Summer Learning Anyone?
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!
May 22, 2013 @ 1:16 am
Just testing the comments! lol!
May 22, 2013 @ 10:43 am
Hi Stephanie, coming over from Mimi’s House! Love the beach pictures 🙂
May 22, 2013 @ 11:55 am
Thanks so much! I’m glad you popped by! It was nice to meet you!
May 22, 2013 @ 1:20 pm
We’re more of the school year-round, but it’s all relaxed sort of approach 😉 So there will be some “formal” presentations, and probably as much as during the year, but with a majority of our time spent JUST living and exploring. Montessori emphasized the need of a child to have lots of free time – to have the opportunity to get bored – to be totally connected with nature – these things can’t happen if we want them in a sterile classroom all day every day (thinking of schools here). So yep – most of our learning happens OUTSIDE the classroom.
Of course, it’s easy for me to say – as my son moves into upper elementary, there are simply fewer presentations to give and it all looks a LOT more like unschooling. To me it feels natural and appropriate, but we have essentially followed the AMI albums to a T from the beginning – so the free work, the self-chosen projects, the extensions – all built upon each other entirely naturally.
I should add that every summer we do a Bible study and typically have fewer, if any, atrium sessions; other school-year-based activities are gone, so it naturally becomes more relaxed. The only scheduled thing we keep is tae-kwon-do; otherwise, it is OUR time. 😉
May 22, 2013 @ 1:37 pm
That sounds awesome! I think that we are really going to try and do just a few things. I think that they both did such great job that a break will be good. But like you said, learning just happens and I will most likely have a few presentations! We finished our Atrium sessions for the year too. I am now working on putting some atrium works together with some first communion preparation for next year! It sounds like you guys are going to have a great summer!
May 22, 2013 @ 1:36 pm
There is a great list of books on amshq.org under teacher resources!
May 22, 2013 @ 7:41 pm
Ohhh… thanks for the tip! I will take a look!
May 24, 2013 @ 4:11 am
I shared this at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page a couple of days ago, but I’m just now getting over to test out your comment system. Your new blog is lovely, Stephanie! I like your ideas for summer … lots of free time along with interest-based learning sounds perfect! 🙂
May 24, 2013 @ 11:38 am
Thanks Deb. Sorry about the comment mix up! Things were pretty hinky here! 🙂 After I wrote that I felt like I should do some more structured learning, but while I was planning that yesterday, my girls found all sorts of interesting things to learn all on their own! So I am back to looking, listening, and not planning! 😉 Thanks for stopping by!
January 23, 2014 @ 2:46 am
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