Keep Your Students Sharp This Summer

One of the problems with the public schools is that the first four weeks (or more) in the Fall are spent reviewing the material that was forgotten over the summer. Homeschoolers again have a tremendous advantage in this area. By setting aside a few minutes a day you can ensure your students retain what they have learned. Here are some tips for two of the "most forgettable" subjects.

Math

We set aside 15 minutes a day for math during the summer. When they were younger, I had my boys do one page of a grade appropriate math workbook each day. They were able to breeze through it without needing my help, which was important because even though they needed a review, I needed a summer off. In high school we used SAT review books to review math in the summer. My favorite is "Peterson's SAT Math Flash" because it has just a three problems on a page, which is a perfectly bite-sized amount for each day. This helped them keep their skills fresh while becoming familiar with the SAT format and structure. This ultimately proved to be a tremendous benefit for my boys.

Foreign Language

One of the greatest celebrations during our homeschooling years came on the day my boys discovered that the "Finding Nemo" DVD came with French language audio and subtitles! That meant MOVIES! LOTS OF MOVIES!! FOR SCHOOL!!!! They had a tremendous time discovering which of their favorite films came with a built in French lesson. With animated moves especially, it was almost magical, because the boys had already memorized the dialog, so they felt like they were really "living the language". The biggest problem was keeping it to just 30 minutes per day! Explore your DVD collection and you may find a hidden resource in your own foreign language preference.