Summer Break Weeks 2-3

Summer Break Weeks 2-3

What I’m Reading: Macbeth by William Shakespeare

The sixth Shakespeare play to read this year.  I was lost.  I knew the general plot, but I definitely did not pick up on any subtleties.  While I did want to quit reading it at one point, I read all the way through.  I know that each time I read it, I will be able to understand it more.  Thus, there always needs to be a first time!

What I’m {nature} Journaling: I am drawing in each of the blooms in my garden.  It’s enough to keep me busy for the summer.  I am also requiring more effort from my son while he’s working in his nature journal.  He gives minimal effort in several subjects, but I have been talking to him more about how giving excellent effort in little things spills over into bigger things. 

Adventure

Week two started off with a great start – a holiday weekend full of family bowling and games, cooking out on the new grill, and having neighbors over to eat and play. The holiday weekend was so full of fun that I set aside a full day of recovery for myself and home.  Just as we were picking up positive momentum at midweek, a stomach bug came running through the house.  That was fun…  (Have you noticed that one of us has been sick just about every month for over a year now?) Once we did recover, I fit in some reading aloud.

Week three was all about cramming in what I already had planned amongst cramming in very last minute international travel preparation for myself (including getting my passport renewed at the very last moment).  After much contemplation the week before, I have decided that June is our very busy month.  I originally thought we were going to have a restful first half of the month and one really crazy week, but the month has proved to be quite the opposite.

Reading

We are thoroughly enjoying Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen right now.  We are reading the hardback illustrated version by Naomi Lewis.  It is a well told version broken down into seven short stories. 

I have started reading Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls.  This is one of the books my third grade teacher read to us after lunch.  I don’t remember anything about the book.  However, I do remember loving it and imagining that it all took place in my cousin’s side property where they had terraced railroad ties. (I also don’t quite know if this is just tied in because I found out my teacher lived in their neighborhood and this was the age where we were finally old enough to play in that area without supervision.)

Academics/Riches Rotation

On the day I set aside for recovery, we had tea and poetry.  I have made it a point to include it in our summer.  We aren’t doing it weekly, but I am putting it into the rotation since we all love it so much.  I checked out a Tommie da Paola poetry book from our living library.  It’s a good collection of children’s favorites.  This was definitely a sweet highlight of our week that turned out to be so sour.

The only math my son completed for week 2 was an assessment.  He did so well!!!! Since we didn’t get around to doing anymore math for week 2, I decided that it was a good place to break.  We can reasonably pick everything back up again (maybe) when I get back.  (Looking at our calendar, we are really busy in the upcoming weeks, so we will not be doing even half of what I’ve planned.  While I think it’s important for my son to keep practicing math and for us to fit in some good academics and riches into our days, I think it is more important that we are participating in summer fun and reading good stories during our down time. I will continue to plug away at our rotation to give us variety, but I have more reasonable goals now in not getting to everything.)