summer learning

I've been noticing this week all the learning that's been going on around here, despite the fact that we're on our summer "school break". A lot of it is things you would typically consider summer vacation type stuff -- swimming, hiking, playing outdoors in general. But when I sit right down with the photos, it's easy to categorize how they would fit into a typical "school" learning structure, and I thought it might be fun to share.


Take this first example, a photo of my kids doing one of their daily chores, moving the ducks from their nighttime pen to the pasture where they spend their days. Not only are they earning their weekly allowance ($1 each, farm labor is cheap) by doing chores (putting out the ducks and chickens, and collecting eggs from all), which of course is Economics, but they are also getting plenty of physical exercise in the process (Gym).

Also in the Gym category are our morning walks. Science, too, as they are making discoveries about the natural world as we go. They are both becoming very skilled Ornithologists, easily able to identify common (and some not-so-common) birds both by sight and by song. And their Botany knowledge increases daily as various plants, trees, and shrubs are discovered on our journeys. We're also working on their Occupational Therapy skills -- this photos shows some pretty complex Motor Planning and Balance activities as the boys chart their way across a stream by jumping from rock to rock.

More Gym -- bowling -- and Sensory Integration galore, hefting 8 lbs balls around and flinging them down the lane.

A little bit of Physics at work as well -- where does the ball go, what effect does it have on the pins? What if you roll it faster? Slower? A little more to the left? There's no need to point any of this out, the kids get that each action has an effect and they are drawing their own conclusions without any interference from me.

Arts and Crafts -- J pulls out his crocheting in the quiet hour before Zoo Boy gets up in the morning and spends some time working on various projects. Both boys have been sculpting sand castles, both in our play area at home and at the lake. And they continue making various origami creatures, too. So despite the fact that I've not sat down with them with paint and crayons this summer, the art work has gone on anyway.

Language Arts. I already blogged yesterday about all the reading that's been going on around here this summer. I've also set aside time (once a day after rest) for the boys to work on handwriting practice sheets, something that I sort of left out of our year last year so feel the need to make up time with. Both boys are quite enthusiastic about this practice time and are very independent about it. I hand them a different letter page each day, and they practice that page for three days (so each day they have a letter that they've worked on for 2 days, one they've worked on for 1 day, and the new letter). We're working our way through the alphabet that way, and will move on to numbers when we are done with letters. By the time we get to the start of our next school year, they'll have caught up with what we missed during last year.

Other than all that "formal" LA work, the kids are also practicing their skills on their own. Both boys are using their Magnadoodles to write out notes to each other, and to play around with letters, sounds, words, phrases, and sentences. Here's an example of J's work, playing around with various pronunciations of "a". (This is all their own work, by the way, I never even make suggestions, these things are going on during "free time", it's just what they choose to do.)

And there's plenty of handwriting practice to be found as a result of their play. Here, J listed out all the Pokemon types for The Map Man so that he could participate in a Pokemon guessing game the boys made up.

Combining Art and Math -- Zoo Boy decided to make Playdoh numbers and arranged them in various equations.

The boys also are working on their money handling/counting skills (i.e., more math). Here J counts up his change to see how much he's got. He's saving up for a new bicycle (he's ready to really learn to ride now, and has outgrown his old bike), and yesterday he went on line to find out how much a 20" boy's bike costs. (Economics!)

He then sat down and added the amount of change he has to the amount of bills, to discover that he has $36.50. The bike he wants is $80, and he was a little discouraged to discover that he's $43.50 short (after another math equation). However, I told him that if he pays for half the bike, Daddy and I will pay for the rest. That caused another quick flurry of calculations, and he happily reported that in just two more weeks he'll have enough to pay for half a bike, between his job with the neighbor and his allowance from us.

Not to be outdone, Zoo Boy figured out what he's got in funds as well. He discovered that he has $13.74. He also did a bit of research on-line, and found out that he can afford a large Bionicle, or a small Lego set, or a couple packs of Pokemon cards, or a new Bakugan set. He's undecided as to which he'll actually purchase, but is determined to take his money and go shopping the same day J buys his bike. Meanwhile, I've decided it's time for the boys to have their own wallets to carry when they shop, so I'll be on the lookout for something appropriate.

There's so much learning going on around here, I've decided that there's no need to start our school year as early as I was planning. (Which was supposed to be in 2 weeks.) I think we'd all enjoy a little more summer, especially given that the summer weather has only just begun around here. I've already planned out our fall semester, so I'm ready to go when I feel like they're ready, but right now, we're all feeling very nourished by our Summer rhythms and activities, and I see no need to rush the natural process of things along.