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Over the summer I would like to have my son do some school type work, nothing too intensive but I do want him to stay in the habit and not let his brain get lazy.
The problem is I'm not really sure what grade level we should work on . He's in kindergarten now and will enter first grade in September, he's done very well with the material in kindergarten and I would say is probably working slightly above grade level. He's definitely ready to start working with first grade material however I'm a little apprehensive to introduce it, he's very bright and I now he will grasp anything I show him very quickly. He has ADHD and I don't want to get him into a situation where he starts first grade already knows the material and starts getting bored and is not focusing on the teacher. But I also don't want eye rolls all summer if I keep showing him stuff that he's already mastered and is clearly too easy.
In your opinion should I stick with only reviewing the stuff he's already learned or start working on first grade stuff?
What kinds of stuff do you do with your kids over the summer.
Check your school district and see if they have activities. Some of the activities are sort of both academic and sort of fun. (School district is probably the cheapest way to go, that's why I mention it.)
Often the listings provide the grade appropriateness too.
Also, because it is summer, you may be able to enroll in adjacent districts if your district doesn't have anything interesting. You'd have to drive there though.
Find something supplementary, like using a computer, typing, number games, science camp, lego camp, ...these are the types of things we have here. You probably have something similar.
Our local parent-teacher store has great learning games in all subject areas you can play with your child. They are grade-level appropriate and usually pretty fun.
I would not try to make the "concentrated learning activities" too long or structured.
Check your school district and see if they have activities. Some of the activities are sort of both academic and sort of fun. (School district is probably the cheapest way to go, that's why I mention it.)
Often the listings provide the grade appropriateness too.
Also, because it is summer, you may be able to enroll in adjacent districts if your district doesn't have anything interesting. You'd have to drive there though.
Find something supplementary, like using a computer, typing, number games, science camp, lego camp, ...these are the types of things we have here. You probably have something similar.
Thanks for those suggestions! We have lots of activities to go to so I'm actually looking for stuff I can do at home with him, we'll being doing the school work during downtime and rainy days or when I need to get some office or house work done. I'm torn between getting a kindergarten workbook or a first grade workbook.
Check your local library, they may have some suggestions for activities to do at home. I would also ask the district what is covered in first grade and then go from there.
Our local parent-teacher store has great learning games in all subject areas you can play with your child. They are grade-level appropriate and usually pretty fun.
I would not try to make the "concentrated learning activities" too long or structured.
Definitely!! He loves to read, right now we're reading Diary of the Wimpy Kid and he loves the concept of the journaling so I plan on giving him a journal over the summer so he can practice his writing. I can't really slow down his reading level so I'll let him read whatever level he wants as long he can understand it.
I guess my main concern is math, it's his favorite subject and he likes to do little math drills. Should I keep reinforcing the stuff he already learned or move on the to the next level?
I have a PreK son (also ADHD) who will be in Kindergarten next year and a daughter who will be in 2nd grade next year. My PreK kid is a smarty pants so I am planning on just letting him do sheets of math facts (adding and subtracting) from the Saxon 1 Math book since he enjoys it anyway, I ignore the class lessons but try to reinforce things like counting money and telling time in our daily life. I also have him read to us a few times a week.
For my rising 2nd grader I will have her read 10 pages every night from a reasonable choice of book (Ramona is ok, right now she's reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, iCarly books are not ok) and she has to do a sheet of multiplication problems from Saxon 3. She isn't as proficient at Math so I will go over more with her.
I hated being behind every September so I try to make sure the kids keep up but not too much
ETA - hey WSMN we used to live in Brentwood about 5 years ago, enjoyed our time there!
My area has a summer reading program for rising 1st graders. It is designed to reinforce concepts learned in kinder and introduce ones they will be encountering in 1st grade. My dd's school handed out fliers for it just the other day. Maybe your school knows of something like that? Or, you could check with your local library.
let him set his own pace and don't worry he might cover material which will also be covered in school. It will be presented in a different way and probably will not bore him his teacher will know ways to keep him stimulated.
and I suggest not presenting it in "Now we are going to have school". helping in the kitchen will help with math, blocks, shapes, art projects all will keep his mind churning all summer. There are so many ways to help us enrich our kid's educations during the summer break.
These are pricey but I think they would be great for young minds.
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. He's in kindergarten now and will enter first grade in September, he's done very well with the material in kindergarten and I would say is probably working slightly above grade level. He's definitely ready to start working with first grade material however I'm a little apprehensive to introduce it, he's very bright and I now he will grasp anything I show him very quickly. He has ADHD and I don't want to get him into a situation where he starts first grade already knows the material and starts getting bored and is not focusing on the teacher. But I also don't want eye rolls all summer if I keep showing him stuff that he's already mastered and is clearly too easy. 
