Should primary aged children study over the summer?

[Summerholidays1]

Split over this. On one side want to give DC (8) a complete break and just let them have fun and learn by seeing/doing. Will go on holiday, to museums, live rurally so lots of outdoor play.
Also don’t want them to slide back and have to catch up in the Autumn. Nervous as I know a few parents who hothouse.

What is a good/healthy amount to do over the summer? I bought them a holiday journal they are excited to fill in and will take them to a bookshop to choose some books - would rather encourage a love of reading than forced continuation of school work. Will probably do the MathsFactor summer challenge as they are in the habit of spending five/10 minutes a day on this. Art has been an issue at school (just not engaging) so I think Draw with Rob could be good as they do enjoy this.

Interested to know what others do/recommend.

@MumblesParty Mine do have SEN but weren't diagnosed aged 8. They were however both 'below expectations' or whatever the term was. My aim was to stop any 'summer slide' and maybe catch up a bit.

And really, just like projects which slip behind 1 day at a time, children slipping behind gradually at primary leaves a mountain to climb later. Around 1/3rd don't pass English or maths first time, they didn't suddenly get behind in y10.

I'm a bit torn on this. Ds who is 7 will read lots anyway and does doodle maths 5 min a day. I will probably also get him a handwriting book as that's his weakness. Dd who is 9 is dyslexic so I think it's important she doesn't have too big a summer slide. I will encourage / support her to keep up reading. She's got a subscription to Nessy reading & spelling that she should keep up 3 times a week really. What I'm wondering though is whether to try to teach her to touch type. I don't want to end up having to make them do school work all the time though. We had enough of that over lockdown and still haven't recovered.

Surely there are some chimneys to be cleaned somewhere.

We read 5 times a week, a bit of a maths app and handwriting practice. She’a almost 5

I'm an ex-primary school teacher.

Summer slide is one of the main contributors to the gap between children from working class and middle class families.

No-one needs a 6 week "break" from even picking up a pencil every year. My stepdaughter used to make more progress in the 3 weeks of the summer we had her than she did in a term at school some years, just with ~1hr a day of targeted maths and English to fill up the gaps in her learning and practise the things she struggled with.

In terms of art, history, music, science etc., aren't they just things that you would do for fun over the summer anyway? Painting, arts and crafts, visiting historical locations and science museums?

I think it's great to do the reading challenge at the local library. I probably wouldn't do anything beyond that.

No. Never. It shouldn't need to be done. They need a break.

Patronising mother here. Children all grown up, youngest Millennials. No forced holiday homework.
All perfectly fine.
Just chill out in hols.

They do matter quite a lot if you want a wide range of job opportunities and financial independence.

We always read but other than that let them enjoy the summer! Where I grew up it was three months long and we were fine after a brief review at the start of the school year.

Really? They need 6 full weeks (sometimes closer to 7) to recover from...what exactly? 30 hours a week of fairly light educational input, especially the last half term which normally includes a good proportion of movie watching, trips, extended play times and fun art projects?

Unlike adults, children do not have an extensive list of chores, errands, and life admin which needs to be caught up on. They don't have jobs.

A small amount of time a day given over to keeping their brain ticking over and stopping them from forgetting basic skills, like holding a pencil, isn't going to destroy their period of rest.

As long as reading (by them and to them) carries on, there is zero need for anything else. I always describe reading as being like a muscle; the more you use it the stronger it gets, but it will weaken quickly if you aren't active...

Agree. I’m not sure why it’s either do “school work” or 100% nothing. Surely there’s a happy medium. It doesn’t have to look like “school work”.

Nope. Anything "academic" should be of choice or through joy.

DS is 4 and we’re going to do 40mins a day - 20 for maths and 20 for english. We used to do 20mins a day. This time is earmarked for ‘work’ he finds a chore like writing, phonics from early readers, spellings, addition/subtraction. I keep the stuff he enjoys seperate (eg being read to, puzzles, science experiments, dinosaurs)

No, it doesn't, but one of the key things that teachers notice when children return (especially in more deprived areas) is they've forgotten how to use a pencil or a ruler and their ability to write legibly has significantly declined, so I do think some written work is necessary.

With my SD, our daily schedule of "school work" looked something like:
5 min practising spellings
15 min comprehension exercise (we would print of a huge selection at the right level and let her pick whatever appealed to her)
15 min Mental Maths which she enjoyed usually

We also did lots of science experiments, cooking and baking, arts and crafts, and days out, which didn't look like "school work" but did include a lot of learning.

This would be spread out over the day, not all in one go, then at bedtime we would read to her for a bit then she would read by herself until she was ready to go to sleep.

I would keep something going but keep it fun. Activities that encourage a broad spectrum of learning like museum/ time in nature etc. A holiday journal so they can write down all the things they did is a great shout, read together lots and maybe some fun maths puzzle books and art. I think anything that can be received as fun and not overly taxing to your kids is good

Summer is for fun. For relaxation. It is a break! We read for pleasure all year round, we go to museums and do fun activities. We do different sports, go climbing, skating etc. Dc get exposed to different experiences. I feel that is all enriching. School work can wait.

It'll ensure they regard learning as something imposed upon them rather than something they do to satisfy their own intrinsic motivation.

And before you respond, no the two are not compatible. This sort of rote learning destroys critical thinking and creativity and we now have a nation of educators who know nothing else and have no idea how humans actually learn. Children learn all the time - whatever they're doing, they're learning about themselves and the world around them. If you think that's best done via a worksheet, go ahead - ignore the vastness of the world and all it has to offer. At the end of the summer, they'll be getting 10/10 and it'll all have been worth it. Who cares if they get to 18 not knowing who they are or what they want.

Totally agree with this as an ex teacher and now home educator. Children/people ‘forced’ to learn do not retain it at all.

To retain information the motivation to learn it has to have come intrinsically.

OP I’d let them enjoy their summer and provide the kind of experiences they can’t get sat in a classroom. It’s true that children learn ALL the time. In fact most of the best learning happens in real life where the activity has context and meaning.

I think a bit of maths practice would be a good thing.

Nothing in particular with my older child, who is already a motivated independent reader.

But you bet we are 'forcing' our younger child who is not a great reader and would never voluntarily read for fun to do a little reading most days.

Obviously we try to make it a positive experience and let him choose enjoyable books, but if it was up to him he'd have probably forgotten most of the literacy skills he gained in Yr 1 by the time Yr 2 started.

I set mine weekly assignments, they presented back on Fridays, my day off. They remember them with fondness.

@Rocknrollstar Can I ask what age you think is appropriate for To Kill A Mockingbird? I nagged at DS1 to read it, it disappoints me he didn't. Youngest is 11 but I feel the content is too adult, but he would let me read to him if I asked. I think I read it at 13/14.

No. Let them enjoy their summer holidays