Here in South Carolina we have been blessed with a moderate spring, but as of this last week there is no doubt, summer has arrived!  I always enjoy slowing the pace down a bit and look forward to visits with friends and family over the summer months.  I also LOVE to plan school for the next year--somehow it is more fun to think about beginning new classes than finishing the old ones. LOL 

  

Essay Styles for High School  

 Speaking of next year's classes, Beth and I have been  busy working on four high school courses that will be introduced over the next two months.  The first to arrive will be Essay Styles for High School, followed closely by American Literature for High School. These are both one credit, one year classes that can be used as college prep or honors courses.  Although it would be beneficial for any high school student, we recommend Essay Styles for a foundational high school writing class, as it covers the five essays that are required for high school and college writing. This unique course is written to both the student and the teacher and it includes sample student essays of each type and sample graded essays, enabling you to be well-equipped to teach your student high school writing!  Essay Styles should be available very soon and we will be offering it at a discounted price for a short time, so be looking for the announcement! 

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            Homemaking... TEACH Magazinewill calm 

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           inspiration, and practical ideas in a 44-page 

           quarterly Christian magazine for moms.   

For more information about TEACH Magazine, see their website at: http://www.teachmagazine.net.   

 Although summer is the time to sandwich some extra reading time into your more relaxed schedule, we also want to keep our students' minds active as well as their bodies...  

 

 

Keep Those Brain Cells Charging!  

 Kid’s choice—not whether to read or not, but what to read.  

·   Establish the habit of having your child read every day. Let him choose most of his own reading.  Instead of nightly TV or before bed, pull out the books and read for pure enjoy ment.  Go to the library once a week and let your children grab an armful of books.  Make it an event—have a picnic afterward and everyone sit out under a tree and read their books for a while.  Note: it is fine to let a child read a little under his reading level:  it will increase his enjoy ment, and more importantly, will enhance his reading fluency if practiced every day.  

·     If you have a baby and older children, have room reading time coincide with nap time and put your feet up for an hour or two!  

·     Suggest historical fiction, biographies, and/or start a family read aloud or one read by an older child to the younger ones (although I find there is more buy-in when mom is reading).  Use your Epi Kardia book lists for ideas of well-written, high interest literature appropriate for your students’ age and reading level. 

·     Encourage your children to pursue a personal interest (“Hey Sam!  This looks as if it would be a fascinating book about missiles—weren’t you asking me about them the other day?”)  

·     Get a head start on next year’s reading interspersed with the fun stuff, especially for late middle and high school students. 

·     Motivate your high school student to begin early on honors level classes by beginning the reading in the sum- mer.  When given a choice of beginning early or working harder during the school year, many would choose the benefit of a more flexible school year over loosing a few hours a day in the sizzling sum mer sun.  

 

·     Reading for rewards: Have your kids enroll in a library summer reading program. They can often earn fun rewards and the accountability encourages them to read more. If your library doesn’t have such a program, consider doing your own with a few other families by having your kids set reading goals then rewarding with them for doing so. One other idea is to “sponsor” your child’s reading by giving him a certain amount of money per book read and let him choose a charity to donate a portion or all of money.  

Sneaky school: watch and discuss movies   

Videos can be an under-the-radar learning opportunity! Working accurate historical fiction movies  into your schedule can reinforce what was learned over the school year as well bridge to next year’s study.   For late middle and high school students, this is also a titanic opportunity to encourage analytical thinking* by discussing: 

·     The characters in the movie: 

o    Which characters did you like and not like? Why? 

o    What were the problems that the main character had to overco me? 

o    How did he do it?  How would you have done it? 

·     Where and when did the story take place?  

o    Reinforce or teach that where and when the story took place is called the setting.  

o     How did the setting enhance the mood or help tell the story?  (Rainy and gray weather = sadness or difficulty) 

o     God is omnipotent, Jesus is fully God and sinless man, salvation is by faith alone – Christianity  

o     God is in everything – pantheism, dualism, animism 

o     We are all gods – Hinduism 

o     There is no God – atheism 

o     Salvation is based on performance – Buddhism, Islam, Jehovah’s Witness 

o     Morality is relative, there is no absolute truth – modernism, post-modernism 

*Read more ideas about encouraging analytical thinking through dialogue in the blog post Preparing Your Middle Schooler for High School – Part 2: Taking Advantage of the Intellectual Growth Curve.   

 

 **See a few of our favorite books for learning and teaching worldview on our website under Buy Books! > Recom mended High School and Adult Reading   

 

What’s Up?      

Read the newspaper. What is happening this sum mer in your area?  What is going on in the world?  Discuss national and world news and look up the areas in question on a globe or a world map.  

Going Anywhere Interesting?   

Even if it is “just to Grandma’s house,” have your older children research the area to discover its history. Is there any place you could visit there or on the way that would be enjoyable?  If you are spending ti me in an unfamiliar area to see the sites and it is feasible, let each of your kids choose one thing he would like to see or do while there.  Don’t forget travel journals!  (New pens and cute journals are great incentives.) Additionally, redeem the car ti me:  

Younger kids   

·     listen to tapes (history, audiobooks, Focus on the Family productions) 

·     play car games –, play the 'alphabet game' to reinforce the alphabet and letter recognition—find words that begin with A, then B, etc. 

·     rhyming game – how many words can you think of that rhy me with “black”? 

·     recite Bible verses, math facts, foreign language phrases, and other memory work from the previous school year 

Older Kids

·     Help map out and plan the trip

·     Listen to tapes (books on tape or on MP3 player, etc.) 

·     Catch up on reading 

·     calculate the day’s miles and or the car’s gas mileage 

Puzzled About What To Do This Summer?   

Puzzles are an excellent way to keep the brain working well. There’s a puzzle for every age level! 

·           Jigsaw puzzles – set up a family puzzle on a table or floor area in your home where everyone can sit around and work on a puzzle together or any individual can take a few minutes to add a piece now and then. A U.S. or World map puzzle or some other educational type will serve double duty. Set up a goal for a completion date to keep everyone working on it. Larger pieced floor puzzles work well for smaller children and often have educational themes.  

·      Word searches work well with younger children.  

·      Crossword puzzles come in varying levels and can be done alone or in teams. 

·      Sudoku or other number puzzles really strengthen logic skills while being fun. As well, they come in inexpensive electronic forms making them perfect for traveling, if desired. 

Although an abundance of fresh air and sunshine should be on the summer agenda, a little planning of intellectual activities will yield positive results when it is time to begin more academic pursuits again in the fall. If you have any other creative ideas for sum mer learning, we would love to hear them!  We will publish your comments in an upcoming blog!  

  

Summer Specials! 

  What is more satisfying than getting a bargain on curriculum?  We are running a number of summer specials beginning next week!   Be checking our website for more information soon.   

Have a fun and productive sum mer! 

Dana and Beth