My oldest little dude is finishing grade 2 in two weeks. This is crazy! Where is the time going? School keeps him pretty busy and unfortunately there is not a lot of affordable kids programming in the summer in Kelowna. I think it might be because it gets too hot but I don't know. There are lots of week long camps but they are expensive and only get him a week of entertainment. So to keep him busy I have been planning out activities for the summer.
I have done this before and have had it fail because we didn't schedule the activities and he was not interested in a lot of what I was trying to get him to do. This year we have a different approach. We are focusing on science because that is what he wants to learn about. He thinks he should do math every second day so we added that to the schedule. He should work on his writing but doesn't love writing so he agreed to writing a journal entry once a week, on Fridays to talk about all he has learned. He also enjoys the kids Duolingo French App so we popped that in for fun.
There is a great reading program through the library. The kids have to read for 20 minutes a day and they give them prizes along the way. If they complete their log book, they get a metal. Boy does he love getting those metals. Last year we started the program late and he ended up reading an hour a day to make up for it. He was so motivated to get that metal, and he did. This year we will are starting on time so he only has to read for 20 minutes a day.
We are going to start learning about bushcraft so that will take us outside on some adventures. We will try to get out at least once a day but the weather is so great we will hopefully get out twice most days, one outdoor adventure and then again for some exercise. The emphasis is on fun and enjoyment, not learning. I'm hoping the learning part happens organically. It's the summer so it's gotta be fun.
The books we are using are the Smithsonian Science! book and the Scholastics Success with Grade 3 Workbook for Math. The Science book is beautiful. It has large, detailed images and a ton of information. For learning bushcraft we picked up The Ultimate Bushcraft Survival Manual. We had a small SAS Survival guide but it was a bit too small and not fun enough so we got this new book. The Bushcraft book breaks everything down into easy to understand lists and has more pictures which is important for kids. Bushcrafting is more about having fun doing outdoorsy stuff than survivalism which can be a little intense for kids. I want to teach my kiddos to have fun in the woods and know survival skills but I don't want survival to be the focus. It's more fun to keep it light.
There is a template which can be downloaded free and modified in the Resources section of the site. I have filled up most of the weeks and will try to keep up with posting them through out the summer with details.