Second Week of Summer School...

Week Two of Summer School focused on Mapping Skills. Here is the week...summed up in pictures...

We did worksheets, played games, and mastered vocabulary words that pertained to cartography...

We made our own treasure boxes, put treasures in them and hid them somewhere in the house. Then we drew maps to our treasures. I took the maps...shuffled them up, and passed them out again so each kid could find someone else's treasure...

We made Sugar Cookies with frosting and drew compass roses on the, had a treasure hunt for all the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies and made those, and assembled a "Pirate Trail Mix"...

 We spent Tuesday at Ft. Lauderdale beach with many, many friends...went to see Ramona and Beezus at the dollar theater on Wednesday...and on Friday, we took part in Mayors Kids Day, and enjoyed driving around town and picking up all the free and discounted activities there were to do, such as free frappuccinos at Starbucks, free tokens at Chuck E. Cheese, and lunch with the Mayor (as well as a rousing trivia game where both Brigham and Savannah were chosen to play).

All that on top of normal scholastic activities, trips to the library, and almost daily trips to the pool!! It was another busy school week in the jungle!!

(to see the lesson plans...visit Summer School Safari)

Next week is a week off from school, as daddy is off for vacation, and Joseph is away at Boy Scout camp. So the kids and I will get to hang out and chill out and get ready for the NEXT week, where we actually start exploring some countries...starting with Ireland!!

See ya then, fellow Summer Travellers!!

First Week of Summer School...

The first week of summer school...in images:

We made giant paper-maiche globes...

We invented our own imaginary countries...

We cooked Rice Krispie globes, pizza, homemade ice cream, and brownies...

And we went to the library, to Ski Rixen, and to the pool each and every day...

And that's on top of actual handwriting, vocabulary, math, science, reading, and history lessons.

What a week!! Can't wait for all new fun NEXT week!!

Summer School Kick-Off 2011!!

It's time for the annual Johnson Family Summer School!! 

I'm really excited AND trepidacious about Summer School this year...and I'll tell you why...

This year Summer School was a challenge because all my children are getting so much bigger…and the cutie little “Gospel-themed” lessons just won’t cut it anymore.  Nicolette will probably still enjoy counting goldfish and learning about pioneers…but the other kids have gotten older, and have this “been there – done that” mentality. I wanted to be able to challenge everyone…but I’m not qualified to teach higher math and science concepts.  I also wanted it to be fun and engaging…for the older kids AND the littles.

Not only that, but we have the additional challenge of a dwindling budget…meaning that I can’t spend a lot of money on supplies and field trips. I have to meet everyone’s needs AND do it economically. That means walking to the pool and library, and doing more activities at home.

Finally, I wanted to shorten our lesson time. In past summers, we sometimes worked all day…but this year, I wanted to be done by lunch. That means that I couldn’t have all these grand activities planned…everything had to be short and sweet.

I am pretty daunted by the task.

I decided the easiest way to solve my dilemma was to pick a subject we could study all summer long that everyone loved. 

I settled on “Geography”. Our family loves to travel, but we have never been able to take big family vacations. Geography seemed like an easy theme to work with that I could adjust to fit the many different learning levels and attitudes in our home. I would have the first couple weeks be about actual geography, and then focus on a different country every week after that, skipping the week Jason is on vacation.

Each child will have a “travel binder” with dividers in it. We can keep our work and progress in the binders.

I also wanted to have a “mascot”…someone that would “help” our studies all summer long…I really wanted a parrot, and I wanted to name him “Rio”. But then a movie came out about a parrot with the same name, so I decided against it, and instead used a giant stuffed monkey that I already had hiding in my closet. I named him “Columbus”…

It's true that many things will be below Josephs level...but I am hoping he will step in and take a more "leadership role"...helping the little kids complete their tasks. I do have activities that are geared more for the older kids, but what I really want is for Joseph to be a "teachers aide". I will also be working with him on several merit badges this summer...so that will DEFINITELY keep him busy if he needs a little extra boost.

Kaitlyn has her own on-line courses this year, a new part-time job, summer activities to get ready for the new school year (like choir practice), AND has her non-profit to work with...plus she's taking off 3 weeks to visit her Dad in California...so although she'll participate and help with the lessons, she's really going to have her own stuff to do.

So anyway...this is my plan. I post the lessons on the "Summer School Safari" part of my blog. They won't update automatically onto Facebook, or if you're on the e-mail list, they won't automatically e-mail to you...so you'll have to actually go on the blog page, and under the title click the "Summer School Safari" link, and then it will take you to the lessons.

I make sure to list the links where I pulled and adapted ideas, so if someone else is interested in what I do and where I got the inspiration, they can go to the source. It's also because a lot of these ideas are NOT mine...they are created by other people...far more talented people who I am sure want some credit for their very hard work. Therefore...if I have borrowed an idea...or even if I've used an idea as a platform from which to jump and spin my own little lesson...I include the link.

Here's to a successful and fun Summer School in 2011!!!

Here It Comes...

I just posted a new entry under my Summer School Safari site. It was about the schedule my kids and I keep over the summer. We're going to be pretty busy...even though I'm cutting the amount of Summer School we do in half. I thought I would share it with you, and hopefully get you inspired to start planning your own super fun summer adventures with your kids!!

"I cannot believe how FAST summer is approaching!! I am SO excited...and a little nervous that summer is just gonna' FLY BY. We have SO MANY plans...and I've been working really hard with with our summer school lessons for this year. My first couple have passed the reviews by Yaya, the retired teacher grandmother-goddess, and my good friend Melodee, the young and glamorous local teacher. I'll be posting them in just a couple weeks, and hope you enjoy them.

But before all that, I thought I would post our summer schedule.

Now - this schedule is not die-hard, but we do stick to it pretty religiously. However, I never get upset if plans change or things don't work out...we just roll with the waves round here.

We do summer school Monday through Friday. Last year we had a theme every week...this year we're only doing 4 weeks of summer school, and we'll be alternating weeks. The other things we do in the "schedule" will happen all the time...whether it is a summer school week or not. Although I plan plenty of activities to keep them busy in school alone - we don't necessarily do EVERY activity. There are days that some things get skipped or replaced (or forgotten)...and that's okay.

In addition to summer school, these are the other activities that keep us busy...

...on Tuesdays we take advantage of the free movies that our local Regal Theater shows during the summer. The movies are shown Tuesday through Thursday, and there is a G-rated and PG-rated choice every week. Sometimes, if there are TWO movies we want to see, we'll go two days and see a different movie each day...but we usually keep it to one a week. The movies are past releases, and I can guarantee that my kids have seen them all AT LEAST once (several are in our massive DVD collection)...but there is just SOMETHING about seeing movies in a theater that is fun. I pack candy and snacks in my purse, buy a large soda (free refills), and we head to the theater.

Regal theaters host free movies all over the country during the hot summer months, and its a great way to give your air-conditioning a break and still keep cool. Check out the website for participating theaters and listings in your area.

Here in South Florida (specifically in Pembroke Pines) our movies are:

June 9-11: Horton Hears a Who & Nim's Island
June 16-18: Curious George & Spiderwick Chronicles
June 23-25: Mr. Magorium & Water Horse
June 30-July 2: Mr. Bean & Madagascar 2
July 7-9: Artic Tale & Igor
July 14-16: Everybody's Hero & Kung Fu Panda
July 21-23: Charlotte's Web & Shrek the Third
July 28 - July 30: Tale of Desperaux & Bee Movie
August 4-6: Space Chimps & Alvin and the Chipmunks

On Wednesdays - we usually hit the library. Every year we take part in the Library Reading Program. My kids LOVE earning prizes, and I love getting them to read!! There are several library programs throughout the summer that we also take part in...such as story times, chess club, and drama activities. Sometimes these alternate activities take the place of scheduled summer school lessons.

On Thursdays we have a playgroup. During the school year it consists of just those littlest brothers and sisters that aren't quite old enough to join the ranks of elementary-school-big-kids. But during the summer, the WHOLE family can come to playgroup. And just in time, too...because we switch locations from our local park to our local pool. The kids get a couple hours each Thursday morning to splash and play before heading off for other activities.

Of course, Friday is our field trip day - and we usually take off for some destination or another that correlates with our weekly summer school theme. But more on that later.

As you can see...we have a very busy summer planned...and I can't WAIT for it to start!!
We'll see ya'all in a few days for our first summer school weekly theme...THE RAINFOREST!!!"

Be sure to check the Summer School Safari site for summer school lessons starting June 15!! Hope to see you there!!

New Skills, New Gadgets, and New Sites

Hey...check it out!! I have NEW STUFF on my blog!! A really cool Nav Bar at the top that will take you to my other sites... The Jungle Food Chain, and my newest baby...Summer School Safari.

Yes - that's right...thanks to my good friend, Melodee Cooper, my newest blog site is up and running, and she's the one who installed the super cool Nav Bars at the top of my pages to connect all my blogs together!! She also taught me how to (properly) use the hyperlink feature...which will be a relief to everyone, I'm sure.

Especially after I get tired of playing with it and linking stuff all over the Internet.

I can't help my enthusiasm! I feel so COMPUTER SAVVY right now!!

Anyway - please feel free to play around and see what's happen all over our Jungle. And don't worry - the Summer School Safari site may be a little empty now...but as summer approaches, I'll post all our plans and adventures right there for the whole world to see.

Love you guys!!

I'm gonna go play and link and explore and generally waste valuable time now...