How much time should my 7 yr old spend studying this summer?

Question

My 7 yr old just finished 1st grade. He did GREAT!!! Honor roll all year, best reader in his class, etc. I don't want him to loose this knowledge over the summer. Therefore I bought him new books, paper to write, and math/science/history workbooks. My question is how often should he spend on this? Every other day, twice a week? How many hours? How many book/pages per week? I welcome all suggestions. Thanks!!!

Answer 1

WHAT???

He shouldn't spend much time at all studying this summer. He's SEVEN. he should be playing and having a good time.

I mean, you could have him read a book to you at bedtime, or help you try to add up some of the grocery costs at the grocery store when you go shopping - but workbooks? yikes.



I've never known anyone who has had their kids (especially ones who are already doing well in school - its not like he needs to make up for a bad year) do planned, scheduled, schoolwork over the summer.

Play some educational (but FUN) games with him - don't just sit him down with a workbook like its a chore. He should be rewarded for his great school year, not forced to spend a summer full of more school work.

Whatever you choose to do, make sure he's able to relax and enjoy it. Get involved with him and make it fun, but don't force it or he might get frustrated and he will have enough frustrations with school as he gets older. Remember jr high???

Answer 2

I think academics are important, too, and my two elementary aged kids, like yours, are breezing through school.  Summer in our house has a lot of learning but no studying.  The kids read a lot (and I read to them; they read a few years above grade level but they can listen to stuff that's even harder than that); they write in their journals and write stories for fun; they go on nature walks and do fun "kitchen science" type experiments; they play board games that inspire thinking (like scrabble, mastermind, chess, cards, etc.); and so on.  My husband, whose first language isn't English, is going to set a half hour a day where we only talk in his language, which none of the kids knows yet.  We're participating in a charity program where they get sponsors for how many hours they read and the proceeds go to a charity that we support ... and the kids are very motivated to do a lot of reading for fun! But we don't do workbooks, etc.  I think summer learning should be fun and inspiring and mostly kid-initiated ... not deskwork.

Also keep in mind since your child is doing well in his class that if you work on the same material he'll be learning next year odds are he'll be bored out of his mind at school.  Better to teach him something that he won't learn at school.  My son who just finished first grade loves doing logic puzzles, for example, which is a great "academic" skill (while also being really fun) but one rarely covered in the classroom....

Answer 3

my nephew is also 7 and just finished 1st grade.  He comes to my house every day with his work books (i also bought grade 2). this is the scedule we use for him

10 -12 outside play

12 -12:30 lunch

1pm -1:15 math

1:20 - 1:45 outside play

2:00 -2:15 computer time

2:15 - 2:30 he reads me a book

2:35 - 2:45 outside play

3:00 - 3:30 spelling and science

3:35 - 4:15 outside play

4:30 - 5:00 history

Answer 4

well when i was younger my grandpa took us to the libraby every week and checked out 2 books.then we write a little book report.we gained knowledge and we weren't bored either.

Answer 5

Just make sure he has books that he is interested and finds fun!

Summer is time for him to have fun and just enjoy being a kid!!! Let him have fun! Don't waste his childhood away.

Answer 6

each week should equal up to about 45 mins- 1 hr

or, take him to sylvan tutoring, he'll end up being even smarter!

good luck!

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

pleeeease answer mine^

Answer 7

Have a time set aside every day.  Like the hour after dinner or whatever.

Answer 8

Nada.  Let your child have fun this summer.  Why the big push to be involved in academics.  You can teach your child about life, by being involved in life experiences.   Ask yourself this:  what can you remember of school classes or homework vs life experiences you had with family or friends.

Answer 9

He's just a kid, in Grade 1 he needs a break. But if you really beleive that he needs to study then only make him study for about half-an-hour to an hour. He doesn't need to get stressed over the summer

Answer 10

i would sit down and work with him once a week for a couple hours!!

but make sure you are there, cause when i was little and my mom gave me something to do and just said go do it i never did!

Answer 11

Ok have him in his room by himself and have him work and hr to 1hr and 30 mins on the workbooks and such make sure he has a snack and a drink and giv him a 2-3 min brake after every half hour do that every day and he should not lose his knoladge also maybe if he works hard enough give him like friday off or sumthing to play outside and get exercise have him read books before bed or in the car.

Answer 12

He's a kid, let him take a break from school for the summer!  If he enjoys reading, writing, etc. let him do it for fun, but I don't think kids that young should be forced to study during the summer break.

Answer 13

Give him some fun books to read that are on subject he'll enjoy. Encourage him to read these, but honetly,just let him play! Reward him for all his hard work. Kids need work free summers, otherwise what is there for them to look forward to? Being overwored during the summer would be flat out depressing for your child. It's great that you are so conciencous. :)

Answer 14

15-20 minutes a day for all subjects. it might not sound like a lot, however, studies show that if children read during their summer, they mind still continues to stay active.

Answer 15

Dont make him do much, remember, its called summer VACATION. But I do understand you want him to keep up the good work. I would have him work maybe 15 min maybe twice a week. I think the best way is to have him read over the summer. Every night or every other night after dinner have him read. Not long, but long enough. If hes doing chapter books, then one chapter a night. If not, then read about 20min every night, or close to every night.

However, give him about 2 weeks to unwind from school. Dont make him do anything, then after that, have him start again.

Answer 16

I would not overdo the workbooks. Make sure he know his addition and subtraction facts like the back of his hand.  Make up a deck of flashcards with different questions on them and each person has 15 cards or so.  If two cards with the same answer land on the pile, the first one with their hand down wins the pile.  (Just like the game snap but with math facts.)  Try other math games or even some flashcard drills but ONLY for 10 minutes a day.  

Reading what he wants to read for FUN is a great way to encourage a love of reading and learning.  Does your local library have a summer reading club?  FEw children who love the library or reading are poor learners.  

Workbooks do not guarantee your child will be ahead next year.  I have had students return to my classroom having followed many at home workbook or popular tutoring programs all summer (Kumon etc.) Many are still hopelessly far behind and many more absolutely hate all work because they are already sick of "kill and drill" sheets all summer.  Many commercially produced workbooks are also of very dubious quality.  

Try to use the summer to do things schools don't do.  Often, just because of the reality of 30 to 1 student to adult ratio and the board's contraints around any remotely risky activities students don't do enough outdoor science etc.  

Let your son keep a daily journal.  10 minutes per night about what he did that day with a picture.  The 10 minutes for writing and 10 to 15 minutes for math are all that you need to keep his skills from slipping away.

If you make him sit through endless workbook pages you may produce a child who learns how to fool around during seatwork time and develops poorer work habits, not better.

Try to get him (or keep him) enthused about learning and reading.

Answer 17

I think a 1 hour in the afternoon and 1 hour before bedtime. I also believe education is very important that's why even though my daughter doesn't need to, she is going to summer school.

Answer 18

Id suggest every night after dinner for maybe 30 min?  Hes 7 and it is summer so im sure hes really excited but I guess it all depends on his attention span and how eager he is to learn new stuff!!!!  Most kids that age want to be doing something other than school b/c its their break from school!!!

Answer 19

I think if you insist on him studying over the summer, it should only be once a day, maybe in the morning before he starts everything else, or in the evening after his bath and after he has done everything else- so there is nothing else he'd rather be doing.

For a 7 year old, in the summer, it won't be his main proirity, so i think you should do it when he can't be out playing with other kids in the street, so in the eving or early morning each day is a good time to do some sums or punctuation excersises.

Answer 20

Congrats to him for doing so well! I think maybe two or three times a week, pick two evenly spaced days, say Monday and Thursday. I would say choose one day where he reads his new books and one when he works in his workbooks. If the books are in chapters maybe two chapters per sitting and the workbooks maybe a section per sitting. If he spends longer than 45 mins doing the work, tell him he can go for a 20 minute break and finish it after that. Apparently people can only concentrate fully for around 50 minutes at a time and I imagine it would be a little less for children.

I hope he does good in 2nd grade :)

You sound like a great parent, I bet all your kids are gonna be really smart.

Answer 21

Poor kid... Summertime is about FUN not learning!

Answer 22

1 hour a week and with his books 7 pages a week.Hes only little dont make him grow up to be a nerd but you dont want him to be dumb so go for my idea as best.

Answer 23

MAKE IT THE SAME TIME EVERYDAY.

I WOULD SAY ABOUT AN HOUR.

YES, ACADEMICS ARE VERY IMPORTANT.

BUT, REMEMBER IT IS STILL SUMMER.

I WOULD SAY AN HOUR, MAYBE WHILE YOUR OTHER KIDS ARE NAPPING.

THAT WHY THERE ARE NO DISTRACTIONS.

Answer 24

Make sure he has plenty of time for outside play and integrate some learning fun into that. Don't drill and kill him with the workbooks---too much of it will hurt his love for learning.

If you are always teaching him then he'll be learning all the time and you won't need a set time every day for workbooks, etc.

For example, take him to the library and get books about wild animals and read them and then have him write a story about his favorite wild animal and make a little book with him. (there's some good reading and writing time plus you can talk about the parts of a book, etc)

Look on a map and show him where the animal lives in the wild. Where do you live? how far is it? Is it an endangered animal? How many are left? a predator? how much land is in its territory? how many are in the animal's family? what if two families got together? That is math and geography skills. Toss in some history of the area and how people have interacted with the creatures and you've got history in there too.

Involve him in cooking (reading recipes and math for the measurements) and play games like hangman and junior scrabble with him. Count things as a game and do number puzzles in the car while you're driving. Read to him and have him read to you---but pick books that are at his reading level...

My kids are always learning---but it isn't lots of sit at the table with books kinds of stuff. My kids can do table work, but I prefer to integrate everything.

I know it works because my oldest was just named a Scholastic All American and the younger ones are also tops in their classes and routinely test WAY above grade level. (for example, the latest tests on my fifth grader put him at  11th grade science and 10th grade math and reading.)

Have fun this summer!

Answer 25

I say a small, easy read, picture book type thing every day, maybe bedtime. A chapter book - depending on how well he reads, a little bit every day and finishing it within two or three weeks.

Other things - math pages and such, one a week for maybe 2 hours, or as long as you can get him to sit still. At least one page from every subject.

And make some educational stuff FUN. Go to the science museam, the zoo, the park even (what verbs do you see people doing? Can you spell jump rope? etc).

Hope to help.