SALT LAKE HOME EDUCATORS

Summer ?School? Ideas

Summertime.  It isn?t just sunnier.  It isn?t just swimming lessons.  It isn?t just the neighbor kids knocking on the door at 9am asking to play.  Summer feels different.  Or, at least, that was the consensus at the May SLHE meeting.  So what do the meeting participants do with their summertime?

Make calendars and lists of fun things to do and places to see.  We like to schedule fun activities and learning opportunities in order to assure that we fit in some adventure and some down time.  We sometimes get up and out early, so we can rest or nap in the afternoon.

Create ?summer camps? for kids.  Whether based on other camps we?ve seen or just based on some idea the children come up with, we like to get groups of children together to do biology, chemistry, sewing, history, discuss book series, or use a rope to ?see? the length of a particular dinosaur or whale.

Get outdoors.  When hiking, camping, running in the sprinklers, or playing in the park, we look for birds, plants or other interesting specimens waiting to be discovered.  We love seeing moose at Silver Lake or deer by the side of a walking trail.  We like to see the stars in a clear night sky. 

Offer choices.  A great idea was to put different activities in different envelopes and let the children choose one to do each day.  One idea was to take children to the zoo and have them choose animals to draw or perhaps just classify as carnivore or herbivore.  One idea was to let the children choose books and educational videos from the library.  One resource mentioned was backyardcapers.com.

Whether swimming, rock climbing, rock hunting or lying in the sun, we wish you a great summertime!

Writing:   Write letters, thank you notes, lists, do Mad Libs, or start a journal

Reading:   Join you local library?s Summer Reading Club or take turns reading a classic novel and then watch the movie (Treasure Island, Heidi, Dr. Doolittle, etc).

Math:   Cook, count in another language, learn to read maps, or play games that encourage math skills and logic.

Art:   Get books on art and start filling a sketch book.  Draw what you see in nature, superheroes, family members, or whatever else strikes your fancy.

History:   Take a vacation to somewhere new and learn all about it?s past, present, and future.

Science:   Spend time outdoors outside observing nature.  Take notes, draw what you see, try experiments, and share what you?ve learned.