Am I the only "mean" mom during the summer?

[miss missy]

Wow. I was kinda making a joke. Guess I am meaner than I thought. Honestly the piano and reading aren't an option ( and weren't during the school year either) , so the only thing optional is the 10-15 minutes of workbooks for grammar and math. As far as the treadmill, she is a bit overweight and her nutritionist and dr have suggested that. They actually said 5 days a week. She is extremely active: 3 days a week cheer, one day tennis, 1-3 days golf; we ride bikes often; we have a basketball goal and have fun after dinner; we swim every day. She just likes to eat, so I am much nicer than her doctor wants me to be. We never stop and she rarely watches TV so no lectures on that please.

For exercise have you ever heard of Dance Pad's? They are great and FUN too. Look em up on line. DD has one and she loves it!

 

[Good Ol Gal]

Our public school send home packets for the kids to do during the summer.
If you bring it back, you get a "prize". Usually a jolly rancher or some other sort of candy.

Ours does this too! If they complete it all and bring it back they win an ice cream party with the Principal.

 

[DISUNC]

Ok! Now, I am not a nasty person, but I can say that I am going to be nasty right now. Maybe if your mom had made you do grammar pages you would know that is it "allowed" and "BEcause" and "exactly". Not going to comment on the rest, as those are a few of the glaring ones. BTW, my dd is as happy as a child can be that is required to be accountable for her actions. Guess I should just let her be, and then she can grow up to be like my brother: in jail.

PUHLEESE. Do you have kids? My dd is a drama queen. She is going to give a drama if I make her clean up a game she played for the day. That is just how she is. She isn't ready to commit suicide yet. SHe seems happy child for the most part.

OIY! Yes! You just want to hear how WONDERFUL you are!
Good luck lady...You are gonna need it!!!!
I hope your DD has a Dad that will look out for her!

 

[maxiesmom]

OP--It seems like you posted looking for people to tell you what a great mom you are and how your daughter is being overdramatic. Guess you are not getting what you were looking for. Maybe instead of being defensive you should actually think about what is being said to you. Being rude and snotty is uncalled for.

 

[Barb D]

Ok! Now, I am not a nasty person, but I can say that I am going to be nasty right now. Maybe if your mom had made you do grammar pages you would know that is it "allowed" and "BEcause" and "exactly". Not going to comment on the rest, as those are a few of the glaring ones. BTW, my dd is as happy as a child can be that is required to be accountable for her actions. Guess I should just let her be, and then she can grow up to be like my brother: in jail.

PUHLEESE. Do you have kids? My dd is a drama queen. She is going to give a drama if I make her clean up a game she played for the day. That is just how she is. She isn't ready to commit suicide yet. SHe seems happy child for the most part.

Whoa, OP! Was that really necessary? For the record, I work with highly educated computer scientists and engineers who make plenty of spelling and grammar mistakes. And I seriously doubt that letting your DD have a break this summer will result in a life of crime!

It sounds as though you've already made up your mind, and that you were simply looking for validation from the rest of us. I'm sorry you haven't gotten it, but that is no reason to attack.

ETA there are a few grammatical errors and typos in your post as well...

 

[Mom21]

A few thoughts
- How did she do in school this year? If straight As (as I assume), I'd require a half-hour of reading every day of the summer, plus the chores, and call it a day at that.
- Does she have friends who come over? A lot of her activities seem individual, aside from cheer. The homeschooling-to-school adjustment isn't negligible. I'd make this summer all about her and friends. She should be running around outside with them.

She did awesome. Straight "A's". The piano isn't an option as she takes lessons ( her teacher requires practice), so really the only thing in question is the 10-15 minutes of grammar and math. LOL. As far as the friends, she seems to always have someone over, unfortunately. Yesterday she had a friend from her class for about 5 hours. Today she called and had a church friend over along with the friend's brother. The next week she and the friend are the coaches for Vacation Bibile School for cheer. Needless to say she is a social butterfly. Sometimes she just wants a break from friends.

We have 2 neighbors that come over a few times a week. She is never without friends. The activities: cheer--lots of friends, golf- her dad, tennis and pottery is other kids her age. Church is a big thing for her. She has lots of friends there.

 

[Hannathy]

You asked if you are mean and I say YES. That is way too much structure for a 9 yr old. Do you want to completely turn her off learning and school ? Summer is fun and learning in unstructured ways. Everyone needs to recharge and refresh. My DD goes to charter school for the highly gifted and I can tell you not one of these kids work this much in the summer. Some of the better musicians may practice as much or more but they want to. Why the treadmill? Unless you live in NYC and don't have outside why not ride around the block on her bike etc. IMO you need to think why you don't want her to just be a 9 yr old kid, lighten up she is only 9 once.

 

[RitaZ.]

Aside from reading, going to art classes and Tae Kwon Do, that's all my kids will be doing. I'm not into regimented schedules during summer vacation, my kids work hard during the school year. Our focus is to have fun and kick back during the summer.

As for kids that like to eat, no problem! Just don't buy or keep any junk food in the house. Problem solved!

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

Another mean mom here: our school also sends out packets ..school and us feel it is important to keep the kids up to speed over the summer. They also emphasize staying with the reading 20 to 30 mins per day - this is no big deal as we are a family that loves to read anyway. . We also work on whatever DD was weak on during the year(math - there is no way we can skip working on math). She will also be keeping up on her dance and I plan to introduce her to the recorder (in a light, fun way) to get a start on that for next year. We don't do everything every day, but most days. An hour in the morning and half an hour of dance in the evening some nights - and she has plenty of time for fun and relaxing.

She picks up her room a couple times a week - we need to give her some more chores, I know....

I agree about the treadmill, though..would save it only for rainy days when she can't get outside ...but I don't think 15 mins is too much to ask....

 

[Karel]

I have two kids with LD's so yeah, they do work over the summer. I've lightened up over the years. When they were younger, I tutored at my house several days a week and everyone would work at the table together.

This summer, I want them to write in journals and do math facts. Also, read several times a week.

My kids are very active and get lots of time 'to be kids'. I don't feel that there is anything wrong with chores and a bit of school work in the summer.

ETA: I forgot to say that when they were younger, two of my kids had summer packets from school so I guess the teachers think a little summer work is important too.

 

[Mom21]

Ok, I have to ask......you don't really seem to want opinions that differ from yours, so why bother asking?

Not true. I am more than willing to listen to others opinions. There are many that disagreed and gave reasons why they didn't require that of their child. Valid points. The problems I have are with those that tell me I am abusive, and if they were my child they would run away. I mean....... come on!!??

 

[Buckalew11]

We don't do any work schoolwork over the summer. DD reads a lot all the time so no problems there. She'll be doing basketball camps and an enviromental camp this summer. We'll walk, run, bike, swim and play tennis. I love for her to commit to practicing some basic skills for basketball for a certain amount of time or whatever each day but I won't make her do it.

She has chores and odd jobs to do everyday. But summer has to mostly be about fun in my book. I think kids get micro-managed these days and I want no parts of that.

I agree with Rita about the food. Don't bring the junk food into the house.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

Well, if you want other opinions mine stands.
As a former Homeschooler, surely you can think of something more fun and creative than worksheets to accomplish your goal of having her maintain her academic skills over the summer?

Really?

I mean, nobody makes me fill out a Reading Comprehension worksheet everytime I read a book. Thank God.

If they did, I suspect it might make me think reading is --- not fun.

Do you have the computer game Math Blaster? My kids loved that game when they were in 3rd/4th grade and it is a great way to learn and retain those Math facts. How about Soduku puzzles? My 12 year old and I do one every morning. We race to see who gets done first and they are great for developing logic skills.

Oh and truthfully, my Mom never made me do Grammar worksheets over the summer and I have never been to Prison one single day in my entire life. honest.

I even graduated from College.

 

[clh2]

As for the OP's original daily plans -

The chores - I simply don't have a problem with this. You live in the house, there is an expectation that they contribute to the clean-up of the house.

Personally, I would give them a music break over summer. I HATED music lessons, and to this day have no appreciation for this, simply because my mom SHOVED this down our (my sibs and I) throats.

My one thought on the reading program - does your local library do any sort of reading program? It might not be as intense as the 20 or so minutes a day that you are requiring. But why not try something a bit different - give your daughter a "monthly" reading goal. I.e. 100o minutes a month. Let her pick when she wants to read, as long as she gets to the 1000 minutes (or whatever amount you decide on). That way, if there is a rainy day, a long car ride, she can read more, or if there are "busy-with friends day" she can skip it.

I personally wouldn't do any of the worksheets you are proposing. It is summer vacation after all.

 

[ntburns22]

I didn't read through the whole thread. But I don't think 1 hour a day is too much. My DD just finished Kindergarten and we do about 1 hour a day with her doing flash card, reading together, and yes math worksheets. She loves math and now that school is over I don't see why I should stop. She still has plenty of time to swim in our pool, t-ball, day cheer camps, and time to just be a kid. My parents had us to school work over the summer and I turned out OK.

 

[disneychrista]

My kids have gone to summer school or had workbooks to do during the summer.

 

[aprilgail2]

I would never make my daughter do school work like in the summer! Summer is for just being a kid. My daughter goes to summer camp where they ice skate, swim and just play. There is no way I would make her come home after that and sit down and do school work. She will read a book in the evening because she likes to read but I wouldn't give her worksheets to fill out! They do have a summer reading project that they have to do for school, its just reading one book and doing a little report on it. They give that out the end of May for the summer and we have it knocked out before school even ends so she won't have to be bothered with it during the summer. If I was given school work like the OP gives all summer long it would have turned me so off school!

 

[MoniqueU]

There is no way I would of done well growing up in a houee like that. I would or rebelled so badly. Summers are for fun and swimming and friends and the ice cream man and playing swings from trees and catching bumble bees and climbing trees.
Ok well for my kids now it is about a trip to hawaii, swimming at the pool, summer camp, cheer practice, swimming, friends, bike rides the mall, hanging out, playing after dark. FUN. You know being kids. I figure my kids willl probably try and rebel as teenagers lets not try and give them reasons to early.

 

[epcotfan]

OP--It seems like you posted looking for people to tell you what a great mom you are and how your daughter is being overdramatic. Guess you are not getting what you were looking for. Maybe instead of being defensive you should actually think about what is being said to you. Being rude and snotty is uncalled for.

I agree.

 

[disneyjunkie]

OP--It seems like you posted looking for people to tell you what a great mom you are and how your daughter is being overdramatic. Guess you are not getting what you were looking for. Maybe instead of being defensive you should actually think about what is being said to you. Being rude and snotty is uncalled for.

Some of the posters here were rude and snotty to the OP. I think she's just returning the "kindness".

I'm 38. Growing up my sister, our friends and I always had work to do during the summer.

Day camps in our area set aside 2-3 hours, 3 days a week to academics. This was in addition to all of the fun day camp activities.

My son is 14. I've always given him work to do over the summer. (math and reading)

I wish more parents would do this. That way teachers would not have to spend the first month of school reviewing material the students "lost" during the summer.

I don't see how 30 minutes- 1 hour of work, 4 or 5 days a week, takes away from a child being a child.