I know that some parents feel that summer time is a great time to allow kids to let loose and have fun after 10 months stuck in a classroom. I totally agree with that however I do like to have my kids do something educational, even if it’s just for a few minutes a day, to keep them from losing valuable skills that they learned in school.
When my children were little (before preschool) I would work with them on pages in activity books for their age and skill level. I had so many workbooks that I could barely find places to put them when not in use. I would like to think my daughter being an honor roll student has a lot to do with me working with her in workbooks when she was younger.
I have used A LOT of different types of workbooks over the years. Some were great, others left me feeling a bit disappointed. I’d like to think that when it comes to educational workbooks that I know a thing or two based on many years of working with them.
This year both of my kids are working out of books by Summer Bridge. I have a book for grades 5-6 for my son and a book for grades 7-8 for my daughter. Since my daughter is going into 8th grade in the fall and my son 6th grade these books are ideal for them and their skill level.
Summer Bridge books have been used for years by parents, teachers and home school families. They have recognized that Summer Bridge workbooks are an ideal way to bridge that summer gap (“bridge”) between grades.
Each day my husband and I have enjoyed looking through the pages to see what the kids are going to work on.
The books are numbered from days 1-20 in three different sections. We have asked the kids to do a different page each day. You are welcome to go by days or however you think it would best for your child. You can also ask them to do work for 15 minutes per day. We have found it’s best to let our son pick and chose what he wants to do since he struggles at school. With our daughter we tell her to do Day One, Day Two, Day Three or whatever day we are up to. Each child is different. The books are set up in such a way that you are welcome to do whatever works best for your child.
The books cover a wide range of subjects including crammer, reading comprehension, algebra, geometry, vocabulary and much more.
I’m embarrassed to admit this but going through the books there is A LOT that I have no clue how to do. Math was my worst subject in school. Just looking at some of the Math problems makes my head spin. To think they are doing the same Math in 5th and 6th grade that I did in 10th grade when I was in school. Luckily for me the answers are found in the back of the book.
Each page has ample space for writing in the answers. This a great for my son who tends to write very large.
Each workbooks also has easy to cut out flashcards for vocabulary, spelling (I use the cards for spelling too), math and more. My daughter loves working with flashcards. She seems to learn things better using flashcards where as my son does not. As I have mentioned before, each child is different. Some children are visual learners, others are audio learners. My daughter is more of a visual learner (sight) where as my son is more of a tactile learner (he learns better hands on by doing things).
At the end of each book is a certificate of completion that you can fill out and award to your child. My son is REALLY looking forward to this.
I have been having my daughter write her work on a separate piece of paper so that we can reuse her book when our son is her grade range (7-8). That way my son is covered for the next few years.
We have used many workbooks over the years and I have to say I am very impressed with the Summer Bridge books. They are by far one of the best we’ve worked with. The only thing I would do differently is maybe add more activities to the books, fun activities that don’t come off as educational such as word searches and coloring pages.
Summer Bridge books can be purchased on the Carson-Dellosa website (www.Carson-Dellosa.com). The books can also be found at various toy, educational, Christian and teacher supply stores across the country. Each book retails for $14.95 and is worth every penny.
*I received free sample books in order to do this review. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.