What a contrast between summer and school:
Summer is fun.
School is homework.
Summer is liberty.
School is sleeping at 8 p.
Summer is mindless.
School expands the mind; even those elementary school plays require some sort of creativity and recitation of lines.
What?! Summer can be bad for you?
If you read the news, there are a few things occupying our nation's attention: the economy, the fact that J. Lo and Marc Anthony are back together again (just kidding, although they are), and education.
Competition is global, and children outside of the U.S. attend school 4 more weeks every year. They're going to be more prepared to enter the workforce than we are. Even if there are skilled jobs available, Americans won't be sufficiently trained to do them.
The "summer learning loss" is worse if you're poor. According to a 2010 TIME magazine story, in a Johns Hopkins study observing the educational progress of children K-12, "by the end of grammar school, low-income students had fallen nearly three grade levels behind, and summer was the biggest culprit."
Our goal this summer was to stop, or reduce, some of this academic erosion. Aidan and Aubrie were each given chores (a debt of gratitude to Merrilee Boyack for her inspirational book), academic goals and attitude goals -- see charts below.
For future posterity, let it be known that Aidan finished a piano book, is close to finishing his Cub Scout Bear requirements and made a few strides forward in his Faith in God book. He still screams in pain when he runs into air molecules (translation: he always hurts himself).
Aubrie can read chapter books, and is close to finishing a 1st grade workbook. She still frowns and gets upset at small things.
Both really did a great job with their chores.
We're proud of them for having good attitudes, and doing their small part in keeping America competitive.
PS. Summer hasn't been 100% work. You'll notice plenty of PLAY periods during the day in their schedules, and after dinner time was all play.
Aidan and Aubrie's summer 2011 goals
Aidan's Summer Schedule
Aubrie's Summer Schedule
