Bridge Work

No, I’m not talking about teeth - all of our teeth are fine, except for that one hanging by a thread in Princess’s mouth that should have come out a week ago but she won’t give it a good yank.

I’m talking about summer school work . . . at home . . . so your kids don’t forget what they learned during the school year before they start again in the fall.

We don’t do bridge work. The kids read a ton. They love to read, so they do - every single day before bed or on longer car rides or whenever they just can’t put a book down. In my mind, if you can read, you can learn anything - including math, science, music, and whatever else. Books have been written on every subject anyone could ever think of.

The ability to do math does not provide you with the tools to teach yourself how to read. The knowledge of the lifecycle of a ladybug or how water is naturally recycled does not provide you with the tools to teach yourself how to read. The ability to play Yankee Doodle and Happy Birthday on the recorder does not provide you with the tools to teach yourself how to read. The ability to count to 30 and recite a few verbs and nouns in French does not provide you with the tools to teach yourself how to read.

You see where I’m going with this. I think my kids need to know all of that stuff above. And it’s so great when they bring home their projects from school and they’re so excited at what they’ve worked so hard to learn. While I don’t discount any aspect of the education my kids receive in school, I think that’s where they should learn their stuff - in school. Summer break is only 10 weeks long . . . kids work hard during the school year (even with the bazillion days off for various teach days and holidays and other random days). I think they deserve a break during the summer.

I think their brains NEED a break during summer - they need to get up without worrying about having to think about anything other than what they want to eat for breakfast. I think their bodies need to get out and run and play and climb with their friends - they certainly don’t get enough of that during the increasingly shorter and in some instances non-existent recess and gym class at school. I think their brains need to learn how to handle social situations - like making up rules for an impromptu baseball game in the cul de sac so the little kids have as much fun as the older kids - which they don’t get at school because they are coddled and prevented from running and playing and getting dirty and making up their own rules on the playground. I think they need to be able to sleep in a few days a week and stay up late watching movies and eating popcorn every now and then - a break from the ever-present schedules imposed upon them in school and at home during a school year. I think they need to spend time hiking and exploring the forest with their family - kids don’t get enough time with their families during the school year, learning through experience rather than through listening to someone else tell them how it should be. I think they need to be able to do all of this whenever they want without having to complete school work before they’re allowed to play - how resentful might they end up being of any school work if it’s something they have to do ALL the time, even when they’re not in school?

It IS summer BREAK afterall. When they go back to school in the fall, they spend the first 2 weeks reviewing what they learned last year no matter how much bridge work they did during the summer.

Besides, none of the adults I know were forced to do bridge work during the summer. We all got to run and play and be kids and make up our own rules to games and occassionally get grounded and have a much needed break from the structure of sitting in a desk all day doing exactly what other people told us to do.

We all turned out OK. We all got good grades. We all are productive members of society.

What’s your opinion on bridge work?