5 Minutes For Books

Summer Bridge Activities 2010

by

The days are being counted down in my family until our oldest child will no longer be calling himself a fourth grader, and the call of summer vacation is ringing LOUDLY in his ears. If he were to call the shots for how his time would be spent for the next two and a half months, I’m confident (and hugely proud!) to predict that he would opt to read for a good part of each day, but I also know that television and Wii time would be at the top of his wish list, too. Summer break plans left to children may not always translate into continued learning opportunities, experiences, and retention of the school year’s lessons.

So, this summer, we’re going to do some things the same- lots of family reading time, regular trips to the neighborhood pool and playgrounds (as well as just good old playing out in the yard), and taking advantage of area programs at our community center and library. But, we’re also adding one more thing to the mix: a Summer Bridge Activities workbook.

I have to admit that in my career as a preschool educator, I’ve always held on to a healthy dose of skepticism about workbooks. My opinion was, and still is, that very young children learn better through experiences in their world than by circling pictures in a workbook. I didn’t have much experience with the concept outside of that age group, and like so many things in my life, I’m learning more and more as my oldest child ages into uncharted territory in my life as a parent. I received a copy of the Bridging Grades 4 to 5 for review purposes, and I have to say that a few features and components immediately stood out to me:

  • A comprehensive skills matrix at the beginning of the book clearly indicates what areas of learning are addressed by each activity– very helpful to parents who may be wondering how the pages relate to their child’s school learning.
  • A strong emphasis on grammar, language arts, and reading comprehension, which are such huge skills areas that the standardized testing in public schools focus on.
  • A two page list of recommendations for age-appropriate summer reading. Again, LOVE the emphasis on the importance of reading!
  • An easy-to-implement system that recommends two pages a day (approximately 15 minutes), and the workbook is formatted in three segments, one for each month of a traditional summer break. Each month has twenty delineated days, along with six bonus pages for the super-motivated students!
  • More than just ABC’s and 123’s, this workbook series features activities that address physical and character development, outdoor extension activities, and real world learning through measurement, time, and money activities as well.

I’m happy to report that upon his first browsing through the workbook, my son showed interest in some of the activities, and I think that it will be easy to implement a regular schedule of quiet work each day, allowing him to keep his learning fresh for his arrival as a fifth grader in late August! And, I’m not the only one to offer a positive perspective on this series from Carson-Dellosa, as Jennifer also reviewed the Summer Bridge Activities workbooks last year!

I’m excited to announce that one of you will win a copy of THREE workbooks of your choice (available for Pre-K to K through 7th to 8th grade, and also in a “Summer Bridge Activities for Young Christians” series). Leave a comment if you’d like to win (U.S. addresses only), and we’ll announce the winners on June 23.

Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter.

Dawn will be enjoying her summer “break” accompanied by three wacky children, and will probably blab all about it on her blog, my thoughts exactly.

Comments

  1. I would love to win these books for my grandchildren. I have 3 grandchildren so it would work out perfectly.

  4. Oh, these sound like fun. I’m starting to collect items for when I begin preschool with my daughter. Thanks for the giveaway!

  5. I babysit my almost preschool age nephew and I’m always looking for new activities for him. These look great.

  6. I love the Summer Bridge Activity Books…and with 3 kids at home…I could really use the activities!!!

  7. This is the first review I’ve seen for this series – I’d like to try something different than last year’s workbooks. And the kids always like something new!

  8. I hold the same skepticism about workbooks (I have a degree in early childhood ed), so it’s good to read what you have to say about them. I’ve always passed them up without a second glance even though my 5 year old is always asking for one. Now I’ll have to stop passing them by!

  9. I would love to get some of these for my son. He actually enjoys doing workbooks and we are looking for some for summertime. Thanks for the review!

  12. I would love to check out the Summer Bridge Activities: Kindergarten to 1st Grade books. Would cover both of my kids. 🙂

  13. Oh we love these kind of books, and could use some to help my twins with their English skills. Pick us!! 🙂 No really.

  15. We used this series for our oldest when he was going into K and it was great. Since I have three kids, winning one for each of them would make my summer. Of course, they’d disagree! 🙂

  16. I purchased a book from Summer Bridge called ‘Grammar Skills’. It was for 1st grade and I absolutely loved it. Very simple, clear and to the point. I have searched everywhere for the same book for 2nd and 4th grade but haven’t been able to find them. If you know where to find them, please share! Thanks…

  18. I would SO love to win these. We had the K-1 activity book and really enjoyed the activities we did from it. I would love to have some for the higher grades as I think my son would appreciate them even more now. Definitely one of the best workbook series I have ever seen.

  19. I have been doing a lot of research on some educational activities for my son who is going into the 3rd grade in August. Due to recent changes in my occupation, this will be my first opportunity to enjoy the summertime with my son. So far, Summer Bridge activities stand above the crowd for workbook, reading, etc activities. I have not yet placed my order for the 2nd to 3rd grade book, as I ran across this contest and have an entire week of swim lessons for this first week starting tomorrow. Look forward to winning, as a free opportunity to use the Summer Bridge 2010 workbook. Thanks for this contest. Best Regards, Lisa in NC

  21. I’d love to win these workbooks! In our house – we homeschool – worksheets are never REQUIRED, but my kids go through phases of enjoying them in the same way that I enjoy a good crossword or puzzle book. The activities in these books sound great so I’m sure my kids would get hours of entertainment from them.

  22. My Bebe Boy James has always loved having workbooks available for “schoolwork” during the summer (this is probably left over from my homeschooling through his first 7 years until he was ready to be mainstreamed). I know he would love this series!

    knittingandsundries at gmail dot com

  26. Oh how cool! I’ve never been a lover of workbooks so I never buy them but family members have bought them for my son and he LOVES them. So, I have decided that if he enjoys them there is no reason he shouldn’t do them. 🙂

  27. My daughter enjoys the challenge of working on various workbooks and I’m positive she’d have fun with the Summer Bridge Activities workbooks.

  28. I’ve been doing some summer school with my daughter and would love the chance, thanks

  31. These books are great! We’ve used them for the past two summers – even while we’re on vacation. We agree that the books are very user friendly. The books give our kids just enough practice to keep the concepts fresh that they’ve learned during the previous school year. The format is concise enough that our kids don’t lose interest and they don’t feel like they’re losing out on too much play time.

    We add incentives for completing pages, which the kids enjoy. They especially enjoy earning $1/day souvenir money while we’re on vacation.

    We plan to use these books again this summer and would love to win a free set!! We’ve always purchased them at the school supply store, which ends up costing about double compared to internet purchases.

  33. OMG! I would love this for my kids. My son has trouble with school and I just told him that we would be doing work all summer. At least an hour a day. He’s only 6 and hates school but I really need to keep in in the zone of doing school work everyday so he doesn’t forget what he already has learned. Definitely count me in on this one! Thanks!

  34. Would love to win these – it would help creating a summer packet for my preschoolers MUCH easier come next summer!

Recent Posts

Categories

Privacy Policy    |     Disclosure Policy
Terms & Conditions
© 5 Minutes for Mom

Let’s Socialize

Pinterest is Our FAVORITE!

Find and Follow Us at
pinterest.com/5min4books