The issue as to whether children should attend summer school is a complicated one. Some students, particularly from middle school onward may not have a choice if they have failed a class during the regular school year. They have to do enough to make up a failing grade or their ability to graduate from their grade, or from high school can be imperiled.

1. Should My Child
Attend Summer
School?

2. • The issue as to whether children should attend summer school is a
complicated one. Some students, particularly from middle school onward may
not have a choice if they have failed a class during the regular school year.
They have to do enough to make up a failing grade or their ability to graduate
from their grade, or from high school can be imperiled.
• Other times, teachers in lower grades recommend summer school to parents
when students are flunking in a particular subject or exhibiting overall poor
performance in school. An alternate scenario is that a parent feels a child
would benefit from school during the summer, but the school isn’t necessarily
supportive of this. Some private schools don’t offer summer schools, but
children may be able to attend classes through their public school district.

3. • In a situation where you have no choice, there really isn’t much to answer unless you
want your child not to graduate or move up to the next grade. Yet in lower grades you
mostly have the option to refuse summer school, and you may have specific reasons
for refusal. A child who visits a second parent in another state or area of the country
during the summer may pose a very good reason why the child shouldn’t attend
summer school, particularly when it is a choice and not a requirement.
• There are also some parents who really don’t appreciate summer school because it
cuts into their own plans, may be offered in an area not easily accessed, or because
they feel a child’s failure was not due to academic issues. A child who has had a very
stressful year and been through a parent’s divorce, the death of a parent or other
extremely disturbing circumstances may have simply been unfocused during the year
or had multiple absences that resulted in poor grades. Again, in lower grades, you can
usually make a strong case that a child should not attend summer school based on a
child’s life experiences, and particularly if they have usually been average to excellent
students in the past.

4. • It may be a little harder in a public school district in the lower grades to place your child in
summer school because you simply want them to go. Normally, summer school is
determined by teacher recommendation, and you will have to present a strong case to the
teacher why your child should attend. Teachers often have certain “tests” for deciding
when to recommend a child to summer school, which may be implemented at a district
level. These include things like looking at the child’s ability to perform at grade level, and
analyzing things like learning disabilities and scores or standardized tests. Keeping a
record of grades and performance on tests, and knowing your child’s academic ability can
help make a case for why your child should attend.
• If you can’t convince a school district that your child should attend summer school, you
may want to consider a transfer to a district that will allow summer attendance or operates
on a year round calendar. When this is unavailable, look to classes offered by private
learning centers or through various organizations that may help your child become more
academically prepared for the next year’s work. If price for these programs is prohibitive,
ask the school district or your child’s teacher to lend you some books that will allow you to
teach your child over the summer and help them review difficult concepts.

5. • Some parents feel very strongly that summertime is sacred. Formal learning
should not enter into the process. Yet many parents also express how
“bored” their children get after a few days or two of nothing but time on their
hands. You can still preserve much of your child’s free time and have them
devote a half hour to an hour in the morning to working on challenging
concepts. It doesn’t take long to do a half sheet of long division, to fill out a
multiplication table, to write a few sentences, or to spend some time reading
aloud. By allowing brief periods of regular study at home and still allowing
plenty of time for leisure, your children may actually appreciate leisure time
more and be less likely to become bored.
Article: http://www.wisegeek.com/should-my-child-attend-summer-school.htm
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