Revise or pre-teach academic stuff during hols?

[Funz]

Just curious. Been to a few threads and read about parents teaching their kids next year's stuff or revising this year's work.

Since DD started P1, holidays has been her time, no academic stuff. Some workshops that she may be interested in but definitely no studying.

[janet88]

Since DD started P1, holidays has been her time, no academic stuff. Some workshops that she may be interested in but definitely no studying.

revise yes...play also yes.
work hard and play hard...but no teaching in advance.

[Nebbermind]

er...did I not read somewhere you are starting your boy on some sec1 stuff this hol?

[Funz]

Since DD started P1, holidays has been her time, no academic stuff. Some workshops that she may be interested in but definitely no studying.

revise yes...play also yes.
work hard and play hard...but no teaching in advance.

Sometimes I do wonder if I am too laid back with them. DS told me this, when he was only 4yrs old, in school I pay attention, I do my work, when I come home, I finish my homework and the rest of the time is for me to relax.

My understanding with my kids is as much as possible, I do not touch their holidays. But in return, they have to show me consistant work and results during school term. So far, they have been fine.

One drawback though, when the school starts, it takes about 2 weeks for them to get their engines cranking again.

I am hoping that with DD going P4 next year, they can still have this to look forward to.

[janet88]

er...did I not read somewhere you are starting your boy on some sec1 stuff this hol?

he will be starting his math tuition 2 weeks before school reopens.

if i allow my kids to just play whole holidays, God knows where their brains would have gone to come Jan 2...they do not have the luxury of time to find their brains when school reopens.

[libran269]

er...did I not read somewhere you are starting your boy on some sec1 stuff this hol?

he will be starting his math tuition 2 weeks before school reopens.

if i allow my kids to just play whole holidays, God knows where their brains would have gone to come Jan 2...they do not have the luxury of time to find their brains when school reopens.

I like your sense of humour

[slmkhoo]

I believe in a balance, so this is what I have done over the years (kids are teenagers now).
- I don't teach in advance.
- At the beginning of the 2 longer vacations, I assess whether there are weak areas that we might need to go over, and then I will see how much needs to be done. I limit such work to a couple of hours a day at most, and try to do it within 2 weeks (shorter if possible).
- I impose a daily reading time in both languages - 20-30 mins for Chinese (this one they don't like!) and at least 1 hr for English (they usually exceed this).
- I limit computer and TV time even though it's vacation, although they will get more time than on schooldays.
- I sometimes set them little projects based on their interests, like reading up on something, trying some experiments, making a powerpoint presentation, writing a story etc.
- If I 'teach' anything during the vacations, it will be non-academic stuff like crafts, baking etc.
- The rest of the time is free.
- The final week of the mid-year vacation, I will ask my kids to flip through the past semester's work, especially in their weaker subjects, and maybe a few practice questions (total time - max 2 hrs per subject). We don't so this before a new school year.

[wonderm]

Since DD started P1, holidays has been her time, no academic stuff. Some workshops that she may be interested in but definitely no studying.

revise yes...play also yes.
work hard and play hard...but no teaching in advance.

Just curious, your DS is still revising his P6 work after PSLE? He had been revising for PSLE for so long, I thought he would be very sick of them by now.

[HAPPYH]

Since DD started P1, holidays has been her time, no academic stuff. Some workshops that she may be interested in but definitely no studying.

revise yes...play also yes.
work hard and play hard...but no teaching in advance.

Sometimes I do wonder if I am too laid back with them. DS told me this, when he was only 4yrs old, in school I pay attention, I do my work, when I come home, I finish my homework and the rest of the time is for me to relax.

My understanding with my kids is as much as possible, I do not touch their holidays. But in return, they have to show me consistant work and results during school term. So far, they have been fine.

One drawback though, when the school starts, it takes about 2 weeks for them to get their engines cranking again.

I am hoping that with DD going P4 next year, they can still have this to look forward to.

I will start with English 10-15 days earlier than the actual school reopening date (say Dec 15-20 onwards) to get back to the study mode. Told her already that it will not exceed an hour. Last year, I tried to teach few things (maths) in advance during the holidays but did not really help:(

[Funz]

We will usually go for a 2-3 weeks break in Dec. When we get back, there will be a flurry of activities for christmas and new year, getting the stuff for the new school year and before we know it, 1st day of school.

The only thing I do to get them into the school routine is to go back to school term bedtime and waking hours about 1 week before school. That is done as much for them as it is for me and DH.