(Review) Summer Fit Learning Third to Fourth Grade

I am super excited to have been asked to be a part of the blog tour for another Summer Fit Learning book. We took part in this last year and Michael, my son loved it. So thanks to Media Guest for contacting me about this.

About the book:

Summer Fit Learning’s series of educational bridge workbooks aims to prepare children mentally, physically and socially. Fitness is key to the process.

Research shows that students score lower on standardized tests at the end of the summer than at the end of the school year, and are more likely to gain weight while on break. Many exercise experts believe children today are too sedentary, which is contributing to the excess weight in one-third of children in the United States. This has created a groundswell of interest in implementing a whole body approach to education in general while specifically getting kids more active during the summer.

The SUMMER FIT workbook series aims to create fun learning experiences to help children retain and carry over knowledge from the previous school year. Additionally, by presenting a “whole body” approach with lessons and activities that focus on the body and the brain, Summer Fit helps parents and children capitalize on the mental and social benefits of physical exercise. “Summer should be a time for children to step away from their computers and televisions and exercise their brains and bodies naturally,” says series creator George Starks. “Kids should reconnect with themselves, their families and their friends on a personal level. They should be outside playing, but also brushing up on academic skills from the previous year, or those that they may find more challenging than others. They should also read and apply other classroom skills in enjoyable and entertaining ways.”

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As I mentioned above we reviewed for Summer Fit Learning last year. We recieved Second to Third grade. Michael had so much fun doing that book last year because over the course of the summer he was refreshed on what he learned in grade two and he was able to get a sneak peak at would he could learn in grade three.

I didn’t tell him until I got this in the mail and he was excited because he had so much fun doing the work last year. He thought at first that it was the same book but quickly noticed that it wasn’t the same one and he is already asking when he can start doing this.

This activity book is fantastic for kids because not only does it include academics but also physical acitivites which is key in the summer when we sometimes tend to get a little lazy and have no real structure in our days. One thing I love about it is that it  teaches values.

The activity book is divided up into three sections (mind, body and values) in the daily activities. Which is nice because you can spend roughly 15 – 30 minutes a day letting your child do the work. For me in the summer its nice to have a little recap and prepare yourself for when school starts in the fall.

I know as a parent and thankfully that is due to the fact that I am a stay at home mom, Michael is very involved with library activities and thats because we have a fantastic summer reading program so this motivates Michael to want to read and one of the great things about this book is that there is a reading list which Michael always checks out to see what he would like to read.

One thing about the book is that they make it fun with games etc so it doesn’t feel like school work. Another benefit of this book is the website http://summerfitlearning.com/ which provides additional content and since I am Canadian I am able to get additional content.

If you are on facebook be sure to like their page http://www.facebook.com/summerfitlearning where you can get updates, promotions, activities, and fun facts.

Other books that are available are: Kindergarten to First, First to Second, Second to Third, Third to Fourth, and Fourth to Fifth.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Review) Summer Fit Workbook Tour


Title: Summer Fit: Exercise for the Brain & Body while Away from School
Author: Kelly Terrill & Portia Marin
Pub Date: April 2011
Publisher: Summer Fit Learning
Pages: 125

Source: I received a copy of this work book from MediaGuest for my honest review.

About the Book:
Summer Fit is the first workbook series in summer learning to take a multi-dimensional approach to what its creators see as an opportune time for today’s parents to reinforce and create well balanced and prepared students for the school year ahead using a combination of book and computer based learning. The Summer Fit series provides parents with workbook activities based on national standards in reading, writing and math, a daily fitness program designed by school coaches and trainers and core values activities using historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman and Mother Teresa. On-line resources include bonus activities in reading, writing and math, interactive on-line games that review basic skills, fitness videos to show children and parents how to properly perform daily exercises, and access to family friendly movies to reinforce core values.

I should first tell you that the books are available for grades K-1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, and 4-5. I picked out the 2-3 since Michael will be finishing up grade two in a little less the a months time.

Every summer I always pick him up a work book to do over the summer holiday so that he can remember what he has learned over the past year and to give him an idea of what is to come in the following year. This truly makes a great rainy day activity over the summer.

Having tried other kinds of works books I was excited to look this over and review it because this one is completely different from all the others. This one doesn’t just focus on reading, writing, math but it also goes into fitness and nutrition.

What the Summer Fit work books include:
~Daily activities (only 5 days a week) and exercises for a 10 week program.
~Weekly values bases activities that inspire children and teach core values.
~Free downloads to provide extra challenges in reading, writing and math.
~Bicycle maintenance and safety activities by Mike and The Bike.
~Reading and mathematics activities based on national standards.
~On line videos to show children how to properly perform fitness activities.
~Activities and exercises that progress in difficulty so children are not overwhelmed.

As I was flipping through the book I noticed that each chapter (week) started out with what was going to be covered in that week, along with some physical activity and what the core value of the week was. I noticed also that all the work that Michael will be doing is stuff that he has learned this year so it will be a great refresher for him.

Being a book lover one of my favorite things was at the end of each week there is a little box called Book list and it lists three books and you can go online to download a book report activity sheets. What a great way to get kids to read. This is something that I am sure we will be doing.

So not only can you use the book but you can go online for additional activities. The bonus for me was that they even include Canadian content that I am able to download.

Check back at the end of the summer when I will do another review of the book from Michael’s perspective.

Just from looking this over in the past few weeks I know I will end up picking up the following books after this one.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.