We are finally starting to come out on the other end of an entirely over scheduled summer. I know this is my own fault. I didn't want the kids to miss out on anything. I failed to take into account the unexpected in my planning.
We started June at a full run by having our roof redone, during which time it rained inside my house due to a faulty tarp on a partially clad roof. While this project was going on, the kids attended Zoo Camp, I damaged the ligaments in my ankle when I fell down the stairs, and my 10yo had a friend visit for a week. Since the roofing crew was family, they stayed at our house during this time, also. Just as the roof was finished and the friend went home, we had a visit from some friends we haven't seen in a while. This was followed by art camp for my 7yo, which prompted me to learn to drive with my left foot. I ended June by ripping out all of the carpet in our house to uncover not-so-beautiful wood floors. We also decided to play musical bedrooms for the third time in less than a year. This time we moved the boys downstairs and decided to convert the entire upstairs into a fabulous master suite, which is far from fabulous right now.
We started July with a bang - literally. We attended an awesome fireworks show at the home of the Del Rossi family. We followed this by a visit from a friend and her four children, as well as my niece, who was attending camp at EdVenture while my 10yo was in camp at the Art Museum. At this point, we are still in the middle of switching bedrooms and refinishing floors. Immediately after our guests departed, we began to pack for our trip to Sea World. Our time in Florida turned out to be pretty great! In addition to not having to wait in line for any of the rides at Sea World, we also had the opportunity to visit the Worlds Largest McDonald's Playplace - imagine McDonald's, Chuckie Cheese, an ice cream shop, and Panera all rolled into one place. After our trip to Florida, we had a few days to recuperate before a camping trip on Lake Moultrie. After the camping trip, my 10yo decided to stay behind with his grandparents, and the rest of the family went home to begin refinishing a heart pine floor covered in mastic.
It's August now, and my 10yo is home and the floor is almost finished. Both boys have birthdays this month, and the Live and Learn conference is getting closer. At this point, I'm just looking for time to breathe and a little calm in the midst of chaos before we dive back in and move on with our crazy life. Would I trade any of the chaos of this summer? No, I enjoyed every minute of it. OK, well maybe not the parts where it rained inside my house and I injured my ankle, but the rest I'll keep.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Summer Vacation?
As the local schools get out for summer vacation, we find ourselves continuing on our learning journey without regard to clock or calendar. With Maria Montessori, Alfie Kohn, and James Paul Gee as my guides, I continue to seek out authentic learning opportunities for my children.
I continue to be amazed by what my children learn without the traditional "skill and kill" methods. I told my 10yo how to add decimals one time, and he can now add decimals flawlessly. Amazingly, he did not have to fill out pages and pages of decimal addition problems to acquire this skill. My 7yo recently started talking to me about scythes, only he pronounced it with a hard "c" and a soft "th" because that is the way he read it. I was pleased with this little pronunciation error because it showed me that my little language challenged boy is trying to read increasingly difficult words. Amazingly, this was only able to happen when I backed off and stopped asking him to read things.
ZooCamp was a huge hit with all of the children. My 7yo hated the first day, but after he got over the initial shock of being thrown into a group of complete strangers with a familiar face nowhere to be seen, he enjoyed the rest of his week. He was quite excited about petting a penguin. My 10yo was able to go behind the scenes in the gorilla house, which made me quite envious. My three year old thought camp was the best thing that ever happened to her, and she can't understand why other establishments don't have camp for three year olds.
We have more learning opportunities on the horizon. Both boys have art camp in the next few weeks, and we will be going to Sea World soon. This, of course, is in addition to the myriad other learning opportunities that happen on a daily basis when the kids say, "Mom, how do you ...?" or "What is ...?" or "Can you help me....?" And there are always those things they figure out on their own without fanfare. I usually don't discover those until weeks later when I realize they are now doing something they couldn't do before.
I continue to be amazed by what my children learn without the traditional "skill and kill" methods. I told my 10yo how to add decimals one time, and he can now add decimals flawlessly. Amazingly, he did not have to fill out pages and pages of decimal addition problems to acquire this skill. My 7yo recently started talking to me about scythes, only he pronounced it with a hard "c" and a soft "th" because that is the way he read it. I was pleased with this little pronunciation error because it showed me that my little language challenged boy is trying to read increasingly difficult words. Amazingly, this was only able to happen when I backed off and stopped asking him to read things.
ZooCamp was a huge hit with all of the children. My 7yo hated the first day, but after he got over the initial shock of being thrown into a group of complete strangers with a familiar face nowhere to be seen, he enjoyed the rest of his week. He was quite excited about petting a penguin. My 10yo was able to go behind the scenes in the gorilla house, which made me quite envious. My three year old thought camp was the best thing that ever happened to her, and she can't understand why other establishments don't have camp for three year olds.
We have more learning opportunities on the horizon. Both boys have art camp in the next few weeks, and we will be going to Sea World soon. This, of course, is in addition to the myriad other learning opportunities that happen on a daily basis when the kids say, "Mom, how do you ...?" or "What is ...?" or "Can you help me....?" And there are always those things they figure out on their own without fanfare. I usually don't discover those until weeks later when I realize they are now doing something they couldn't do before.
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