Summer Learning Anyone?

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First off, I think we fixed some of the spam comments issues! Hooray! I do have a favor for you though, could you leave me a comment here to let me know if its working well for you? Just want to be sure that it is all working right!

Now on to the subject of summer! It is really right around the corner and we are really excited here! The girls are ready to play in the sun, swim like fish, and explore all sorts of new things! However, that leads us WAY out of the classroom. In fact we are kind of avoiding it! How about you? This has me thinking though about how much we are missing by not keeping some learning happening here. So what do you do to make learning something different, special, and fun for summer?

Now I don’t know about you, but we tend to take a REALLY relaxed view to learning during the summer. They are too happy playing, and frankly I need a break! I want to sit and not worry about having to learn. However, that doesn’t mean the learning is not going on here! Today alone, they girls observed a spider eating a centipede (not me, I took a picture and left. Ewwwww….I hate spiders!), they used legos to see if the airplane or if the raft would float better, and they sat picking apart maple seeds to see the parts of the seed. What did I do to help their learning here? Nothing. You heard me….nothing.  I let them explore what they wanted. Now I don’t think that there was any earth shattering discoveries, but I do think that these impressions are there for them when we do learn about something more. The real world expiriences are important! I do have plans to study the ocean with the girls this summer, and to also do some projects with simple machines (Bunny will love that). But I am not going to make trays or sit in the school room to do it. It will be simple, playful, and free learning about these things (ok…you never know. I may get carried away and make trays for the fun of it).  We are also going to do a fun little reading program at home with writing projects and games to win some prizes! Bunny has been reading a lot and she loves to have a chart to see the progress. Plus, Pup wants to try some reading too, so we will be doing all of that! So it will be a summer with learning, but also mostly play! After all, Montessori is all about making the learning happen in such a way that no knows that it is learning! It should be fun, fluid, and prefect for them!

Although I get a break from teaching however, I don’t get a break from learning! Summer becomes a busy time for homeschool moms as they start to think about what they will need for the new school year! Am I right? So I am back to reading some books, researching program options, and getting things together for the work we want to do in the fall! When I get it all figured out I will let you know, but until then, I am busy! I find that the best way to start the process is by getting back to basics! There are a few books on my to read list the summer  as I start planning. I will be reading Montessori At Home!, Real Learning , and The Religious Potential of the Child. But I was thinking about how fun it would be fun to read with you! Maybe we can do a bit of a book group online! We can share our thoughts, our fears, and our brilliant ideas as we plan and move toward the next year!  What do you think?  I would love to find one more book for inspiration! So what is on your summer homeschool reading list? Which book do you think would be fun to read together? Share your ideas in the comments (now that they are fixed) and let me know!

I am linking up over at Montessori Monday and Hip Homeshool Hop. Stop at their sites for lots more learning fun!