Why we teach our kids in the summer

Summer is a time for fun and a time for play.  It a time to just let go.  However, more and more school districts across the county are incorporating a year around schedule.  Why you ask?  The answer is simple.  It is to keep our kids engaged and keep their minds sharp so they are able to retain the information learned in the school year.  So here are more reasons why we teach our kids in the summer.

      We want our kids to be education and not struggle through the start of the year and excel to the end of the year.  We want to give them a leg up and not have to watch them try to keep up.

      It is not like we are sending them to school for 8 hours a day – we are keeping their minds engaged for a few hours a day.   It doesn’t have to be sitting at a desk for hours and hours – it can be active, engaged learning. Such as taking them to a State Park to do a nature walk.

      Think about it- as an adult, we spend a week on vacation before we are back at it.   We don’t want to stop learning- the day that we stop learning is that day that we lose what we have learned.

      My parents always put education first.  They were never given the opportunity to advance past high school- they didn’t have the funds and my Dad was out of the house when he was 18.  Working wasn’t an option- it was a must-do.   He didn’t have a chance to go onto college.   They wanted more for us.  They wanted us to have options- to pick what we wanted: college, work.. whatever it is.  They wanted to be sure that we did well enough in school to have these options.

      It wasn’t that we had to get Straight A’s, but we had to put forth our effort, all year round.   During my Junior year, I was struggling with english right before basketball season, and the teacher told my mom that he was concerned.   She told me that if I didn’t get at least a B, I was going to sit out for the season.   When I got the B, my basketball coach took my mom aside and said that he wished they had more parents like that- parents that put grades and education before sports and fun.

      One year, when my brother was in middle school, he brought home a bad grade on his report card.  My parents asked him what happened and his response was “I didn’t have time.”  My parents said “Well, now you will have time.”- they took away ALL electronics for one month.  I can remember him sitting on the steps, watching our family watching movies, sports, etc… on TV.  He could not watch with us- he just sat there and watched us enjoy the movie.   He pulled his grades up that semester and didn’t let that happen again.

      Schoolwork isn’t really “fun”, but neither is real work.  I don’t wake up in the morning and yell “Yes!  I get to go to work!”  (Now my wife was a teacher and she actually did look forward to work).   We try to make it fun for them in the summer.  We go to the park and take rulers.  They measure leaves and write them down.  We compare, we make charts, etc…

      Kids will be kids.  Yes.   BUT… (and this is a big one)  THEY WILL ONE DAY BE ADULTS.   We want them to have fun, but not everything can be just games – eventually they will be grown and we need to put in the effort now to be sure that they turn out as responsible, efficient adults.

      Our job is to provide for them and help them.   Their job is to learn and grow.   Our job is to give them the tools.  Their job is to use them.   Our job is to encourage them an praise them.  Their job is to keep striving for more.Read my wife’s point of view here…