Posted in Current News

Well, our summer plans took some major shifts in the past couple of weeks - that in itself was a learning process.

 

I'd posted that we'd be "finishing" our school year at the end of May.  Prior to this, I'd asked Kate a few things about what she liked and didn't like about the school year.  Fortunately, she gave useful feedback and there were no real surprises. 

 

My initial plan had been to "lighten up" over the summer.  I'd though we'd do a bit of math each week, either MUS or Living Math.  We'd continue reading via various reading programs such as our library's "Have Books Will Travel" program, Target/RIF, and Barnes & Noble.  Maybe pull out First Language Lessons occasionally, to keep things fresh.   Practice handwriting as occasion merited.   Definitely finish Galloping the Globe.  But, I wasn't planning to do each thing everyday.  And, I still don't. 

 

Kate, however, expressed an interest in learning a foreign language.  This wasn't the first time, but lately she's been asking probing questions about language, like "how did people decide that the word 'stop' mean what we take it to mean?"   We've done some "easy etymology" in the past and she's really enjoyed this.  I finally decided to take her seriously when she started making up words and calling it a language.

 

There are so many language programs out there.  And, much like math options, you can work toward immersion, mastery, or exposure depending on which program you choose.  I decided that what we needed for now wasn't a complete program of study, but exposure to a few different languages. 

 

I've got some proficiency in French, so that was a given.  I've wanted to learn Spanish, so that was added.  And, oddly, we ended up with German as the "most easy to find" third option. 

 

Scratch the low-activity part of the original plan; add fun new language to the mix.

 

The other thing Kate wanted to do over the summer was study astronomy.  This nagged at me for several days.  I'd planned to start Biology.  It's the first science in the classical continuum.  It's summer and so many biology things just go (and grow) well in the summer - birds, butterflies, insects, trees. 

 

I was being hard-headed. 

 

Thinking it over, I realized that I needed to capitalize on what Kate was really interested in.  Just because it wasn't "easy" didn't mean I shouldn't consider it.  And she is excited about our history studies that we'll start in the fall, but seems content to wait until then.

 

So, another search was instituted, though it took less time than the language question.  We'll start Apologia Elementary Astronomy tomorrow - now I'm actually excited!

 

And, we'll still do some biology this summer.  The Antworks are going strong.  We'll raise some caterpillars into butterflies.  For our birds study, we'll dissect an owl pellet.  Kate's eyes lit up when I mentioned this last one recently. 

 

So, Kate will learn some language bits, astronomy, and maintain her basic skills.

 

Meanwhile, I learned about flexibility and going with a child's interest when it really matters.  This might not work every time, but for this summer it should be great fun!