AIBU to have my children (8&5) do 30-40 mins of writing and maths every day of the holidays?

[Dilemmacentral]

Every morning, after breakfast, I ask that the children do 20 mins writing in a holiday journal and then younger does 15 mins of basic maths (reception - year 1 maths), and older one does 20 mins of mental maths, mainly tables? Every day, even when we went on holiday.

It doesn’t feel like a big deal. They don’t complain. They are so used to it (I do it every holiday) and in fact both seem to really enjoy the journal writing in particular.

But! A dear friend, in a genuinely unjudgemental manner, asked whether I felt guilty and said she thought that holiday were good for a complete break other than set school work. We do have set school work but very little (book reviews for eldest).

I don’t feel guilty at all and I told her as such, and we just moved on to another topic. I plan to continue doing. However I’m wondering about others thoughts out of nosiness and whether others do this too.

I feel the heat hols are so long. And it’s only max of 40 mins so that they hit ground running in September. Am I alone though?!

Its a great idea. Holiday learning loss over the summer is apparently enormous.

I sporadically make mine do some maths (every few days) and they already read daily. I have brought empty exercise books on holiday with us to get them to do some writing.
After my first dc went back to school after his first summer holidays, he forgot so much so I don’t want to repeat that. However I wouldn’t make them do it every day - I’d make it fun and interesting.

What I would welcome is guidance from school. They’ve only said read every day and do TimesTables. (Year 3 going to 4 and 1 to 2).

I never even thought about it with my eldest 3 but my youngest is severely dyslexic and has other SEN so we do toe by toe and other work every day.

I actually wish I had started taking photos of places we have done toe by toe as we have managed to do it all sorts of places,

I don't think there's anything wrong with writing and Maths over the holidays but the routine of this does sound a bit dreary.

There’s good research into ‘learning loss’ over the school holidays. An article in last week’s Economist quoted stats of around a quarter of the years learning can be lost over the long summer break.

It’s also an excellent time to help children consolidate learning, especially things they found tricky, while new things aren’t being piled on at school every day.

My two do reading and writing each day, some maths more ad hoc. They also draw constantly, and I read stories to them several times a day. This in addition to playing with friends, day trips, a bit of TV.

Those bemoaning “those poor children” might find their negative attitude to learning backfires when their kids have received the message doing anything out of school hours is a chore, rather than the norm...

It's not a bad thing in theory and you seem to have the right attitude.

When I was a child, my dad did similar although with maths only. He didn't value English/writing/spelling at all which was a shame as not only was I a real bookworm but I constantly kept journals and wrote stories and poems. In his world though, only maths could prove academic ability. He used to stacks of "maths cards" - 10 sums/problems on each and I'd have to do one every day after school, regardless on other homework, plus weekends and holidays.

The problem was that he also used them as punishment. If I spoke out of turn or did something naughty - that's two maths cards, three maths cards etc. So I very quickly came to view the whole thing negatively, despite any good intentions he may have had at the beginning. Unsurprisingly, I've always hated maths to the point that I'm more or less scared of it.

I think some DCs need this, others don't. If you have DCs who forget a lot over the summer, fair enough - especially if you can make it so they enjoy it. I wouldn't make it every day though, maybe 3 days a week?

I didn't do it with mine and so far my DDs are managing very well academically - but I did read to them every single night without fail until DD1 was over 13, starting with the Tiara Club (vom) and ending with the complete works of Terry Pratchett (who is a joy to read out loud). We also did the terribly middle class thing of taking them to historical sites, museums and nature reserves so education in a different form.

I think having no block of time off at all is a really bad thing.

My DS started reception not knowing a single letter or number and not even being able to hold a pencil. He went to nursery etc and I’d tried bits with him before school but he was a really reluctant learner and I went with the theory that if he was pushed too hard he would back off even further.

He’s worked so hard during reception year and is now exceeding at reading and can finally (just about!) write words that others can read. I read a lot about the regression over the summer holidays and was determined that he will go back to school on at least the same level as he left, if not better! I bought lots of workbooks for the summer holidays - they’ve not even been touched as he sees them as too much like school and doesn’t want to do them. We have done a scrapbook with photos of what we’ve done each day and he has to write a sentence about each photo - he’s quite enjoyed that although has started to push back a bit. We’ve also done the library reading challenge and I get him to read to me each evening before I read a few chapters to me. I’d love to be able to get him to do some maths but it’s a battle, so we’ve done lots of STEAM activities that I found on Pinterest and we’ve visited lots of educational sites.

All of this has come from absolute guilt at how hard he had to work to catch up to his peers and determination to make Y1 easier! If I could get him to do the work you have without complaining, I would do it in a heartbeat.

Newboot children naturally want to learn though - my youngest does mental arithmetic all day, but it's practical, real world maths not sitting at a table with a workbook. Add up all the maths he does in a day and it's probably half an hour, but it's not "school work". Holidays allow children to see how school subjects related to life outside school. Compartmentalizing "school work" as separate from the rest of the day does the opposite.

I think there are far more enjoyable ways of encouraging a love for learning than doing the same type of maths things every single day, but each to their own.

blueskies we don’t call it schoolwork though. We do a journal, reading challenge and maths. As far as they know it’s part of what we do at home. They don’t think of it as ‘work’.

It’s great your child is naturally academic. One of mine is, one isn’t. The less academic one needs focused time on repeating one area at a time (addition, correct formation of letters) she doesn’t have it securely enough to do it spontaneously yet (age 6).

I stand by the fact that life is a lot easier if kids see book learning as a continuum between home and school. Homework, revision etc. are all a given. Getting into the habit in very short chunks can’t be a bad thing in my view.

The kids would get much more out reading for 40 minutes then writing

YABU. Next.

Are you going on holiday?

My DM made me keep 'Holiday Diary'. This was a writing task about what we did each day with various entrance tickets, postcards, leaflets about the attractions etc glued in. It was a sometimes brilliant fun, sometimes excruciatingly painful activity.

30+ years on they are treasured family heirlooms that have helped us all remember those holidays better and we pour over the fragile pages like they should be in a museum.

It's a bit much to make them do, and every day. My kid does more work than that a day by their choice. I wouldn't ever force it on them. I just let my kid be who they are

I don't do it with my DD who is 10, but I do a bit of mental maths 'in motion' like making her work out which is the best value sized pack when supermarket shopping.

DS is going into the second year of secondary and is changing a subject so I have made him do an hour of reading (actually 35 mins by the time he's whinged endlessly) of the textbook every day.

My kids have been getting up to an hour of homework per day since starting school (abroad, school finishes at lunch time) so the last thing they need is homework invented by parents every day in the holidays.

The sole advantage of an hour of daily homework from the start of school is that by age 10 they are almost completely independent homework wise, and initiate any help they need with revision or tricky concepts.

Workbooks and sitting at the table to do written work and maths in the holidays would kill what remains of the love of learning - it's much better fostered by noticing maths and literacy as naturally occurring in everyday life (cooking, budgeting, menus etc etc)

The kids would get much more out reading for 40 minutes then writing

The older one utterly loves reading.

The younger want always coming at me with a book.

YABVVVVVVVVU. It's the holidays. Mine will do their projects and that's it.

A lot of kids would find a holiday journal particularly mind numbing (and mind numbing to read I should think). Good if your dd doesn't. Mine love writing by choice but it's stories they enjoy.

We do a bit every day. Maybe 10 mins of reading and 10 maths questions, plus some fun physical exercises.

DS has SEN and a few years behind peers, so going over some basic phonics helps his memory. At school he'll have a lot of info coming at him, so am making use of quiet times to consolidate.

He doesn't like it and grumbles a bit, but that's just life - he's used to it. He gets plenty of free time/friends to play etc and 2 weeks on a beach. I think it's fine OP. Life is always a balance.

I've tried holiday journal type things and projects in the past and mine weren't keen. They are perfectly happy to do a bit of their activity books during "down time" at home, and will read loads, never needing any chivvying to do either. They spend most of the day in summer at the pool and playground with their friends (neighbourhood kids) so they are very relaxed and switched off from a school environment. We have also travelled and visited family.

They are also happy enough to read things when they're out and about, for themselves, and do things like work out prices in shops, but if I force that kind of thing on them and give off a whiff of "educational", then DS - who's 10 - is quickly turned off, and DD7 follows his lead.

I've been doing similar with my oldest - not wanting to get a head start but not wanting him to fall so far behind for the start of year 3. He struggles with concentration so if I can broach some topics he is at least familiar with the concept of them!

No mine are doing sod all in the way of formal learning. They just aren't into it. Doesn't mean that the holidays will be spent stewing but we much prefer being out and about and routine free for once!