Summer Math: What's Your Take?

Hey Reader,

Before we dive in this week, I have a hot take for you. Hit reply and tell me if you agree or disagree:

Doing a little math over the summer is actually better for your child's brain than taking a complete break.

Agree or disagree? Reply and let me know, and then keep reading, because I'm going to make the case either way. 😉

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LIFE

This week is a tender one, and I want to be honest with you about that before we get into anything else.

Sunday is Mother's Day, and it's also my birthday, and on paper that sounds like a reason to celebrate twice over...and it is, and I'm genuinely grateful for that. But this is also my first Mother's Day carrying the absence of Myla, my daughter who was born sleeping last June. Last year on Mother's Day, I didn't know yet what was coming. I was still expecting her, still full of hope and anticipation and all the beautiful, ordinary things that come with waiting for a baby. This was supposed to be her first Mother's Day too, and the weight of that and all the memories and emotions are something I wasn't fully prepared for, even knowing it was coming.

Mother's Day is like that for so many women, and I don't think we talk about it honestly or openly enough. For every mom celebrating in the way the greeting cards imagine, there's another one navigating the day through grief, or longing, or complicated feelings that don't fit neatly into a bouquet and a brunch. If that's where you are this weekend (whether you're missing a child, a mother, a pregnancy, or a version of motherhood that didn't unfold the way you hoped), I want you to know that you're seen, you're not alone, and the feelings you're carrying aren't too much for me or for God. You don't have to pretend otherwise, and I'd love to be a listening ear if you need that. ❤️

So, Happy Mother's Day, in whatever shape this day takes for you. You are so deeply loved. 💛

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HOMESCHOOL + MATH

Okay, back to the hot take!

The research on summer learning loss isn't new, but it's worth taking the time to think about it, because it's more significant than most of us realize. Studies consistently show that students lose roughly two to three months of mathematical understanding over the summer when they don't do any math at all, and because math is so deeply cumulative and interconnected, that loss doesn't just affect what they forgot, it affects how quickly they can rebuild, how confident they feel when school resumes, and how much time you have to spend in the fall reteaching concepts that were solid in May.

Here's the good news though: you don't need to run a full math program all summer to prevent this! The research also shows that even light, consistent, low-pressure engagement with math over the summer is enough to maintain understanding, and, in many cases, actually deepen it, because spaced practice (returning to concepts over time with breaks in between) is one of the most effective ways the brain builds long-term retention. A little math, done consistently, is genuinely better for your child's brain than an intense school year followed by a complete three-month pause.

So, what does light summer math actually look like in a real life? It looks like fifteen to twenty minutes (twenty to thirty for some upper level math), three or four days a week, focused on review and reinforcement rather than new material. It could look like math games, real-world applications, cooking measurements, and money math at the grocery store. It could look like a simple workbook that revisits the concepts from the year without introducing anything new, keeping everything fresh and connected so that the fall feels like a continuation rather than a restart. It could look like a summer course that builds confidence in a subject that your student might have "learned" but isn't super confident in.

It doesn't look like a full curriculum, daily lessons, timed tests (which are NEVER good!), or anything that turns summer into a smaller version of the school year. Summer math should be just enough to keep the engine warm, and that's genuinely all it needs to be. Sure, your child might be the exception and need more in-depth daily work do to a learning challenge or disability, but for the majority of students, all they need is a little bit of something. 🩷

Here's my simple framework for deciding how much summer math is right for your family: if your child is solidly on track and feeling confident, a light review routine three days a week is plenty. If there are gaps you identified this spring that need attention before the fall, use the summer to address those specifically and gently, consistently but without pressure. And if your child (or you!) had a genuinely hard math year and needs a real rest before they can engage again, honor that too. Even alternating two weeks on and two weeks off can do wonders: a child who comes back to math in August or September feeling refreshed and willing is going to learn more in the first two weeks than a burned-out child will learn in two months of constant lessons.

Trust what you know about your child. You're the expert on them, and that expertise is one of the greatest gifts of homeschooling!

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GRACE

Psalm 139 is one of the most personal and intimate passages in all of Scripture, and it's one that has carried a particular weight in my life this past year. These words were at the center of Myla's funeral, and I find myself returning to them again this week because they say something that I need to hear on the hard days leading up to and on Mother's Day, and I think some of you might need to hear it too:

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." (Psalm 139:13-16, ESV)

He formed Myla's inward parts. He formed MY inward parts. He knitted her together, and knitted ME together. Her days were written in His book before one of them came to be, and knew the path I would have to walk, and that means every single one of Myla's days, however few, were seen and known and held by the God who made her. Not only that, but every one of my hard days since were seen and known, and I've been held by God through it. That doesn't make the grief smaller, but it makes it something I can carry, because she and I both were never outside of His hands, not for one moment.

And friend, you aren't outside of His hands either. He sees the grief that doesn't have a greeting card. He sees the longing that doesn't make it into the Mother's Day brunch conversation. He sees the joy and the ache sitting side by side on the same Sunday morning, and He isn't confused by the complexity of it, and He doesn't ask you to resolve it before He draws near. He just draws near.

You're fully known, you're fully loved, and not one moment of what you're carrying this week is hidden from the God who knitted you together and knew you before you were born. That isn't a small thing: it's everything.

Whatever this Mother's Day holds for you, whatever version of this holiday you're living, you are seen, you are known, and you are so deeply loved. 💛

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So — agree or disagree with the hot take? Hit reply and tell me, and while you're at it, tell me how you're planning to handle math this summer. I'd love to hear what's working for your family!

Happy Mother's Day, friend. 💛

See you soon,

Mrs. Holman