Summer is in full swing… which means school is looking a little different for us. Oh we’re still learning, but those fun crafts and activities we’ve been doing have been replaced with lots of free time outside exploring, playing in the sprinkler and drawing with sidewalk chalk.
Because our letter unit studies have taken a backseat to our outside times, I am going to group together the past few units and give you a glimpse into our summer learning style!
Let’s start with the fundamentals. Books… books… and more books! We are still following The Peaceful Preschool reading plan and adding in a few supplemental books as well. Rather than doing a lot of activities surrounding each book, we are spending more time discussing themes and topics presented in each book.
Letter K: we have been passing kisses around and flying kites thanks to A Kiss for Little Bear and the Emperors Kite! We talked about doing what is right despite the way people treat you.
Letter L: we talked about having the right attitude and not being grumping thanks to The Grouchy Ladybug. We also had fun going to the library after reading Lola goes to the Library.
Letter M: we discussed self-care thanks to Madeline’s appendicitis. We talked about different bandages and ways to keep ourselves healthy. We read Are You My Mother? But honestly did nothing more with that book than talk about how “Mother” starts with the mmmmmm sound. Haha! Our favorite book was Just Me… I’ll talk a little more about that adorable book below!
The Grouchy Ladybug gave us the perfect platform to learn a little more about time. I pulled out our clocks and as I read the story over breakfast, my son and daughter would turn the hands on the clock to match the time in the book! They loved doing this and it definitely gave my son a greater understanding of time as this is something I had not focused on yet.
Just Me is an awesome little book that I found at a book sale recently… and I’m so glad I did! It follows the tale of a little boy as he walks around his home and tries to mimic the animals that he sees. We followed along with him by trying to walk like a horse, hop like a rabbit, slither like a snake, and much more! In the end, we enjoyed being “just me.”
Scripture memorization and our morning Bible time is still a priority. We recently started reading The Jesus Storybook Bible and have memorized the following verses:
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:10Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Matthew 22:39bThe lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.
Proverbs 10:21
Perhaps the greatest pleasure we’ve had this summer is our nature studies! We’ve had the enjoyment of observing trees that beavers had felled and put our fingers in the gnaw marks from their teeth. We talked about decomposition and by looking at dead trees and seeing the fungus and bugs that help break down the tree over time. We witnessed holes from woodpeckers and discussed what they eat and how strong their beaks must be.
We’ve made chalk out of plaster of paris thanks to The Good and the Beautiful Arts and Crafts book. It was a perfect outside activity and turned out very vibrant! We chose to use washable poster paint with great success!
We also have done some nature weaving by wrapping a hemp string around a “Y” shaped stick. We then went on a walk around the woods and yard collecting anything we found unique and beautiful. This was a perfect activity for us to reset after a busy 4th of July!
My son enjoyed going to a week-long Nature Day Camp where he learned about different habitats, how to explore nature and be observant to what is around him. He had a blast making friends and trying something new. They also did a lot of nature inspired art, including painting with natural grasses and flowers and creating a “swamp” habitat from slime in a baggie.
Every summer, the highlight has to be raising and releasing monarch butterflies! We have not found any on our property yet, but our cousin was going on a big trip and needed us to babysit her chrysalises. We had the privilege of releasing SIX butterlies!! The baby even got in on the fun!
Summer is made for making memories… so we are heading up north camping as I write this. We only get 18 summers with our kids. I’m determined to make the best of those summers!!