We educate all year, of course, and I still require what most would consider academic or book work during most of the summer months. Overall, though, I tend not to identify us as year-round homeschoolers for one reason: summer camps.
I'm a big fan of summer camps. Yes, kids need downtime, time to relax and just be, and so forth. I'm not denying that. For my kids, though, for whom every day might include a good dose of that sort of thing, summer camp is a great time to expand their horizons and provide them with a not-as-every day experience.
The result is that I'm almost always seeking out options and ideas for great summer camp experiences for the kids. EG has a few camps that she always attends, but this year she's branching out. I'm similarly seeking new options for FB, as he's outgrown the preschool half-day camps, and simultaneously hasn't quite aged into some of the grade-school camps. (Fie!) As I was writing this post, I went to confirm something else and discovered that, technically, PC is old enough for half-day preschool camp at the YMCA. I really can't imagine her at camp. "[PC], come sit in the circle." "No!" Yeah, I think we may wait on that one--though, ohhh, it is tempting.
What kind of camps? This year, both of the bigs are going to ice skating camp. They'll also go to a local high school show choir's day camp (EG has gone for years; this will be FB's first year). EG will go to Girl Scout day camp; FB will probably go to tennis camp at the Y for a week, plus a Sports & Skills camp that a local church holds each year. EG's two big new camps are Girls Rock Camp and Space Camp. Yes, these absorb a huge chunk of the summer budget, lol! I think she'll really enjoy both of them, though. I want to find something else for FB, but as I said, he's at an awkward age. The local universities have summer camps, but he's not considered old enough. He's bright and all of that, but if I pay for zoo camp or similar, I want him to be a little older. I think he'll still manage to have a good summer.
And, of course... I hope we'll be moving this summer.
Showing posts with label summertime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summertime. Show all posts
25.7.10
Maybe the last time, I don't know
We start school in the morning. I'm less prepared than I had anticipated. I lost steam around the beginning of June and never really found my motivation after that. I've managed passably well, though, and I've done most of the work that needs to be done. In a little while, the Spousal Unit is going to help me move a few more things into the school area so that we're set up for tomorrow. While we'll be accomplishing school and counting the days towards our required total, I'm viewing this week as a transitional week. EG's planner doesn't start until August, and this week and next, none of their school year activities will have begun.
Summer has felt both long and short. The only difficulty with ending our school year relatively early in May is that we have two to three weeks of "summer break" before it truly feels like summer. I'm contemplating, in the future, having us celebrate reaching 180 days, and then continue with at least some work throughout the remainder of May or until Memorial Day weekend. Then we'd go to our summer pattern: review math daily, read daily, and do something educational daily. The latter might include games, educational viewing, or typing practice, mind, so that's not exactly strenuous!
We love summer camps, though. EG attended resident camp for one week, as well as four weeks of day camp. FB attended four weeks of day camp as well. Next year, they'll be able to attend a few weeks of day camp together! I'm excited for them. I try to schedule it so that I have one week where I have time with just PC (which means that one day of that week, I get time just for ME!), and at least one week each where I have only PC & one older child (again, one day of that week, it's just me & EG or me & FB). I actually don't feel as strongly about having a week with just PC this coming year; she'll appreciate it more as she gets older, and right now, she just misses her siblings when they're gone!
My in-service week went relatively well, and I'll write about it sometime this week. I think tomorrow will go well. FB is really excited about "starting kindergarten," and EG is looking forward to the structure, I think. I'm looking forward to the structure a bit, myself.
Finally, I'm starting a new blogging project. If you're a structured homeschooler that would label yourself "evolutionary," and you think you might want to participate, comment and let me know. I am defining evolutionary as "homeschooling using nonsectarian and/or secular materials whenever possible; giving evolution its due."
Summer has felt both long and short. The only difficulty with ending our school year relatively early in May is that we have two to three weeks of "summer break" before it truly feels like summer. I'm contemplating, in the future, having us celebrate reaching 180 days, and then continue with at least some work throughout the remainder of May or until Memorial Day weekend. Then we'd go to our summer pattern: review math daily, read daily, and do something educational daily. The latter might include games, educational viewing, or typing practice, mind, so that's not exactly strenuous!
We love summer camps, though. EG attended resident camp for one week, as well as four weeks of day camp. FB attended four weeks of day camp as well. Next year, they'll be able to attend a few weeks of day camp together! I'm excited for them. I try to schedule it so that I have one week where I have time with just PC (which means that one day of that week, I get time just for ME!), and at least one week each where I have only PC & one older child (again, one day of that week, it's just me & EG or me & FB). I actually don't feel as strongly about having a week with just PC this coming year; she'll appreciate it more as she gets older, and right now, she just misses her siblings when they're gone!
My in-service week went relatively well, and I'll write about it sometime this week. I think tomorrow will go well. FB is really excited about "starting kindergarten," and EG is looking forward to the structure, I think. I'm looking forward to the structure a bit, myself.
Finally, I'm starting a new blogging project. If you're a structured homeschooler that would label yourself "evolutionary," and you think you might want to participate, comment and let me know. I am defining evolutionary as "homeschooling using nonsectarian and/or secular materials whenever possible; giving evolution its due."
7.7.10
Checking In, and Gearing Up
After a full year of school combined with all of my planning for next year, I was so ready for time off. I was so ready, I didn't even blog the entire month of June. Between finishing the school year and preparing to enter a new phase of our homeschool, I was nearly drained of any and all energy concerning school. I read the WTM boards, most of the time, but I haven't been very social online in weeks.
We've had a busy, full summer so far. EG has been to several camps, and has one week of science camp remaining. FB had two weeks of mini-camp at the Y, too, though he's excited that next year, as a rising first grader, he can attend far more camps. We went to the Great Smoky Mountains one weekend, celebrated Independence Day, and took a trip to the zoo, not to mention trips to the water park. One of those trips involved burns to the bottoms of my feet, complete with blisters, but let's not talk too much about that.
For my part, I've been reading quite a bit, as well as working on finalizing memory work for the year. I realized belatedly that I was going to have to be more deliberate than "do more memory work in 2010-2011." I have a good deal of the work laid out, and Living Memory should be here in a week or so, which will help me fill in the remaining blanks. I'm even getting PC in on the action. She turns two in November, so it's not out of the realm of possibility for her to have memorized her full name and some nursery rhymes by the end of the school year.
I spent today getting our calendars and planning materials. While I'll have my usual binder of spreadsheet-plans for each subject, I wanted a separate plan book for myself that would give me the layout of each week. I found one at the local school supply store that has room for eight subjects and happily lists the days of the week down the side rather than across the top (my preference). I'll keep my detailed plans for MCT LA in there, all of FB's plans, and whatever other plans for EG that I feel I need to have in front of me. I also received EG's planner from amazon today. Two years ago, I introduced the assignment book, and it's worked well for two years. Increasingly, though, her assignments are either simple (Lesson X in Life of Fred, Exercise 2.2 in Latin Prep, etc.), or far too detailed to list in the book other than "see page," such as for history, music appreciation, and art appreciation. Last year, I purchased a planner for her, so she could keep track of non-academic endeavors. Having two books, though, didn't work out well, and in the end, she didn't keep up with the planner at all. So, this year, we're going to try integrating the two. I purchased her the Aspire planner from Action Publishing. I like that it encourages goal setting and a daily slot for assignments and other activities. When a subject has a quick entry, the information will go in that slot for the day - "Lesson 10 in LoF Adv Alg." If it's history, it will say "see history page." I'll be responsible for adding in her assignments, she'll be responsible for marking them complete. We'll work together, at least this first year, to add other commitments and activities. I'm hopeful this will work - and if it doesn't, I have one of our standby assignment books on hand, just in case.
I realized a few days ago, though, that I'm ready for the new school year to begin. As nice as the break has been, all of us need the structure. FB has started asking when it will be time for school start again, because he misses his friends at Master's Academy. Even though I had hoped we would have been moved and settled into our new house by the time that we began this 2010-2011 school year, I'm nevertheless ready to start it anyway. (Hopefully things will fall into place on that front!)
And now I need to find another way to avoid going to the freezer to get the meat I need in order to cook dinner. I'd be fine if I hadn't seen a mouse scurry across my carport into my freezer-containing utility room last week. I knew, intellectually, that it was likely small animals found their way into the utility room, but I was unconcerned, since utility room ≠ my house. Knowing there is a mouse around, though, makes me trepidatious about entering said utility room. Ugh!
We've had a busy, full summer so far. EG has been to several camps, and has one week of science camp remaining. FB had two weeks of mini-camp at the Y, too, though he's excited that next year, as a rising first grader, he can attend far more camps. We went to the Great Smoky Mountains one weekend, celebrated Independence Day, and took a trip to the zoo, not to mention trips to the water park. One of those trips involved burns to the bottoms of my feet, complete with blisters, but let's not talk too much about that.
For my part, I've been reading quite a bit, as well as working on finalizing memory work for the year. I realized belatedly that I was going to have to be more deliberate than "do more memory work in 2010-2011." I have a good deal of the work laid out, and Living Memory should be here in a week or so, which will help me fill in the remaining blanks. I'm even getting PC in on the action. She turns two in November, so it's not out of the realm of possibility for her to have memorized her full name and some nursery rhymes by the end of the school year.
I spent today getting our calendars and planning materials. While I'll have my usual binder of spreadsheet-plans for each subject, I wanted a separate plan book for myself that would give me the layout of each week. I found one at the local school supply store that has room for eight subjects and happily lists the days of the week down the side rather than across the top (my preference). I'll keep my detailed plans for MCT LA in there, all of FB's plans, and whatever other plans for EG that I feel I need to have in front of me. I also received EG's planner from amazon today. Two years ago, I introduced the assignment book, and it's worked well for two years. Increasingly, though, her assignments are either simple (Lesson X in Life of Fred, Exercise 2.2 in Latin Prep, etc.), or far too detailed to list in the book other than "see page," such as for history, music appreciation, and art appreciation. Last year, I purchased a planner for her, so she could keep track of non-academic endeavors. Having two books, though, didn't work out well, and in the end, she didn't keep up with the planner at all. So, this year, we're going to try integrating the two. I purchased her the Aspire planner from Action Publishing. I like that it encourages goal setting and a daily slot for assignments and other activities. When a subject has a quick entry, the information will go in that slot for the day - "Lesson 10 in LoF Adv Alg." If it's history, it will say "see history page." I'll be responsible for adding in her assignments, she'll be responsible for marking them complete. We'll work together, at least this first year, to add other commitments and activities. I'm hopeful this will work - and if it doesn't, I have one of our standby assignment books on hand, just in case.
I realized a few days ago, though, that I'm ready for the new school year to begin. As nice as the break has been, all of us need the structure. FB has started asking when it will be time for school start again, because he misses his friends at Master's Academy. Even though I had hoped we would have been moved and settled into our new house by the time that we began this 2010-2011 school year, I'm nevertheless ready to start it anyway. (Hopefully things will fall into place on that front!)
And now I need to find another way to avoid going to the freezer to get the meat I need in order to cook dinner. I'd be fine if I hadn't seen a mouse scurry across my carport into my freezer-containing utility room last week. I knew, intellectually, that it was likely small animals found their way into the utility room, but I was unconcerned, since utility room ≠ my house. Knowing there is a mouse around, though, makes me trepidatious about entering said utility room. Ugh!
21.5.10
Summer Report :)
I'm going to try to stay in the habit of posting a "weekly report" even during the summer. I still need to post last week's tell-all about DC, and possibly some version of the annual report I wrote for EG. The annual report that I am required to write, by law, but not required to do anything with. Strange laws.
This was our first official week of summer. EG did take the ITBS this week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We're not required to test this year, but I think a familiarity with standardized tests is important given the strictures of today's educational system. Plus, if she continues to test well, it's little effort to "prove" her home-grown grades in high school level courses through standardized testing.
FB had his very last tumbling class. He, like his older sister, took tumbling at the Y in a class for three and four year olds. We actually got special permission for him to finish out this year after he turned five. He is enrolled in a gymnastics class through our county program starting this summer, to which he's looking forward, but he was still sad to have his last class with Ms. Lauren.
While EG was at her testing on Thursday morning, FB & I went strawberry picking with some friends. Later in the afternoon, one of those friends came over and taught me how to make strawberry jam. :) I'm going to attempt it on my own this afternoon.
In other food news, we got the hanging weights on the grass-fed beef. We should be picking it up in a week or two. Mmm, beef.
EG has also been doing some math and reading several books. I'm not sure what amount of what she's been doing, except she did take a book about math to her testing, to read after she finished a section but before time was called. I had to tell her not to read it after the math sections just in case someone thought she was using for assistance with the test.
I'm glad we have these few weeks of downtime before the summer camps start. FB will be doing two different weeks of mini camp at the Y, and EG will be doing a week of resident camp, a week of GS day camp, a week of musical theatre day camp, and a week of science day camp. Lots of running around!
This was our first official week of summer. EG did take the ITBS this week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We're not required to test this year, but I think a familiarity with standardized tests is important given the strictures of today's educational system. Plus, if she continues to test well, it's little effort to "prove" her home-grown grades in high school level courses through standardized testing.
FB had his very last tumbling class. He, like his older sister, took tumbling at the Y in a class for three and four year olds. We actually got special permission for him to finish out this year after he turned five. He is enrolled in a gymnastics class through our county program starting this summer, to which he's looking forward, but he was still sad to have his last class with Ms. Lauren.
While EG was at her testing on Thursday morning, FB & I went strawberry picking with some friends. Later in the afternoon, one of those friends came over and taught me how to make strawberry jam. :) I'm going to attempt it on my own this afternoon.
In other food news, we got the hanging weights on the grass-fed beef. We should be picking it up in a week or two. Mmm, beef.
EG has also been doing some math and reading several books. I'm not sure what amount of what she's been doing, except she did take a book about math to her testing, to read after she finished a section but before time was called. I had to tell her not to read it after the math sections just in case someone thought she was using for assistance with the test.
I'm glad we have these few weeks of downtime before the summer camps start. FB will be doing two different weeks of mini camp at the Y, and EG will be doing a week of resident camp, a week of GS day camp, a week of musical theatre day camp, and a week of science day camp. Lots of running around!
Summer Report :)
I'm going to try to stay in the habit of posting a "weekly report" even during the summer. I still need to post last week's tell-all about DC, and possibly some version of the annual report I wrote for EG. The annual report that I am required to write, by law, but not required to do anything with. Strange laws.
This was our first official week of summer. EG did take the ITBS this week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We're not required to test this year, but I think a familiarity with standardized tests is important given the strictures of today's educational system. Plus, if she continues to test well, it's little effort to "prove" her home-grown grades in high school level courses through standardized testing.
FB had his very last tumbling class. He, like his older sister, took tumbling at the Y in a class for three and four year olds. We actually got special permission for him to finish out this year after he turned five. He is enrolled in a gymnastics class through our county program starting this summer, to which he's looking forward, but he was still sad to have his last class with Ms. Lauren.
While EG was at her testing on Thursday morning, FB & I went strawberry picking with some friends. Later in the afternoon, one of those friends came over and taught me how to make strawberry jam. :) I'm going to attempt it on my own this afternoon.
In other food news, we got the hanging weights on the grass-fed beef. We should be picking it up in a week or two. Mmm, beef.
EG has also been doing some math and reading several books. I'm not sure what amount of what she's been doing, except she did take a book about math to her testing, to read after she finished a section but before time was called. I had to tell her not to read it after the math sections just in case someone thought she was using for assistance with the test.
I'm glad we have these few weeks of downtime before the summer camps start. FB will be doing two different weeks of mini camp at the Y, and EG will be doing a week of resident camp, a week of GS day camp, a week of musical theatre day camp, and a week of science day camp. Lots of running around!
This was our first official week of summer. EG did take the ITBS this week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We're not required to test this year, but I think a familiarity with standardized tests is important given the strictures of today's educational system. Plus, if she continues to test well, it's little effort to "prove" her home-grown grades in high school level courses through standardized testing.
FB had his very last tumbling class. He, like his older sister, took tumbling at the Y in a class for three and four year olds. We actually got special permission for him to finish out this year after he turned five. He is enrolled in a gymnastics class through our county program starting this summer, to which he's looking forward, but he was still sad to have his last class with Ms. Lauren.
While EG was at her testing on Thursday morning, FB & I went strawberry picking with some friends. Later in the afternoon, one of those friends came over and taught me how to make strawberry jam. :) I'm going to attempt it on my own this afternoon.
In other food news, we got the hanging weights on the grass-fed beef. We should be picking it up in a week or two. Mmm, beef.
EG has also been doing some math and reading several books. I'm not sure what amount of what she's been doing, except she did take a book about math to her testing, to read after she finished a section but before time was called. I had to tell her not to read it after the math sections just in case someone thought she was using for assistance with the test.
I'm glad we have these few weeks of downtime before the summer camps start. FB will be doing two different weeks of mini camp at the Y, and EG will be doing a week of resident camp, a week of GS day camp, a week of musical theatre day camp, and a week of science day camp. Lots of running around!
17.2.10
Summertime, Summertime
No, I haven't misplaced my calendar. I'm just thinking ahead (per usual), and have summertime & vacations on my mind.
From time to time, I see discussion about how year-round homeschooling works for various families. There are usually various reasons cited for the decision, but at the risk of gross overgeneralization, it's usually a comment about how they want their children to realize that learning happens all the time, and that they have a learning lifestyle. Life doesn't stop for three months in the summer, so why should school?
On one hand, I see their point. Learning should, ideally, continue all the time. There's no good reason to stop learning for eight to twelve weeks straight each year. However, there's also no reason that learning has to equal school.
I do understand the mindset and perhaps the appeal. Certain subjects almost have to continue throughout the summer - foreign language vocabulary, for instance, and memory work. Doing some regular math throughout the summer to review concepts and skills is not going to be time-onerous - a good review could easily be accomplished in less than thirty minutes, two to four times weekly. Reading throughout the summer is always a good thing.
There's a big difference between what I just wrote, though, and school as it happens during our official school year. A page of math that's review is a far cry from tackling a new lesson of algebra. Reviewing vocabulary isn't the same as learning additional words. I could make similar comparisons with everything mentioned above.
There's also the fact that, in my opnion, a kid doing school year-round is going to miss out on some great "learning" opportunities. Yes, I think that a week of summer camp teaches a child something. In most areas, there are day camps that focus on traditional outdoor activities, as well as camps that focus on nature, science, history, animals, music, theatre, dance, and more. I think there is a value in experiences outside the norm. Yes, learning happens all the time - but it also happens in many places.
I do understand that not all children have these opportunities. For them, a regular school schedule or perhaps a slightly lighter school schedule is going to be a good choice. I am a firm believer that children like structure and routine, especially past age three or four. If it's a choice between staring the television for hours on end versus schoolwork, you bet I'm going to choose the schoolwork for my kids.
What are our summer plans, you may ask? FB will continue everything he's currently doing, since it takes a total of forty-five minutes or so daily: phonics, handwriting, and math. He's at a point in his skills that an extended time off is not really appropriate. We're also going to read a lot about evolution and dinosaurs over the course of late spring and summer. He'll also go to a couple of weeks of half-day camp at the local Y, and we'll see if anything else opportunity-wise crops up.
EG will do the aforementioned regular review of Latin vocabulary and memory work. She'll have some form of math work to do throughout the summer, though I haven't yet decided what form that will take. She'll probably also have three to four sentences in Practice Town to complete weekly, but that's not yet been determined. She reads voraciously on her own, but I have three or four books that may be explicitly required, to both review the previous year's history and preview the next's. She'll be a busy bee this summer - one week of Girl Scout resident camp, one week of Girl Scout day camp, a week of science camp at the local university, a week of music & dancing camp with a local high school's show choir, and she's asked to do a week of tennis camp as well. I offered her more downtime but she sort of scoffed at me. Apparently it's good to be busy in the summer.
What do you do for summer work? Do you school year-round? Do you do a lightened or reduced schedule, or just review? Do you drop all formal schoolwork altogether? Inquiring minds (or at least mine!) want to know!
From time to time, I see discussion about how year-round homeschooling works for various families. There are usually various reasons cited for the decision, but at the risk of gross overgeneralization, it's usually a comment about how they want their children to realize that learning happens all the time, and that they have a learning lifestyle. Life doesn't stop for three months in the summer, so why should school?
On one hand, I see their point. Learning should, ideally, continue all the time. There's no good reason to stop learning for eight to twelve weeks straight each year. However, there's also no reason that learning has to equal school.
I do understand the mindset and perhaps the appeal. Certain subjects almost have to continue throughout the summer - foreign language vocabulary, for instance, and memory work. Doing some regular math throughout the summer to review concepts and skills is not going to be time-onerous - a good review could easily be accomplished in less than thirty minutes, two to four times weekly. Reading throughout the summer is always a good thing.
There's a big difference between what I just wrote, though, and school as it happens during our official school year. A page of math that's review is a far cry from tackling a new lesson of algebra. Reviewing vocabulary isn't the same as learning additional words. I could make similar comparisons with everything mentioned above.
There's also the fact that, in my opnion, a kid doing school year-round is going to miss out on some great "learning" opportunities. Yes, I think that a week of summer camp teaches a child something. In most areas, there are day camps that focus on traditional outdoor activities, as well as camps that focus on nature, science, history, animals, music, theatre, dance, and more. I think there is a value in experiences outside the norm. Yes, learning happens all the time - but it also happens in many places.
I do understand that not all children have these opportunities. For them, a regular school schedule or perhaps a slightly lighter school schedule is going to be a good choice. I am a firm believer that children like structure and routine, especially past age three or four. If it's a choice between staring the television for hours on end versus schoolwork, you bet I'm going to choose the schoolwork for my kids.
What are our summer plans, you may ask? FB will continue everything he's currently doing, since it takes a total of forty-five minutes or so daily: phonics, handwriting, and math. He's at a point in his skills that an extended time off is not really appropriate. We're also going to read a lot about evolution and dinosaurs over the course of late spring and summer. He'll also go to a couple of weeks of half-day camp at the local Y, and we'll see if anything else opportunity-wise crops up.
EG will do the aforementioned regular review of Latin vocabulary and memory work. She'll have some form of math work to do throughout the summer, though I haven't yet decided what form that will take. She'll probably also have three to four sentences in Practice Town to complete weekly, but that's not yet been determined. She reads voraciously on her own, but I have three or four books that may be explicitly required, to both review the previous year's history and preview the next's. She'll be a busy bee this summer - one week of Girl Scout resident camp, one week of Girl Scout day camp, a week of science camp at the local university, a week of music & dancing camp with a local high school's show choir, and she's asked to do a week of tennis camp as well. I offered her more downtime but she sort of scoffed at me. Apparently it's good to be busy in the summer.
What do you do for summer work? Do you school year-round? Do you do a lightened or reduced schedule, or just review? Do you drop all formal schoolwork altogether? Inquiring minds (or at least mine!) want to know!
