Lazy days of summer: Lessons Learned at the Lake
We had another one of those days today where we didn't much "schooling." We were headed to a friends cottage to swim and play today. We really only get to see them once a year so the kids were very excited.
We first headed to the library and picked out some more books; the boys each pick any 3 or 4 books they'd like to read and I piled on some non- fiction books about weather/ hail and solar power. They signed up for the summer reading program and were anxious to start reading!
While just playing today Evan again made huge strides in starting to swim-- he swam underwater with some goggles on! He refused to use his vest at all and would walk out to his neck and then swim in towards shore. More and more I'm confident he'll get how to do this and do it well by the end of summer. ( Funny I was just reflecting on how all my kids learned to swim in this post)
Ian learned how to steer a paddle boat today. He took the paddle boat out with a few of the kids and practiced paddling and steering. But the best part was dropping anchor and jumping off. They couldn't manage to get back in the paddle boat though so when help came and they were done playing he came back to shore in the canoe. Ian kayaks a lot so paddling wasn't hard for him to pick up on; however it's the first time he had to coordinate his paddling with anyone else to make sure they were going the direction they wanted.
They played with water balloons all day and learned that even when filled with water most of them float. They appear to sink at first but most of them eventually floated back up to the surface of the water. They told me it's because the balloons still have some air inside. They learned that if you don't fill them much they're harder to break and Ian told me it's because there isn't as much pressure on the balloon! They learned that if you try and fill them too full they'll pop. They also learned you have to keep a bit of room available to knot it shut. A wonderfully, wet, fun, impromptu science lesson.
While Ian was at his music lesson his brothers and I read three books, one about owls, one about ocean animals and one about deer. My kids love non- fiction books and learn a lot of vocabulary just by listening. Alec was able to apply some of the knowledge he picked up at the nature center when reading the owl book and was quite proud when he realized how much he remembered.
Lazy, summer days like this are just perfect and show me all the benefits of unschooling.
We first headed to the library and picked out some more books; the boys each pick any 3 or 4 books they'd like to read and I piled on some non- fiction books about weather/ hail and solar power. They signed up for the summer reading program and were anxious to start reading!
While just playing today Evan again made huge strides in starting to swim-- he swam underwater with some goggles on! He refused to use his vest at all and would walk out to his neck and then swim in towards shore. More and more I'm confident he'll get how to do this and do it well by the end of summer. ( Funny I was just reflecting on how all my kids learned to swim in this post)
They played with water balloons all day and learned that even when filled with water most of them float. They appear to sink at first but most of them eventually floated back up to the surface of the water. They told me it's because the balloons still have some air inside. They learned that if you don't fill them much they're harder to break and Ian told me it's because there isn't as much pressure on the balloon! They learned that if you try and fill them too full they'll pop. They also learned you have to keep a bit of room available to knot it shut. A wonderfully, wet, fun, impromptu science lesson.
While Ian was at his music lesson his brothers and I read three books, one about owls, one about ocean animals and one about deer. My kids love non- fiction books and learn a lot of vocabulary just by listening. Alec was able to apply some of the knowledge he picked up at the nature center when reading the owl book and was quite proud when he realized how much he remembered.
Lazy, summer days like this are just perfect and show me all the benefits of unschooling.
Comments
Post a Comment