We always made fun of my cousin's wife for doing this to her kids while the other kids were all out at the beach. Now her kids are at Harvard and Princeton. Joke's on us, I guess.

We do it in the car on the way to camp. I figure a 30 minute car ride should be put to good purpose. I have to say I have never enforced the handwriting practice, mostly focused on reading and math facts.

Anonymous wrote:Because it is boring and meaningless.

What is boring and meaningless? Math?

What is meaningful to you?

Anonymous wrote:I do make my younger kids do a little handwriting practice and have them practice their math facts every day. It takes 5-10 minutes, and they do it between getting home from camp and having dinner.

http://www.thatquiz.org for math

Thanks for that site PP.

Anonymous wrote:I read to dd at bedtime, but otherwise we did no enforced academic work. We were too busy playing outside. She works hard enough during the school year and deserves a break; she's a child, not a small adult.

To each his own, but I find that argument a but ridiculous. I feel like my DD IS getting a break since she already doesn't have to go to school every day! And, to say that you're too busy 'playing' outside? There is plenty of time left in the day to play outside, even if you take 10 minutes to practice math.

No, the kids are not mini-adults, but just like it's my job to make sure my kid establishes good habits (brushes her teeth, showers, cleans up her room), I also feel that I want her to get in the habit of 'learning'.

Like a PP said, no matter what you want to do, a daily routine works - practicing an instrument, playing basketball, practicing writing. Doing 10 mins a day is way more effective than scrambling to catch up later.

I do make my younger kids do a little handwriting practice and have them practice their math facts every day. It takes 5-10 minutes, and they do it between getting home from camp and having dinner.

http://www.thatquiz.org for math

The secret is to establish a DAILY routine, however short or long it is.

This is used when practicing anything you want to get good at (the Suzuki method, multiplication, learning a new language, etc). It is better to practice a little every day than it is to practice for hours infrequently.
It is even more important with children who do not want to do whatever it is that you want them to practice! Getting them into the habit of daily practice decreases their resistance to it significantly. It's like brushing teeth.

DS knows he has mental arithmetic practice first thing every morning, then after breakfast his math workbook and writing practice. He loves to read so that is not a problem. He has an IEP and needs to work on all of this, but I have realized that this method is really efficient for all children, and have implemented this with my younger daughter, who has no special needs and is at least a year ahead.

Anonymous wrote:My daughter reads every day simply for pleasure, but she does math every day because I make her. She alternates between worksheets and the math website that the school subscribes to. She needs the practice if she's going to keep up with her class in the fall.

That's a great approach. Kids really do forget things over the summer. Figure out what your kid needs to work in next summer and find fun ways to do it online, activity books, or even handwriting in sand and shaving cream.

I read to dd at bedtime, but otherwise we did no enforced academic work. We were too busy playing outside. She works hard enough during the school year and deserves a break; she's a child, not a small adult.

My daughter reads every day simply for pleasure, but she does math every day because I make her. She alternates between worksheets and the math website that the school subscribes to. She needs the practice if she's going to keep up with her class in the fall.

Because it is boring and meaningless.

We do. Just 2 worksheets a day, usually every morning. It takes about 10 minutes and DD gets PLENTY of other 'fun' time, before I get flamed for being a harda$$.

We've just worked it into the routine that DD does them while I make breakfast. We alternate between a writing workbook and a math workbook. She's only 6 though, so maybe that helps? I don't get much push back yet!

I wonder too. We did work on math worksheets and cursive. I slacked off on the reading though.

I had a grand idea of doing something every Tuesday and Thursday. 10-15 minutes each of those nights. Hahaha. But we probably did it 5-6 times a month.

My son "really" needs improvement on handwriting, and we made no progress there. But at least I reinforced the proper way to make letters, and he will not have had a straight 3 month break.

As to why we didn't do it as often as I had hoped? We are out late playing outside most nights, and there is no time. I prioritize reading practice, which is easy to do at bedtime. For handwriting, my son would have to sit properly at a table. Not quite as easy to fit in.

And I guess I don't make it as big a priority as I should. I wasn't going to do anything, but my son's teacher suggested continued practice at handwriting over the summer. I don't want him to be super-behind when school starts.

Reading is SO easy to do over the summer...but I feel like math, handwriting, and writing are slipping away....

I'm not looking for people to say the summer is about fun...we already know that and there is PLENTY of fun and camps, playdates, beach trips, grandparents in town, etc. I'm only asking those that do work over the summer...why is it such a 'chore' to do the other non-reading activities????