I am a teacher. I think that this book is perfect for a child that is in need to work on skills he/she has not mastered yet because it has so many pages! A child who has worked hard and has suceeded first grade does not need so much exercise. Besides pictures are boring and no reading guides are provided. "Summer Smarts" has fewer pages, activities are funny and related to a first grader's experiences. And it provides guided reading at the end of the book. However I would strongly suggest " Summer Bridge" to a child who has struggled during first grade and/or to a child who has not mastered basic skills yet. Summer Bridge Activities: 1st to 2nd Grade
While Summer Bridge has been a fairly decent way for my daughter to keep her skills fresh over the summer, it really wasn't challenging enough to hold her interest. She finished each day's work in about 10 minutes, and said she found the material boring. I think it'd be more useful to a child who needed a little remedial work before starting second grade. Much of the material was actually work that she'd done in kindergarten, and it's not as though my daughter's a prodigy; she's on a par with other children in a parochial school.The other thing that annoyed me was incredibly sloppy editing - sorry, folks, but "gnat" is not spelled "knat", and there were a number of exercises that were misprinted. Since this isn't an inexpensive book, I don't appreciate spending money and finding it full of errors. Also, the instructions for some of the exercises were pretty unclear - there were a couple where I had to check the answers page to be sure of what my daughter needed to do. I'll hesitate before buying the same series next year, even though the concept is a sound one.
I would recommend this book to those first graders who still need to learn basic skills. It provides a great deal of practice in any basic skills taught in first grade and those needed to advance to second grade. However it requires about one full hour of work daily, which I think it's too much for a vacationing child who worked hard throughout the school year and obtained good marks.Besides it does not provide worksheets for any book even though there's a list of good reading books on one of the first pages. Another bad point of this workbook is the layout which is rather dull and will not attract the eye of your child. For those average to advanced first graders I would suggest a book like "Summer Smarts" which provides less practice in a more kid-friendly layout.
I bought this for my grandson, who has just finished the first grade, in hopes it would help him keep up the skills he learned and get him a little ahead for next year. I also bought the 4-5 book for his sister and brother.Having observed what it took to get our oldest grandson through the school system and prepare him to compete for the best colleges (he won a scholarship to West Point), and having raised and educated four children of my own, I'm probably (dare I say it?) more qualified than a teacher to judge what's best in terms of academic materials. (I have also taught at the elementary level as well as in college.)This material is too repetitive in terms of lessons already learned. It doesn't provide enough new material to be interesting, much less challenging. My first/second grader grandson is a disinterested but average student and he breezed through this book with barely a nod.To be fair, the book did half of what I'd hoped. It does help him keep the skills he acquired. It doesn't, however, move him ahead. I will have to provide exercises to do that on my own.The competition for top-notch colleges today is fierce. It will probably only get "fiercer" in the future. I'll be looking for other sources to help my grandchildren excel in their schoolwork.
I've bought books in these series for 2 summers in a row now. They are a great way to keep key educational elements alive for your child until they go back to school, without overwhelming them with work during summer vacation. Each day has an assigned lesson and they take 10 - 15 minutes top to complete. There is a reward system so that you can set up a treat or prize if they complete a certain number of days. My daughter really liked these.
As a third grade teacher, I have found this series to be an excellent summer review program. It takes my own children about 15 minutes to do their pages each day, while providing critical review in reading, grammar, and math. I will recommend this book to all of my students' parents next year. Even the highest students can benefit from a short review during the summer.
I am so happy I bought this for my daughter going into 2nd grade. Each page just picked right up with things she'd been doing in 1st grade - but not overdoing it! This book was just right to keep the brain thinking, and yet the pages only took 10-15 min to complete. Great buy! - Summer Studies - Summer - Summer Workbook - Kids'
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