Sunday, May 18, 2008

Our Plans for the Next Few Weeks

I had a talk with the kids about what they wanted to do on their "school break", and after we weeded out the "not going to happen list", we have come up with some good ideas.  I have the next 3 weeks mostly figured out and thought I would share what is bouncing around in my head.


This coming week is "child led" or "Mommy is not going to help you become a rocket scientist or any other such thing" week.  During the first part of the week, I am going to clean the house and put away the books we are done using.  The second half of the week we are off to Duke for our big teen's annual pacemaker check up.  Hopefully, all will go well, and we will be back next weekend.  We hope to have time to go to a museum or two and visit the large homeschool consignment store in Raleigh while we are there.  The kids are totally excited about staying at Ronald McDonald House again.


Week 2 ~ We will be studying manners.  I have to finish gathering the stuff I already have and printing games off of the Internet.  At the end of the week, we will be having a formal tea party, complete with (mismatched) china.  Little Red Ridinghood will be inviting all of her friends from her ballet class to the party to celebrate the end of the ballet year.  I have no idea how she is going to survive the summer without weekly ballet classes!


Week 3 ~ I am really excited about this week.  We will be studying the Hungry Planet book.  It looks like a really special book and depicts what kind of food/how much food people eat around the world.  After we have looked over the book, the kids are going to try to figure out which country's photo looks most like our family's diet.  Hint ~ in my opinion, it is not America.  Then we are going to buy all the food we eat in a week and take a photo of it to compare to the book.  I wonder who will guess the closest?  I am also considering an international night meal with some unusual dishes but not sure I'll pull that off.  The point of this break is keeping me sane by not overloading myself.  LOL!


Week 4 ~ We will be trying out the making friends program.  A friend of mine told me about this, and it looks like a neat way to get mail and find out about other kids in America.  She says it is more of a one time pen pal situation, which I think is easier for little ones.  I had a pen pal for years, and it is hard to keep up with the letters sometimes.


Week 5 ~ We will read Flat Stanley and prepare our own Flat Stanley paperdoll to travel to Italy with my Father and Step-mother.  I also want to look into the Flat Stanley Club on the Internet and the geocache boxes that trade Flat Stanley dolls.  I am hoping that this will prove to be very fun and an exciting way to explore geography for the little ones and we can continue it throughout the coming school year.


I am not sure what we will do for week 6 yet.  I also plan on signing up Tom Sawyer for the reading programs at the library and Barnes and Noble so he can earn books.  You can do the program for kids who can't read, but my opinion is that kids will be more motivated to learn how to read if you aren't just handing them books for listening to you.  Having your parents read to you is reward enough.  As I stated before, I am also hoping to get more children swimming.  Currently, only the big teen can swim.  Well, I am glad I got my thoughts to paper...I mean Internet.


Blessings, Dawn

14 comments:

  1. Wow! I'm impressed! I'm going to tuck this idea of a weekly theme during the summer break for when the kids are a little older. You'll have to be sure and post how these events go!


    Janet

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  2. blessedwith2angelsMay 18, 2008 at 1:19 PM

    That sounds like so much fun! I especially like the idea of a child led week. I think I will try that with my kids and see what happens.

    Pam

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  3. Your weeks sound productive, yet peaceful at the same time. We're enjoying way more than six weeks break around here. Mommy needs it!! :)


    I've prayed for your son's appointment.

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  4. Ooooo, if you have any getting kids to swim tips, let me know! DS has no problem. He did all the swimming levels a few years ago. DD however is terrified of getting her face and ears wet. I can't even get her to swim just by keeping her face dry, which is how I do it. As a kid I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes in the water so that put an end to my swimming lessons on day 2. I took what I did learn and taught myself to swim in other ways and friends taught me other stuff. I wish I could find an SI swim coach who could work around the issues to help kids make the most of the experience. I had assumed both of my kids would have been fish in water because their dad is. I had assumed they'd probably be life guards someday. Even my son isn't interested in that, as much as he loves water. Well, at least I'm not lonely on land.

    Blessings,

    Laurie

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  5. Thanks for this post! We have been just floating around, directionless (which makes me twitchy) since school ended. I like your idea of having a weekly activity/project, so I am going to borrow it. Thanks!

    I am going to add you to my friend because I want to check out the links in that post later...

    Carrie

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  6. Wow, I think your time off sounds much more organized and productive than most of my school year! Those look like some great activities, I'm sure everyone will have a great time :)


    ~Laura

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  7. The used book store in Raleigh sounds interesting. I'd love to know where it is, if you could message me. That would make a great trip for us, or should I say me. I'll be praying that all will be well when you go to Duke. I'm sure by summer's end the kiddos will be swimming like fish. They learn fast. You are so organized to have a game plan for the summer.

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  8. Thanks for stopping by! Your summer plan looks great. You are very organized, way to go!

    We wrapped up our official general studies several weeks ago so we've been enjoying a lovely break with a few studies here and there. I'm shooting for twice a week of something -- usually science since we all really enjoy outdoor learning. Of course trying to add crafts in there as well.

    Wonderful to meet you!! Have a fantastic Tuesday!

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  9. SandBetweenMyToesMay 20, 2008 at 8:35 AM

    I hope testing went well for all of you. How did you daughter handle it?

    Great summer plans, although, I'm not sure mom is getting much of a break!! Hope you get to enjoy some mom led, mommy interests this summer, too.

    Letitia

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  10. Dawn, you've got a wonderful time off lined up! Can I head to Italy to help with the kids (smile)? Reading your post reminded me that I wanted to get the kids signed up for the B&N reading program. Last year they participated, but we got so busy toward the end of the year helping my sister until I missed the deadline to take them and get their free books. This year, the one thing I'm commiting to is to not get too busy (my struggle each year).


    Hey, watch your e-mail. I have a question or two left about art plans over the summer.

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  11. This post was a good reminder to me that I need to do the same. We don't officially school during the summer, but I don't like to not have some sort of schedule. I also like for them to work on math and handwriting a little or they get rusty.

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  12. Your summer is better planned than mine! So far, it involves little more than the normal daily routine, as my oldest is learning to care for and train his new puppy.


    Thank you for mentioning the pen pal program! I told my 7 yo that he may participate, and he is very excited about it!

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  13. Love your plans. We used to do things like that. Now we will be working around the summer jobs and missions trip. Hope the testing went well. In Christ, Lydia

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  14. As usaul, I've gotten some great ideas from you! Thanks for sharing, and I can't wait to hear how they turn out.


    Denise

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