Thursday, June 9, 2011

Summer Schoolin'

Well it's mid-June & summer is officially here, but we've been so busy we haven't really gotten a chance to enjoy it. That all changes next week when we head out to Texas to visit my family & relax!

We aren't doing any "official" schoolin'/curriculum stuff this summer, but I believe learning is a continuous process so my intentions are to continue schoolin' them through fun activities they'll enjoy! Now a not so fun thing we do have to work on is Brady's printing. Between have a baby & moving out of our house for 6 weeks I didn't work on Brady's handwriting as much as I should have, but after our trip we will be doing that everyday to work on it. I wouldn't say he's behind on it, he could just use some extra work to make it neater.
Now on to the fun stuff! This week we've been attending our church's Vacation Bible School: The Big Apple Adventure! Tomorrow is our last day & we have all thoroughly enjoyed it! Hopefully I can get some pics on here soon to show yall all the fun we had!

I am in LOVE with the preschool packs from Homeschool Creations & 1+1+1=1!!! These two precious mommas have come up with some super cute learning packs that make learning fun & enjoyable based around themes that appeal to young kids of any age. My boys have already tested out the Pirate one & still ask to play with it! I'll blog about it this weekend hopefully!
Of course if you are a mom to a young boy you know that Cars 2 comes out June 24! They have a Cars pack the boys will "play" with that week to get them ready for the movie! I'm telling you YOU MUST click on their links and check them out! Our local movie theatre is showing $1 movies every week & that is something we all look forward to! The movies they show are ones that are already on DVD, but it's just the trip to see it on a big screen that gets my kiddos excited! This year they are showing How To Train Your Dragon, & what do you know?! There's a pack for that too!

They have lots of different themes that appeal to boys & girls, some on characters, movies, but others on various topics kids are bound to LOVE! The packs reinforce learning skills like tracing, graphing, colors, patterns, math skills, & much more!

We are currently going over the Fruits of the Spirit & using some free printables from Christian Preschool Printables. Now I know these packs say "preschool," but don't let that stop you from letting your Kindergarten & grade school kids do them! Like I said they are FUN & reinforce skills in a way that doesn't seem like "work."

Part of our "Summer Schoolin" includes weekly trips to library & letting Brady read as many books as he can. We've come up with a reward system for reaching various number of books. It delights me so much that he enjoys reading & is very good at it! Each week we are also getting together with friends to go on fun summer adventures to local places for playdates. Now you may ask, "How is this schoolin'?" Socialization for kids is ALWAYS a learning experience! Communicating, sharing, taking turns, pretending, & solving problems are just examples of what kids learn when they're together to play. Plus it helps that I get to visit with some awesome ladies in the process ;)

We are also hitting up the PTCRC I mentioned in my last blog to check out musical instruments to play with, as well as whatever other crazy & fun ideas come our way! I'm all about making memories with my boys & having them enjoy & experience as much as life has to offer them! So none of our "Summer Schoolin'" will follow a routine or schedule, but more so be intentional learning fun! But if it isn't fun for the boys, we will stop. Well, with the exception of the printing practice :)

Hope you all have an AMAZING summer! Check back in & see what all we've done! If you go to the 3 sites I've mentioned earlier & do some of their fun packs, PLEASE let me know! I'd love to see how your kiddos liked it!

Blessings & Love,

Ash

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness,self-control; against such things there is no law. (ESV)