Bekah gets done with school tomorrow at 12:50, and then the summer will open up like a big gaping black hole...a place where I'll either do too much or nothing at all and my kids will constantly be hungry. It's the hungry part that frightens me, really. Bekah will snack me into the ground if she has nothing else to occupy her time, so I need to be prepared. Part one of that involved Sams club and lots of bulk snacks. Part Two is a weekly schedule of themes that we can learn about and have fun with. I thought I'd let you in on my plan in case you have any good ideas to go along with it, or if you'd like to adopt it and modify it for your family. There are ten weeks between now and the first week of August.
The libraries in ABQ have a summer reading program where the kids get prizes at the end of each week for reading. I'm hoping to make that a part of this whole thing as well and really use the libraries as my main resource for information on all the different topics.
Journals, reading, stories, worksheets, etc. will be included in each week. Also hopefully each day would have some sort of hands on activity.
Week 1: Mexico
Ideas include: Making Passports for each of the kids and stamping them each day when we finish an activity. Watching videos about the culture and history of Mexico, making a pinata, making a large topographical map with wood as the base, clay for mountains, and paint; learning about Mexican money and "buying" groceries with it; learning spanish words, making decorations for a fiesta and then having a fiesta with Mexican food and our pinata; going to the Ranchers Market (lil' Mexico) in ABQ for dinner. I like the ideas on this website. And this page, too.
Week 2: Transportation
Ideas include: Learning about planes, trains, automobiles; watching Monster Truck movies on Netflix; practicing counting with loads of blocks in a dump truck; going on a train ride, drawing a large car map on cardboard or canvas; making model cars; making modern art map drawings
Week 3: Sports
Ideas include: Learning about bones and muscles, the food pyramid; renting exercise videos from the library to try out; learn about famous athletes; go to a baseball game, make healthy foods like granola and smoothies; learning different sports; having a multi-family baseball game
Week 4: Space
Ideas include: Build a model of outer space (diorama, or styrofoam balls or sidewalk chalk outside), lauch a rocket, make cardboard box rockets, draw aliens, go to the planetarium
Week 5: Houses
Ideas include: Draw our own blueprints, visit funky houses in ABQ, make houses out of marshmallows and spaghetti (uncooked, use the marshmallows for joints), make house of cards, learn about different types of animal houses
Week 6: Music
Ideas include: Go to music in the park, make our own instruments, introduce famous artists and music to my kids, dance everyday
Week 7: Camping/Astronomy
Ideas include: Teach my kids all those wonderful skills from girls camp like fire starting and first aid, teach them camp songs; make flower presses; learn about different plants in the wild; learn camping games; learn about constellations, go camping as a family at the end of the week
Week 8: Book of Mormon
Ideas Include: Learn about Nephi (Nephi's bow), Alma the younger, Ammon, Joseph Smith; make our own gold plates, learn Book of Mormon songs, go to the temple grounds
Week 9: Plants/Trees
Ideas Include: Learn about seeds and roots, what plants need to grow; learn about redwood trees and different forests and climates
Week 10: Under the Sea
Ideas Include: Learn about plants and animals under the sea; ships, hurricanes in bottles, make our own sail boats and race them on the Rio Grande
You can tell I haven't given as much thought to the later weeks...If any of you have any ideas for more games/hands on activities or good resources, let me know! I'll update you on my lesson plans as the weeks go along, if you comment and let me know that you'd like me too. Otherwise I'll just leave it at this.
Here's to a happy, fun, adventurous summer!!
4 comments:
Keri, you are awesome! I have tons of books and songs and games for almost all your topics if you want some ideas (yay elementary music!). Your kids are going to have a blast this summer!
that sounds like so much fun! You are such a good mom. I hope I can do that when Paige gets a little older. I would love to see how things go and see your lesson plans. your kid are going to have fun this summer.
This is probably Mom 101 (but I'm not a mom, so just humor me & pretend that I'm actually helpful, 'k?), but I many of the project ideas on crayola dot com. I've used them to teach art classes when I didn't actually want to think too hard about what to teach. They categorize the crafts by theme, so it's a no-brainer (which sounds like what you're looking for).
P.S. Why doesn't your alien/space week include a trip to Roswell? Already been?
JC
oh my goodness! sounds fun and a lot of work! we would love to do a Flat Stanley with you guys! i looked online at pictures to print off of Flat Stanley and i think you could draw us a better one! anyway, here is my e-mail ashymi at juno dot com. great ideas for things to do during the summer!
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