A big part of what we spend our extra summer time doing is summer school. Since my kids were in preschool, I began planning lessons during the summer to keep them busy and keep them learning.
For this summer, 2017, I have a 4 year old and a 6 year old on my hands, each with different needs depending on the subject.
Check out the photo I took with (most of) our materials.
Materials for 4 year old
My four year old has just completed her second year of preschool, but she isn’t yet Kindergarten age, so she’s in limbo. We decided to take it pretty lightly for summer school, but she will have a full homeschool load beginning in the fall to ensure she’s ready to take Kindergarten by storm next year.
Not pictured above is her math program. She’s been working on Singapore Math Earlybird Mathematics, and she will be finishing that program during the summer. We also selected the Kindergarten level Handwriting Without Tears program for her. We decided not to purchase the full materials kit. We ordered the teacher’s manual, the student workbook, and the Stamp and See Screen (not pictured). You can purchase a LOT more hands on items from HWT, but we chose to keep it simple. Finally, we chose All About Reading Level 1 as her reading program. The awesome part about this program is that if you have more than one child, they can share the magnetic whiteboard, so you don’t have to buy double supplies. You can also use these same supplies if you decide to use All About Spelling (which we did for our older child, see below).
Materials for 6 year old
Our six year old son is gifted, so these materials range from 1st-4th grade level. I have found that most companies offer a free placement test, so you can be sure you are choosing the right level for your child. My kids tend to be at different levels for different subjects, so this is a big help.
For math, our son is also working on a Singapore Math program, like his sister. He is working through the 3rd grade workbooks. Once he gets through these, he will be switching to a program called Beast Academy. His school next year will be using the Beast Academy curriculum, and we want him to get used to it. He is also using the Handwriting Without Tears program, at the 2nd grade level. We also chose to purchase the Kick Start Cursive workbook for him, so we can teach him cursive at home. For reading, he is working on All About Reading Level 4. For spelling, he is working on All About Spelling Level 1. This spelling level has proven too easy for our son, but they recommend beginning here no matter age or ability and working up. There are 7 levels of All About Spelling to work through. Since we are using All About Reading as well, we did not need to purchase the interactive materials kit. Finally, we selected Growing with Grammar 3 for our son. This was more advanced than I expected from the samples, and has been challenging for him so far. But, it is a great program and he has risen to the challenge.
Recommend?
At this point, we are well into our summer school adventure. I am very pleased with the choices we have made, and definitely recommend them. In fact, I plan to continue to use each of these programs (though less intensely) to supplement during the coming school year.
supplementathome 