Transitioning to a Spring and Summer Schedule
Thinking back over our last four or five days I'm remembering quite fondly my desire to unschool.
In hopes of getting more of our spontaneous learning back, I told the boys this morning that we're probably going to fall back into our spring and summer routine of me not really planning any lessons at all.
I still want them to work in their math books most weeks and I'd like to continue working with Evan on reading and sight words every day but I'm not going to be planning much of anything else. We're putting going to focus on nature, fresh air and sunshine (on those days the sun decides to make an appearance).
The boys did remind me that in spring and summer we tend to do more messy science and art outside and they're quite anxious to start that up again too and they want me to keep reading a chapter or two of our Harry Potter series at lunch most days.
I promised I'd try but I really want to be careful not to over plan.
This is our favorite time of year to relax, observe, and just enjoy life.
I know how easy it can be to think "oh we'll just do math, and sight words, and reading... oh and science... and I can't forget art"... and then the next thing you know our day is done.
I want to get out, go places, get in a few more field trips before schools let out too. This is our field trip time and I don't feel like we've been going anywhere lately.
Putting our plan into action today we decided to tackle just a bit of schoolwork and leave plenty of time for open ended play.
The younger boys wanted to go out and play and convinced Ian to join them. All three boys ran outside and played for at least an hour together. I came out of my craft room to find that the hallway and their rooms had been all cleaned up before they headed out! I was in awe!
When I went outside they told me they had ridden their bikes and scooters, gone running (and showed me where to), and had been taking turns swinging. It was a bit chilly out today though and quite windy at our house so we didn't last long outside.
We sat down to read another chapter in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Once lunch was done I asked the boys to do something for school. Ian picked a page in his math book about triangles; we learned about right, isosceles, equilateral, and scalene triangles. I handed him a ruler, went through the first 6 problems with him and then left him to his own to finish the page.
While he was working on that Alec was busy trying to finish the new chapter book he had started this morning-- Dragonbreath; Revenge of the Horned Bunnies. Once he finished he told me a very detailed retelling of the story. He then told me that it was book 6 in the series and he'd like to read the other books that came before it so we went on-line and requested books 1 & 2.
Evan and I worked together in the living room reading sight words. I had, once again, written them all out on large pieces of bubble wrap and as he read them he could pop them. He did a great job with most of the words and was quite inventive on thinking up new ways to try and pop them.
The boys and I headed out for a quick scooter and bike ride this afternoon, once again reviewing the rules of the road. Evan, in particular, does not understand the dangers of riding his scooter down the middle of the road and is more focused on his feet and his balance than on where he is riding so I have to constantly remind him to stay on the side of the road. We reviewed what it means to look both ways; not glance both ways, and we talked about which side of the road we ride on and why. The older boys seem a bit more aware of the road and cars and do much better with staying safe. They remained outside playing on the playground until late in the afternoon.
Linking Up With:
In hopes of getting more of our spontaneous learning back, I told the boys this morning that we're probably going to fall back into our spring and summer routine of me not really planning any lessons at all.
I still want them to work in their math books most weeks and I'd like to continue working with Evan on reading and sight words every day but I'm not going to be planning much of anything else. We're putting going to focus on nature, fresh air and sunshine (on those days the sun decides to make an appearance).
The boys did remind me that in spring and summer we tend to do more messy science and art outside and they're quite anxious to start that up again too and they want me to keep reading a chapter or two of our Harry Potter series at lunch most days.
I promised I'd try but I really want to be careful not to over plan.
This is our favorite time of year to relax, observe, and just enjoy life.
I know how easy it can be to think "oh we'll just do math, and sight words, and reading... oh and science... and I can't forget art"... and then the next thing you know our day is done.
I want to get out, go places, get in a few more field trips before schools let out too. This is our field trip time and I don't feel like we've been going anywhere lately.
Putting our plan into action today we decided to tackle just a bit of schoolwork and leave plenty of time for open ended play.
The younger boys wanted to go out and play and convinced Ian to join them. All three boys ran outside and played for at least an hour together. I came out of my craft room to find that the hallway and their rooms had been all cleaned up before they headed out! I was in awe!
When I went outside they told me they had ridden their bikes and scooters, gone running (and showed me where to), and had been taking turns swinging. It was a bit chilly out today though and quite windy at our house so we didn't last long outside.
We sat down to read another chapter in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Once lunch was done I asked the boys to do something for school. Ian picked a page in his math book about triangles; we learned about right, isosceles, equilateral, and scalene triangles. I handed him a ruler, went through the first 6 problems with him and then left him to his own to finish the page.
While he was working on that Alec was busy trying to finish the new chapter book he had started this morning-- Dragonbreath; Revenge of the Horned Bunnies. Once he finished he told me a very detailed retelling of the story. He then told me that it was book 6 in the series and he'd like to read the other books that came before it so we went on-line and requested books 1 & 2.
Evan and I worked together in the living room reading sight words. I had, once again, written them all out on large pieces of bubble wrap and as he read them he could pop them. He did a great job with most of the words and was quite inventive on thinking up new ways to try and pop them.
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| Sight word pop |
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