Summer Schedule

This week we are transitioning to a summer schedule.  School is a balancing act.  Our little household  decided to invest three hours for School, an hour for a big walk, and an hour for reading and guitar.  Paul, just ten, is at our house eight or nine hours each day.  We fill our extra time with cooking, Cub Scout badge work, Art, Christmas presents, games, and Camp.

This week, Paul is completing a book report and Florida report with a slideshow.  He finished a bit of School work Tuesday and was off from School yesterday for his birthday.  Paul worked on Art projects yesterday instead of School.  We will use the Art for a Cub Scout badge and Christmas presents.  School next week will be divided into 30-45 minute blocks for about three hours each morning.  We want to do Math, Science, and History daily, with a rotation of reading, writing, handwriting, vocabulary, and grammar.  Camp in the afternoons will be mainly science experiments with some art.  Art follow the Cub Scout badge with a focus on presents.  So far so good.  Our little household benefits from structure since we cannot go to Scout camp, VBS, or Sports Camps.  Yours would benefit, too!  Here is our schedule.

More Art!

Here is a time-tested art activity.  Let your kids take a bunch of photos.  I like to make diy Photo Canvas Art.  We use Canvas panels, foam brushes, photo prints, and Mod-podge or Elmer’s glue.  I have used both glossy prints and copy paper prints.  Buy a bunch of canvas panels and roll out this year’s Christmas gifts.  Let’s get started!

You should add Art!

While you are hunkered down at home, you should add Art.  By Art, in our little household, I mean paint by number.  I love to sketch and watercolor.  I am alone in my household.  We are transitioning to summer School hours—morning for three hours.  (We started school August 12th, last year.). Last week, I added an hour of Art.  Paul, almost 10, is working on paint by number; he is completing kits as Christmas gifts.  I like the  Faber-Castell Museum Series—Starry Night and Color by Number—Dean Russo.  Look for kits with canvas board. I bought a Marvel Place and Paint Kit which has a flimsy paper poster.  Another choice is Creatology’s preprinted panels.   Let’s make some Art.

Art and Cub Scout Badge, Art Explosion

In our little household, we are doing School in the morning and Camp during the afternoon.  We need some art.  Our grandson, Paul, almost 10, is painting a Marvel poster.  Not exactly art.  I am going to fix that.  We are adding Cub Scout badge work to our School-Camp mix.  So far, we added Into the Wild to Zoology 1.  I want to add Art Explosion.  Why?  The badge visits several forms of art.  Right now, we can access Virtual Museums as the first requirement.  We are going to try painting and sculpting.  I want to introduce different forms of art, such as collages or murals.  Below are Pix of his poster.

Disney Parks at Home

Our family has some Disney fans, who are missing the parks.  Disney superfans are making Disney Magic.  (Look at Disney Hungry for treats!). Here are virtual rides and here are park rides at home.  Learn to draw Disney characters or follow the Disney Parks Blog.  Try Star Wars Fighter Splatter Art at Disney Magic Moments.  Dress up, set up a parade in the hall, or try to recreate the Disney experience at home.

Good Will Online: Education Equipment

Good Will has loads of educational materials: globes, maps, phonics tiles, roller coaster kit, and educational games.  Take a look!  Be sure to check the shipping and compare prices on Amazon and eBay.

Hands-on Math

Some math programs, such as Math-U-See have loads of hands-on activities with math manipulatives.  We are using Saxon Math 5/4 with our fourth-grader.  Even Saxon has a few hands-on examples.  Today’s math lesson includes Geometric solids.  Saxon called for making a paper cube.  Any job worth doing is worth over-doing.  I used these shapes as part of today’s math lesson.  Seeing is understanding. Take a look.

Buy Education Tools at Good Will Online!

Good Will online has education lots.  These listings tend to be something of a grab bag: educational games, workbooks, medical charts, maps, calculators, Scholastic books, microscopes, telescopes, robot kits, Living Language, rocks,  Planetariums, LeapPads,  geographic sets, abacus,  Little Bits for programming, Snap Circuits, and math kits.  Before you bid, check Amazon and eBay to compare prices.  Always check the shipping!  Let me tell you, Good Will has great stuff!  One more listing, Math U See.

Another Tip: Build or Draw Shapes

In our household, we try to recreate experiments and build shapes as they are introduced, such as a pyramid, discussed in Math.  We use what we have on hand--in this case, dice.  See the pyramid below.

Your schedule may look more like college.

Update.  Today I had the satisfaction of hearing Paul, nine, say, ‘Can I work on my Florida report this morning?  I’d like to get it done.’  Sweet words.


In college, you seldom take seven, daily, 45 minute classes.  We have a daily schedule.  But, I can see the schedule is morphing into a shape more like college.  Right now, four subjects, Math, Science, History, and English occupy our mornings, divided into blocks from 9:00-12:30.  Math is usually problem sets.  English varies with hand-writing, novels, vocabulary, grammar, and anthology readings.  But, History, Science, and English all have projects and reports.  These take more time.  Here’s an example. Yesterday, Paul read Lesson 11 in Zoology 1, completed the review questions and vocabulary crossword.  Today, he worked for an hour making a Bee comic strip (in place of the Bee mini-book.). Paul asked if he count work on his Florida report.  Over the past two weeks, he has been working on the written report and slideshow using this guide.  Since Paul is researching and writing, we will just have him read a novel later for English.  We find he has more focus on extended projects and assignments.  This approach allows more instruction on the mechanics of Google Docs and Google Slides, too.  I am using textbooks for ideas for projects and assignments.  We balance long-term assignments with daily drills, problem sets, and exercises.  Think about your college classes and consider ways to make School at home have greater depth with lasting results.

Digital Portfolios

How do you prove your kids did their work?  I encourage home-school families to keep both paper and digital portfolios.  Paper work samples can be easier for kids to sort as they evaluate their portfolio to select materials to submit to online schools.  We keep both digital and paper portfolios.  How?  I use an iPhone or iPad to scan documents and save them on Google Drive.  I keep records and assignments on Google Classroom, too.  I put copies of scanned work with the assignments on Google Classroom—which is backed up on Google Drive, too.  I make and save videos to my YouTube channel and add those to Classroom, too.  The kids write essays in Google Docs saved on Drive and added to Classroom. I like to edit the essays or reports online and return them with comments added to make revisions.  Sound like a lot of work?  Yes.  But, when I need to collect material for an online school, I can send screen shots, grade spreadsheets, digital essays, and photo or video evidence.  Look at Google for Education.  All of the tools such as Drive, Classroom, YouTube, Sheets, Slides, and Docs are free; moreover, these tools make it easy to save your work.  Get your kids in the habit of taking photos and scanning their papers, worksheets, and graded tests.  You won’t have any trouble justifying your portfolio.

Tensile Bubbles and Platonic Geometric Solids

Have you heard of Platonic Geometric Solids?  What about Tensile Structures?  I had not heard of either.  You can teach both concepts with Tensile Bubbles.  First, let your kids test Super Bubble Recipes.  Which dish detergent makes the longest lasting bubbles?  Is glycerine better than corn syrup?  Make and identify the geometric solids.  Test drinking straws and plastic coffee stirrers.  Tray making pipe cleaner shapes.  Gather your shapes and bubble mix and have a blast outside.  Don’t forget to take photos to add to your digital portfolio.  Get going!

LeapPad

Are you interested in LeapPad or LeadFrog?  Good Will has several listings: LeapFrog Schoolhouse, LeapFog Backpack, and Older versions.  I am biased toward iPads for education; however, kids like any form of technology.  If you have a young child or reluctant reader, LeapPad may appeal to her.  Once you buy a LeapFrog device, buy up compatible software and books—just as you would if you had bought an older game system.

What are you doing this summer?

First, our household plans to school all summer.  Paul, nine, has been out of public school for two months.  I teach science.  If you want ideas about science camp at home see my science blog.  Recently, I have several posts with fun activities.

Right now, Paul does my curriculum and Choice Boards from his elementary school.  He does about 1 1/2 hours of math, 45 minutes of science, 45 minutes of history, and 45 minutes of English.  After lunch is an hour outside, followed by an hour of Choice Boards, 30 minutes of guitar, 45 minutes of Lego, reading, and more outside play.

This summer we are following the morning routine with four subjects: math, science, history, and English.  After lunch, school is out and camp is in!  Already we are doing fun science activities or labs twice a week, such as making Cartesian divers and Tornado in a Bottle. Paul is finishing Zoology 1.  We plan to use Chemistry and Physics for science in the mornings, with fun labs and projects in the afternoon, such as diy super balls, slime, periodic table cookies, etc.  My husband and I teach Physics and Chemistry—we have ideas!

We hope the pool opens; camps and VBS are closed this summer.  We plan to strike out on our own.  It won’t all be school or camp.  We planted seeds for a garden, are working on Cub Scout badges, have cooking lessons, make cartoons, and have stacks of kits in the basement to build.  But this summer, school is on and structured around three solid hours of Math, Science, History, and English.

How do you deal with proposed intermittent school closings?

Next fall, some schools may be on staggered schedules, hybrid classes, and intermittent school closings?  Are you feeling panicked?  Don’t!  Start a plan today.  Our small household is planning to school all summer.  Right now, the nine year old, Paul, works on school for about four hours each day.  There is plenty of time for bike riding, guitar practice, reading, and Legos.  This summer, our plan is to school for three hours in the morning and have camp with fun activities in the afternoons.  Why?  Paul is enrolled in public school.  He has already missed two months of school.  The work assigned from his elementary teacher consists of Choice Boards.  These activities take about one hour each day.  Paul is studying Zoology 1, Saxon 5/4 Math, History, Easy Grammar, Vocabulary, Handwriting, and Reading: Mud Shark, Holes, and Wrinkle in Time.  Paul has an English anthology, a host of history books, dictionaries, etc. School continues over the summer.  We are using this time to develop research papers, learn how to make a slide show, understand how to use a dictionary, manipulate a digital microscope, create timelines, and life cycles, practice hand-writing, improve his math, etc.  Let’s get to work and use this time to get ahead, not tread water!

Google Suite

I like tech which supports education—not supplants education.  Digital Choice Boards may or may not support rigorous education.  You decide.  Here is an example for high school and here are elementary examples.  I want content not gimmicks.

I love to use tech to teach.  Right now my Co-op class is working remotely.  I maintain a blog with notes about assignments.  Additionally, I am video-taping lessons on YouTube.  Blogger and you-tube are part of Google Suite.  If you have a gmail account, you have free access to Drive storage, Docs, Sheets, and Slides.  Another resource, Google Classroom, is a phenomenal tool.  Originally, I used Classroom for grades.  Gradually, I posted assignments and links for kids to make up missed class work.  Now that I am teaching remotely, I organized lessons into blocks with videos, worksheets, labs, and tutorials.  You can use Classroom to make homework assignments.  I use Classroom as a digital portfolio, too.  I try to copy essay documents or photos of quizzes and work as links and post them with the assignment and grade on Classroom.  This makes it much easier to organize a digital portfolio to submit to an online school.  Take a look.

Go back to basics!

Have you heard of Choice Boards?  Many school systems are using them to teach remotely.  The advantage is work can be organized into a calendar of daily activities.  I am not a fan.  I want more depth and content.  Teachers have a habit of spiking the boards with fun or silly activities such as jokes.  Let’s teach three hours daily of math, science, history, and English: grammar, literature, vocabulary, hand-writing, and composition.  Is a disparate assortment of daily activities going to substitute for meaningful work?  Nope.  Why do I use textbooks?  They are consistently organized to deliver a complete, coherent curriculum.  Choice Boards are like Summer Bridge Activity books; they are better than nothing.  However, they do not replace a dedicated curriculum.

Still toughing things out!

Our little household is plugging away.  I have noticed a bias: we spend almost two hours each day on math.  Happily, the other subjects are more balanced.  Our nine year old grandson, Paul, has been home-schooled for the first time the past two months.  Paul is enrolled in a local public school.  Three weeks elapsed before the teachers implemented Digital Choice Boards.  I am not a fan.  The content is varied; however, the amount of work is scant.  I want solid core instruction.

What is Paul doing?  He does about two hours of math, 45 minutes of science, Zoology 1, 30-45 minutes of History, and 30-45 minutes of Language Arts: Reading, Grammar, Hand-writing, Vocabulary, and Composition.  Usually, Paul spends about three hours on work for us.  After lunch and a long bike ride, Paul works for an hour on the Choice Board for the public school.  Then, he spends 30 minutes practicing guitar and an hour programming Lego Boost.  It’s a full day.