out a pile. Read them.

+this is perfect, I did this with my kids all through ES and sometimes even now they're in HS. We browse the library, borrow and read books and the ones that they've really loved, we can buy a copy of them

NP. I get what you're saying, but not all kids learn to read through osmosis. We have read to our kids nightly for at least 20 minutes since they were little but are now hiring a reading tutor for our 7yo because it's not enough. Not saying OP's kid needs a tutor but maybe if I had worked with mine earlier I wouldn't be shelling out for one now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read books for fun 30 minutes a day. Talk about them.

For math, Beast Academy level 1.

Can anyone speak to the differences between Beast Academy and Khan for math?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read books for fun 30 minutes a day. Talk about them.

For math, Beast Academy level 1.

I love BA but I wouldn't really spend much time at that at this age, maybe 8+. Just a basic common core app like Splash Math is sufficient to teach the basics. BA is more about abstract reasoning. Another decent but simple app that MCPS often uses is Xtra Math. This is great for practicing basic addition and subtraction.

As far as reading goes, get your child's guided reading level from their teacher and start by checking out appropriate leveled books from your library.

MCPS has a decent list https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/siteassets/schools/elementary-schools/t-w/travilahes/uploadedfiles/mediacenter/summerreadinglistbylevel-2.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read books for fun 30 minutes a day. Talk about them.

For math, Beast Academy level 1.

Can anyone speak to the differences between Beast Academy and Khan for math?

Khan is free. BA is more fun but costs $$$. I probably wouldn't suggest either for a 6 year old but suit yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to the library, let them pick out a pile. Read them.

+this is perfect, I did this with my kids all through ES and sometimes even now they're in HS. We browse the library, borrow and read books and the ones that they've really loved, we can buy a copy of them

NP. I get what you're saying, but not all kids learn to read through osmosis. We have read to our kids nightly for at least 20 minutes since they were little but are now hiring a reading tutor for our 7yo because it's not enough. Not saying OP's kid needs a tutor but maybe if I had worked with mine earlier I wouldn't be shelling out for one now.

Agreed it is not enough for all kids but OP gave no indication that her child is struggling at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read books for fun 30 minutes a day. Talk about them.

For math, Beast Academy level 1.

Can anyone speak to the differences between Beast Academy and Khan for math?

Khan is free. BA is more fun but costs $$$. I probably wouldn't suggest either for a 6 year old but suit yourself.

OP here- that wasn’t me but what do you suggest for a 6yo who seems to like math? Again, not looking for anything intense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to the library, let them pick out a pile. Read them.

+this is perfect, I did this with my kids all through ES and sometimes even now they're in HS. We browse the library, borrow and read books and the ones that they've really loved, we can buy a copy of them

NP. I get what you're saying, but not all kids learn to read through osmosis. We have read to our kids nightly for at least 20 minutes since they were little but are now hiring a reading tutor for our 7yo because it's not enough. Not saying OP's kid needs a tutor but maybe if I had worked with mine earlier I wouldn't be shelling out for one now.

Agreed it is not enough for all kids but OP gave no indication that her child is struggling at this point.

OP here- he’s on grade level (all Ps) but his friends are reading level 1 books and he can’t do that. He can read the first set of Bob readers (the dark blue ones).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to the library, let them pick out a pile. Read them.

+this is perfect, I did this with my kids all through ES and sometimes even now they're in HS. We browse the library, borrow and read books and the ones that they've really loved, we can buy a copy of them

NP. I get what you're saying, but not all kids learn to read through osmosis. We have read to our kids nightly for at least 20 minutes since they were little but are now hiring a reading tutor for our 7yo because it's not enough. Not saying OP's kid needs a tutor but maybe if I had worked with mine earlier I wouldn't be shelling out for one now.

Agreed it is not enough for all kids but OP gave no indication that her child is struggling at this point.

OP here- he’s on grade level (all Ps) but his friends are reading level 1 books and he can’t do that. He can read the first set of Bob readers (the dark blue ones).

Stop pushing before you turn them off reading. They will read when ready.

[Anonymous]

The main skills my kid gained in 1st grade and into the beginning of 2nd that seemed to make other things easier were:
1. Reading to gain knowledge (read to learn vs. learn to read)
2. Writing easily and legibly. Like reading it was a transition from concentrating on how to form each letter to being able to have a thought and transcribe it onto paper.

Keep it fun and it will click. My son loves graphic novels - DogMan, Captain Underpants, Hilo, Bone. We have him write silly sentences, song lyrics, post cards to family, thank you notes, etc. I have a pretend mailbox I got from Michael’s or JoAnne Fabrics and we write “mail” to family members in our house. My sons write each other ridiculous potty humor jokes, but they are writing and that’s the goal.