I thought my resource posts were done for this homeschooling
year. However, I realized that I do have one more. As school
comes to a close, my thoughts have been turning to summer increasingly.
I've come to a couple of conclusions.
I believe the boys need a summer vacation. By that I mean unstructured free time to play, explore, and do as they please. For that reason, we do not school year round in the sense that we do not follow a routine of prescribed subjects.
Still, Jerry and I have noticed that the boys behave better and seem happier with some sort of loose rhythm to their days. Left to their own devices for too long, our lives degrade into incessant bickering, punctuated by Galen's loud protests. Furthermore, I think we have made every reasonably interesting day trip from the Bay Area to near the Oregon border over the past couple of summers. Finally, the intense heat here precludes we pale Nordic types from doing much out of doors during the heat of the day, and we all feel a bit trapped in the house. So, I've been brainstorming.
Here's my ideas so far.
While the middle of the day can be miserably hot here, early mornings are just beautiful. So, I am considering waking the boys at the crack of dawn to go bike riding on our trail system or to take nature hikes on some of our local trails. I've been skimming some books I've collected over time to give me ideas to enrich our time out of doors: Wild Days: Creating Discovery Journals; Teaching Kids to Love the Earth; Keeping a Nature Journal; Enriching the Young Naturalist: The Nature of Science in the Classroom; and The Nature Connection: An Outdoor Workbook. (I particularly like the suggestion in Wild Days to hike out and offhandedly offer a cookie from a previously hidden stash to the first child to draw something he finds. Blatant bribery may be what finally gets my boys to explore art.) I've also been attempting to put together a basic field kit for the boys with some art supplies, magnifiers and binoculars, bug, bird and flora field guides, etc.
Once home during the heat of the day, we can read if they don't wish to nap. I'm hoping that the library will permit Landry to participate in the teen summer reading program, despite his age. Last year, they provided a bingo card with each box filled with a different subject matter or genre. The goal was to complete any line by reading a wide variety of books for a prize. I think this could help to broaden Landry's already voracious interest in books. I suspect Kipp will continue to read his way through the Magic Tree House series, and, with luck, Galen will read his first book this summer.
In addition to independent reading, I'd also like to read aloud to the boys, as it is something that we all enjoy. I am always amazed that when I read to one, I suddenly have all three tucked in around me. I'd like to continue with The Human Odyssey and Hakim's A History of US because we enjoy those. I also picked up an interesting book called The Greatest Science Stories Never Told: 100 Tales of Invention and Discovery to Astonish, Bewilder, & Stupefy. I suspect that will hold their attention. Of course, there is nothing wrong with good novel, either.
The boys also enjoy fun math. Galen will happily continue with his Core Curriculum, and I found Enrichment Units in Math, Books 1 & 2, for the older boys. These are thought provoking but fun workbooks that we didn't get to during the year, but the boys have expressed interest in. I'd also like to explore Math in the Garden: Hands-On Activities That Bring Math to Life. That is, if I have time to get a garden planted this year.
Of course, I do not want the boys busy with workbooks all summer. To that end, I have Backyard Ballistics and The LEGO Technic Idea Book: Fantastic Contraptions. The former is filled with projects with fun titles such as The Potato Cannon, The Cincinnati Fire Kite, and The Carbide Cannon. The latter is divided into the following project categories: four-legged, two-legged and six-legged walkers; using wind; using weights, movement through vibration, using springs, using magnets, using lights, using pnuematics, using solar panels; chairs and tables; off-center axis of rotation; intermittent movement; changeover mechanism; changeover by switching a motor's rotational direction and mystery. I'm a bit concerned that I may have problems finding the appropriate pieces for the LEGO Technic, but a website mentioned in the text appears to provide a solid lead. Finally, my friend Subadra at Library of Books, Links & More just wrote a a great post on making telescopes, which could be fun to explore. It's nice to have these resources in reserve for when the doldrums hit.
Most evening will be spent at the pool. The boys absolutely love swimming, and we often stay till long after dark. We will also return to our habit of visiting the farmer's market and cooking and baking together.
This is all that I've come up with so far. I suspect I'll need to update this in the coming weeks, but this is a solid start.
I believe the boys need a summer vacation. By that I mean unstructured free time to play, explore, and do as they please. For that reason, we do not school year round in the sense that we do not follow a routine of prescribed subjects.
Still, Jerry and I have noticed that the boys behave better and seem happier with some sort of loose rhythm to their days. Left to their own devices for too long, our lives degrade into incessant bickering, punctuated by Galen's loud protests. Furthermore, I think we have made every reasonably interesting day trip from the Bay Area to near the Oregon border over the past couple of summers. Finally, the intense heat here precludes we pale Nordic types from doing much out of doors during the heat of the day, and we all feel a bit trapped in the house. So, I've been brainstorming.
Here's my ideas so far.
While the middle of the day can be miserably hot here, early mornings are just beautiful. So, I am considering waking the boys at the crack of dawn to go bike riding on our trail system or to take nature hikes on some of our local trails. I've been skimming some books I've collected over time to give me ideas to enrich our time out of doors: Wild Days: Creating Discovery Journals; Teaching Kids to Love the Earth; Keeping a Nature Journal; Enriching the Young Naturalist: The Nature of Science in the Classroom; and The Nature Connection: An Outdoor Workbook. (I particularly like the suggestion in Wild Days to hike out and offhandedly offer a cookie from a previously hidden stash to the first child to draw something he finds. Blatant bribery may be what finally gets my boys to explore art.) I've also been attempting to put together a basic field kit for the boys with some art supplies, magnifiers and binoculars, bug, bird and flora field guides, etc.
Once home during the heat of the day, we can read if they don't wish to nap. I'm hoping that the library will permit Landry to participate in the teen summer reading program, despite his age. Last year, they provided a bingo card with each box filled with a different subject matter or genre. The goal was to complete any line by reading a wide variety of books for a prize. I think this could help to broaden Landry's already voracious interest in books. I suspect Kipp will continue to read his way through the Magic Tree House series, and, with luck, Galen will read his first book this summer.
In addition to independent reading, I'd also like to read aloud to the boys, as it is something that we all enjoy. I am always amazed that when I read to one, I suddenly have all three tucked in around me. I'd like to continue with The Human Odyssey and Hakim's A History of US because we enjoy those. I also picked up an interesting book called The Greatest Science Stories Never Told: 100 Tales of Invention and Discovery to Astonish, Bewilder, & Stupefy. I suspect that will hold their attention. Of course, there is nothing wrong with good novel, either.
The boys also enjoy fun math. Galen will happily continue with his Core Curriculum, and I found Enrichment Units in Math, Books 1 & 2, for the older boys. These are thought provoking but fun workbooks that we didn't get to during the year, but the boys have expressed interest in. I'd also like to explore Math in the Garden: Hands-On Activities That Bring Math to Life. That is, if I have time to get a garden planted this year.
Of course, I do not want the boys busy with workbooks all summer. To that end, I have Backyard Ballistics and The LEGO Technic Idea Book: Fantastic Contraptions. The former is filled with projects with fun titles such as The Potato Cannon, The Cincinnati Fire Kite, and The Carbide Cannon. The latter is divided into the following project categories: four-legged, two-legged and six-legged walkers; using wind; using weights, movement through vibration, using springs, using magnets, using lights, using pnuematics, using solar panels; chairs and tables; off-center axis of rotation; intermittent movement; changeover mechanism; changeover by switching a motor's rotational direction and mystery. I'm a bit concerned that I may have problems finding the appropriate pieces for the LEGO Technic, but a website mentioned in the text appears to provide a solid lead. Finally, my friend Subadra at Library of Books, Links & More just wrote a a great post on making telescopes, which could be fun to explore. It's nice to have these resources in reserve for when the doldrums hit.
Most evening will be spent at the pool. The boys absolutely love swimming, and we often stay till long after dark. We will also return to our habit of visiting the farmer's market and cooking and baking together.
This is all that I've come up with so far. I suspect I'll need to update this in the coming weeks, but this is a solid start.
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