Barnabas Way » summer

Summer Vacation: Perfect for Teaching Extras

Genesis — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 04:47:41 +0000

During the summer, most of us spend a lot of time doing things we wouldn’t usually do during the school year. Every single one is a learning opportunity if you take advantage of it! Let’s take a look at a few of the things you can be teaching your kids this summer . . . all of which are just as important as booklearning.

Beach Trips

While at the beach, you can see tides and currents in action. Let your kids dig in the sand and mention how the sand is made up of tiny bits of stone. Have them collect shells and water worn glass that you can study back home. Tide pools offer a wealth of learning opportunities, too. Take pictures and you can look the animals up back home.

Visiting Relatives

Whether you go to visit relatives or they come to see you, summer is usually a favorite time for this. You can use this time to learn a little about the history of your family, family trees and also to reinforce manners.

Road Trips

While in the car, take advantage of this time to play family word games, listen to books on tape and discuss the scenery. You can also let the kids take turns navigating, putting map reading skills to use, and learning the rules of the road. It’s never too early to learn!

What are you doing this summer? How can you turn it into a learning experience for your kids?

6 Craft Sites for Summer Fun

Genesis — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:43:34 +0000

With summer here and no strict routine in place, chances are you find yourself with some bored kids on your hands from time to time. Fortunately, they don’t need to stay bored for long. Stock up on the craft supplies, dive into one of these sites and keep them busy creating!

Family Fun: A great site for all sorts of age appropriate games and crafts.

Kids Craft Weekly: An awesome online magazine chock full of simple and fun crafts for kids.

Kids Craft Blog: A blog that covers various craft related activities and news.

Fem Manual: In Spanish, but the pictures speak for themselves . . . or you can always use Google to translate.

Zakka Life: Lots of super easy, very cool ideas for little ones.

Dollar Store Crafts: Sick of paying the big bucks to make nice things? This site has ideas that are not necessarily meant for kids, but can be made by any age.

What do you do to keep your kids busy during the summer months?

Summer School: Do You Need It?

Genesis — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:44:46 +0000

One of the problems with summer vacations is that they tend to give kids a chance to forget what they`ve learned over the past school year. In some cases, it can be a real struggle to get back into classes in the fall.

Summer school doesn`t have to be a big thing, just a quick review two or three times a week of the more important things your kids need to know. This might include math skills, reading and writing, as well as any other topics they will be building on in the fall.

By going over the areas you know your kids are most likely to forget, even for 15-30 minutes a day, you will make the entire year easier on everyone. The kids won`t be thrilled with having to do schoolwork during summer, but you can explain that it`s non-negotiable and that the faster they get through it, the faster they can enjoy summer fun. Or make it into a game to see who can finish the times tables fastest!

Do you use summer school? We`d love to hear what`s going on in your school during these vacation months.

Are Summer Vacations a Good Idea?

Genesis — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:00:51 +0000

While my homeschool experience was one that followed the traditional school year, I discovered the idea of year round school when I began researching to school my own children. The concept makes sense to me, though it may not be for everyone.

What It Is

Basically, instead of taking 2-3 months vacation in the summer, you take shorter vacations throughout the year. For example, you might decide to visit the grandparents for a week in February and take that time off from school.

Why it Works

While it might take some getting used to, the fact is that many students forget things over the summer. I also was recently talking with a homeschool family of 10 that uses this method and they informed me that two months with the kids on no routine was just too hectic and things worked better if they pretty much stuck to the schedule year round.

As a child, I had a learning disability that affected my memory in areas of patterns and pretty much anything mathematical. I would often forget what I`d learned in math over the course of a weekend, so after a couple of months, it was like starting from scratch again . . . a year round schedule would have worked far better for me.

An added bonus is that you can often complete more in the same amount of time. Most homeschool families find that they go through about a year and a half of school in one year, which means the children graduate early. This may or may not be your goal, but it does give them a head start.

Some Potential Issues

One of the advantages of having a summer vacation is that you and your kids get a break. It can be frustrating to be together all the time and school can become drudge work if you aren`t careful. Schooling year round would probably tend to cause burnout faster.

A possible solution for this issue is to make sure you DO take vacations, albeit smaller and shorter ones. Also, rather than do coursework on a daily basis, you might want to change things to include at least one “fun” school day each week where you get out of the house, go on a field trip, play games or something else that breaks the monotony of the school day.

What are your thoughts? Have you tried year round schooling? Does it sound like a good idea?