Can someone tell me about summer school?

[kozachka]

I got DS report card on Friday, and his teacher has recommended he attends summer school. I have yet to talk to the teacher about it, and wanted to check with the BBB parents first to see what to expect. DS is currently reading below the expected level, which I think is the main reason for the recommendation. He did not speak any English just 7 months ago, and was assigned to 1st grade despite Thanksgiving birthday (CA has Dec cutoff and K was full at our school). DS has made tremendous progress in terms of reading and writing. I am reading to him a lot and he reads level 1 books for me daily.

School office has told me that we don't have to do summer school. We planned on taking him to my parents for 3 weeks this summer so that he catched up on Russian, which he is speaking less and less. And for another 3 weeks to MIL and FIL. We'd have to skip one of the trips (I insist DS sees my family since we'd be visiting MIL over spring break and they can come to CA anytime) and get help after school in case I get a job by than.

[jenmcadams]

Depends on the district/area, but summer school is often helpful to catch kids up who need some extra help. It's a bummer they didn't put him in K to start -- would they be willing (if you want them to) to allow him to repeat 1st grade?

You could also consider getting him some extra tutoring to get his reading and writing up to level before 2nd grade. That could be done on your own schedule and might be even more beneficial than summer school. It sounds like he's just spending time catching up and dealing with the new language issues...some extra focused 1on1 tutoring might help and you could work it around your trips.

As far as what to expect in summer school, it's normally a shorter day and often focused on specific topics. The classes can be smaller (which can help) and it's normally more relaxed. Many districts no longer offer summer school (either in remedial classes or enrichment) b/c of budget cuts so it's much less common than it was when I was a kid. When I was a kid, you could take fun electives in addition to (or instead of) more core subjects.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Plus, in our district, ESL students are almost always offered summer school so that they may continue to grow in their acquisition of the language. I bet you could plan your travels and he could still have a few weeks of SS. That's always been the case with my students who were going to China or Mexico or India for a few weeks.
Totally weird they'd place him in 1st because K was full, or wait, was 1st where he was supposed to be anyway? Kudos to your DS for making such progress in 7 mos! WOW!!!

[egoldber]

in our district, ESL students are almost always offered summer school so that they may continue to grow in their acquisition of the language

Yes, I know that many of the kids in the summer reading program at our school are ESL leaners. It's partly to prevent their being a huge gap in their English acquisition over the summer and partly to help them get some more individual instruction.

[kozachka]

Totally weird they'd place him in 1st because K was full, or wait, was 1st where he was supposed to be anyway? Kudos to your DS for making such progress in 7 mos! WOW!!!

DS was born at the very end of November in 2003, so strictly speaking he was too old for K by several days (here in CA cutoff is December 2nd). We were planning on holding him back but it was not an option since we enrolled him at school at the end of July when we signed the lease and were told he must go to 1st grade. We were not told that it was because K was too full (according to newspapers K is very full) but that has to be the reason since I know a boy born in September 2003 who is now attending K.

[kozachka]

Depends on the district/area, but summer school is often helpful to catch kids up who need some extra help. It's a bummer they didn't put him in K to start -- would they be willing (if you want them to) to allow him to repeat 1st grade?

I would not want for DS to repeat 1st grade unless he absolutely has to. It would not be good for his self esteem. I'd rather have him attend summer school or/and get additional tutoring.

[kozachka]

Yes, I know that many of the kids in the summer reading program at our school are ESL leaners. It's partly to prevent their being a huge gap in their English acquisition over the summer and partly to help them get some more individual instruction.

Thank you for sharing this, it makes me feel slightly better about the whole thing that a lot of other ESL learners have to attend summer school.

[kransden]

Yes, I know that many of the kids in the summer reading program at our school are ESL leaners. It's partly to prevent their being a huge gap in their English acquisition over the summer and partly to help them get some more individual instruction.

That is also the case here. A lot of dd's ADHD friends also did it between kinder and first grade too. Then they got on meds for first grade, and many of their learning issues weren't a problem.

[hellokitty]

Is there another option? Like, could they give you materials to use to work with him at home, so you can still travel over the summer? I am not so sure that summer school is really needed. I've had cousins and even my DH (who moved to the US from south korea when he was 7 and all he knew was, "hello, how are you?") who came the US when they were school aged. It did take them some time to, "catch up" on their reading skills, but they were able to catch up pretty quickly. DH and his brother got a tutor the summer before they started school and my cousins, I do not remember any of them getting any special tutors or having to go to summer school. Of course, they DO teach some english as part of the curriculum in Taiwan, so maybe that is why they seemed to do ok. However, your son is young enough that I wonder how much summer school at this age would really pay off. I think that working with him at home would probably be just as beneficial w/o putting a damper on your travel plans.

[Momof3Labs]

They say that kids lose so much over the summer that the first 2-3 months of the school year is reteaching them what they forgot from the prior year. Not sure where I heard that recently. Perhaps it is being offered so that he doesn't lose any of the ground he's gained in English during the school year. 2nd grade is a lot more writing from day one.

I'd give serious consideration to some kind of English enrichment during the summer, whether it is summer school or a private tutor, just to make second grade a little easier on him. His 6 years of Russian will come back quickly; 9 months of English exposure at school could slip away fast.