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Most of our science has been nature-related, with art and nature walks. Last year, we studied the human body with some lapbooks. But this year, I wanted to go a little more formal without losing the fun hands-on aspect that is still so important to my kids. We are learning about earth and space, and my objective was to combine some depth of study with projects and activities that don’t leave me doing most of the work. I have loved what I’ve seen so far from the Christian Kids Explore material.
Our first science lessons began with Creation; the beginning of the earth does seem fitting. It also posed a question: why should we learn about the earth? A great question, and I loved the answer. 1) God made it and has spoken about it exclusively in His Word. He didn’t tell us about any of the other planets in the same detail that He tells about the earth. 2) We live here.
Simple answers, but really thought-provoking too, and the perfect way to start a study.
Oldest’s Planet EarthMiddlest’s Planet Earth with the 7 continents sitting neatly on top.
I love pinterest. It’s an amazing place to find ideas, and this geography game idea has to be one of my new favorites.
“Where in the world is Mr. Sprinkle?”
Really, the game is a fun quiz. After the teaching has been done, I get out the sprinkles, place a few sprinkles on some of the places we are studying, and then call out “Mr. Sprinkle is in [fill in the blank].” For instance, “Mr. Sprinkle is in Rome,” “Mr. Sprinkle is in the Mediterranean Sea,” “Mr. Sprinkle is in the North Sea,” “Mr. Sprinkle…”—you get the idea.
The kids find the sprinkle and eat it! So awesome! Of course, you could do this with any candy or treat. But, as the original poster suggested, a sprinkle is not a lot of sugar to feel guilty about feeding your kids. They won’t ruin their lunch with this game. And, as an added bonus, the maps stay relatively clean. (But you could always put them in a sheet protector if you are concerned about smudges.)
Another fun part about this game is that Middlest can play and learn, too. If she seems stumped, I give her a clue by the color of the sprinkle. “Look for a blue sprinkle.” And that helps her to find it more quickly.
Most of all, the quiz becomes something to look forward to rather than a dreaded exercise. I love making learning fun, and this is a definite winner!
As a fun math supplement for the summer, I decided to give Life of Fred a try. I’m always concerned about bringing in the practical, conceptual, critical-thinking part of math—especially since math isn’t necessarily my strength. And Life of Fred seemed like an engaging way to get that done.
Boy, was I ever right!
We read one chapter a day, roughly five minutes of “math” storyline, and the kids are never happy with just one chapter. I’m always asked for “just one more.”
Fred is a five year old who started teaching math at the university when he was nine months old, and the antics pick up from there. My kids get so tickled with these stories. I mean, the kind of belly-busting hysterics that are the picture of childhood joy. Science, critical thinking, history, and advanced math like algebra are all woven into the most unbelievable story. It’s silly, and so much fun.
Like a sketch of what Fred would look like if his nose were deciduous. Or Fred’s idea of how to turn a circle into an ellipse (put an elephant on top to squish the circle).
Each chapter ends with around 5 math questions from topics within that chapter. It’s light and original, asking about familiar math concepts in unfamiliar ways.
Though I wouldn’t use this as my primary math curriculum, it certainly has been a fun summer study. Oldest gets some reading practice by helping read some of the chapters; he gets a review of the math concepts he learned earlier this year, plus Life of Fred expands on those concepts and provides practical applications; Middlest gets an introduction to the concepts she will be learning; and they both are having so much fun with Fred that they ask for him everyday.
“As serious as it needs to be” is Life of Fred‘s slogan—I love learning like that, especially in the summer!
Check out the Life of Fredwebsite and pick up your own fun summer math program.
No disclaimer needed for this post. I purchased these myself and just wanted to share with you what we thought about them.
We’re several weeks into our new routine now, and loving summer! Nature walks, art, some music theory, poetry—summer school is in full swing. And thankfully, it’s all that I’d hoped and intended it to be.
I get a lot of questions about our summer school schedule, so I thought I’d share what our day looks like right now.
First of all, I’ve split our subjects and assigned them on different days. For instance, we do art and nature study one day; we do music and perhaps some poetry on another day; we do Life of Fred everyday. In all, we do our activities for roughly an hour a day. Nothing heavy, and lots of fun mommy-time with the kids.
music theory and music appreciation
Every day looks a little different. This is summer. This is our break. And while I want something to structure our days, I don’t want to be so regimented we’re not getting our breather. So first thing in the morning, I send them outside to play, to take advantage of the cool mornings before everything heats up. After playing for a couple of hours, they are usually ready for some structured activities. Oldest is still doing his Reflex Math everyday, usually while I shower and finish up with Littlest. Our “summer school” usually gets started around 11 a.m. and finishes up when we get hungry, around noon-ish.
Oldest’s rendition of our dog at sunset
One day, we took a walk and did a nature scavenger hunt (something taller than you, something smaller than your thumb, something that needs air, etc.); we also talked about the anatomy of trees and the different kinds of trees (deciduous/broadleaf and conifer/evergreen). Then we came in, cooled off, and did some art, learning to sketch with an ebony pencil.
art and nature study
On another day, we read Life of Fred on the front porch and then did a read-aloud together.
Another day, we practiced music together, learning notes on the scale using Lady Treble and the Seven Notes and Oldest’s recorder lesson book and Middlest’s Dora piano.
We added some extra stickers from “Lady Treble” to her Dora piano.
On yet another day, we went for a walk to pick different kinds of leaves, we read about the different leaf shapes and why plants need leaves, then we did leaf rubbings in our nature notebooks—and watercolored.
It’s a little structure and a lot of fun. It’s learning in a casual setting. It’s creating and exploring and enjoying summer.
In the past, our art studies have been more art appreciation, studying the great artists. This summer, I chose to make our music and art studies a little more practical. We’re not neglecting the greats, but we are doing a lot more of the creating for ourselves, rather than copying from others.
I snagged a discounted copy of Artistic Pursuits on ebay, and we’ve been working through a couple of the lessons each week. It combines picture study and some artist information while providing plenty of practical creating. We’ve been experimenting with different art media for the first time: watercolor, oil pastel, etc.
We’ve also supplemented with some youtube videos to help us with a few tips on how to use the medium we are working with.
With the oil pastels, we learned about smearing the wax from the pastels to blend the colors and scratching into the colors with a toothpick to add more texture. And as far as supplies, we’ve kept it cheap—a set of oil pastels for $4.99 at Walmart that we all share and a stack of newsprint paper from Hobby Lobby.
I love having them take art outside. Not only does it keep the mess to a minimum for me, but it gives them more fresh sunshine and the thrill of outdoor art.
In a way, I miss the intimate way we’ve gotten to know our artists in the past, but it has been fun to be a little less formal and a lot more creative.
I’ve seen the idea spiraling around Pinterest, and I just had to get in on the action. I mean, poetry and a party was absolutely too much of a temptation for this poetic party animal.
So we had a “Poetry Tea,” littles-style.
I found a few super fun poetry books at my local library (hint: illustrated poetry is a definite plus if you have little ones).
And I gave in to all those years of “Ovaltine” commercials I heard growing up. I saw it in the tea aisle and figured it was as kid friendly as I could get, and nutritious as a bonus. To stick with the truly English tradition of tea, I made scones (a simple pre-packaged, pull-apart, throw on a baking sheet kind of scone—don’t be overly impressed, folks).
The kids were absolutely stoked. They pestered me for days about having our poetry tea. I had Middlest pick a bouquet for our table, and the party began.
Even Littlest decided to wake up from his nap in time to join us.
All around an absolute blast. It’s definitely something we will do again, just not so sure I can pull it off as a weekly thing. Whenever we get to do it again, these littles will be super hungry for more!
Disclaimer: I received these products for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Last fall, I had the opportunity to review Music Together’s Family Favorites CD and teacher book. (Read my previous review here.) It soon became an unexpected favorite and often requested part of nearly everyday. I’m not exaggerating! Now that Littlest can get around and make his wishes and whims known, he’ll often head for the CD player motioning his baby sign for “please.” I know exactly what he wants:
We all dance together, beat out the rhythms, and sing along to our “family favorites” (pun absolutely intended). We’re not just having fun and bonding, though that alone is valuable; we’re learning about rhythms and harmonies, language and cultural diversity.
So when I had the opportunity to do a follow-up review with some of Music Together’s Singalong Storybooks, made to accompany our favorite songs, I was absolutely giddy!
Music Together has taken some of their most popular songs and illustrated them as read-aloud, sing-along books, available as both board books ($8.95) and hardcovers ($12.95). We were given Hello Everybody, She Sells Seashells, and One Little Owl for review.
The day these arrived was like Christmas at my house. The kids were so excited.
There are several aspects to these books that I love. For one, there are so many interactive ideas and suggestions provided within the books themselves. (A free download of the accompanying song is also provided.) Sing the story, read the story, sing and let your child complete the phrase, make up your own verses to the song as you read, count the objects, find the characters and objects, and more. And because the books were written to our favorite, already memorized songs, the story-line and the experience went with us throughout the day, even after the books were closed on the shelf.
Each book comes with suggested activities for using the story with your child.
In addition to rhythm, music, and language, these books are great for reinforcing counting and addition, colors, and even identifying seashells!
One of our fun activities was to dramatize the “One Little Owl” song, inspired by the pictures from the book. Pictured here is the verse “The poor old tree said, ‘Oh, no!…All these things are sitting on me.”
The various ideas gave me a chance to interact with each child at their own level with the same book. My one year old enjoyed hearing me sing the song and point out the characters as we read. My four year old loved to count the animals on each page and finish the song for me when I paused. My six year old was all about making up his own additional verses to the songs.
Middlest’s favorite book
Oldest’s favorite book
Littlest’s Favorite
One other aspect that I love, especially for my Littlest, is the language development that comes from hearing the story in song. During one of our “Baby Story Times” at our local library, the librarian mentioned how songs slow down our speech and make it easier for babies to hear certain sounds and words. Adding the pictures and story to this experience of singing makes this a very powerful teaching tool. And I’m not the only one to recognize this; these books have won long lists of awards from various organizations.
Mom’s Choice Award
NAPPA Honors Award in Educational Tools
National Parenting Center’s Seal of Approval
Academics’ Choice Smart Books Award, and more!
Then, there’s the fact that these books are just plain fun—beautiful illustrations and quality books that are enjoyable all by themselves. With literally shelves upon shelves of books at our house, these are favorites that all of my kids (including the littlest of all) keep coming back to again and again.
Now, Music Together is even more of a favorite. Not only do we have the catchy tunes with lots of rhythm and movement, but now we have the added element of a fun story with pictures. It’s learning and fun that keep us coming together for more.
