Summer Plans for your A.L.

[Runningmom80]

What does your accelerated learner have planned for the summer? Camps? School work? Travel? Special Project? Something I'm missing?

[Runningmom80]

For us, we both made a goal to complete SM 4B so that he can start 5A in the fall.  He really wants to get to "Algebra & Trigonometry." (He has little to no idea what Trig is. :lol: ) He also really wants to read books in Latin, so he's willing to keep studying over the summer.  I always have grand plans of lightly schooling in the summer, but we usually just drop it and hang out at the pool.  We'll see how it goes this year with the push coming mostly from him.

 

He's doing a camp for Bassists at a Conservatory, and possibly a video game design camp if I can come up with the money. :laugh: He will continue his bass lessons in June & July as well.

 

Swimming lessons are currently in negotiations. 

[purpleowl]

What does your accelerated learner have planned for the summer? Camps? School work? Travel? Special Project? Something I'm missing?

 

Somehow my brain switched the two bolded words around and changed "special" into "space."  I was thinking, I know we're talking about accelerated learners here, but summer space travel may be a bit much even for them. ;)

 

 

Anyway.  We are just continuing to do the next thing with school work around here.  We just started new books in almost every area last week (and we'll move to a new math book next week).  We're in a good rhythm, so we'll keep going, and then when there are days when we're invited to hang out with friends or something, we'll break from school to do that.  Other than a couple of weeks of swimming lessons, we don't really have anything specific planned.  I wouldn't be surprised if we end up going to visit out-of-town family at some point during the summer, though.

[Runningmom80]

Somehow my brain switched the two bolded words around and changed "special" into "space."  I was thinking, I know we're talking about accelerated learners here, but summer space travel may be a bit much even for them. ;)

 

 

 

 

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

 

Give it a few years. ;)

[Loesje22000]

Not very ''typical'

- bible camp

- pony camp (first time)

- adventure camp ( catch your own fish, and grill it above a campfire type of camp)

- two weeks at a seashore

- continuing French, Science and Technical Education as those are the last 8th grade exams to pass.

[Jackie]

DD has a week of 1/2 day dinosaur camp, two weeks of 1/2 day art camp, and two weeks of camping with her daddy. We'll go to the pool plenty and see if I can gently work her past her fear of getting water in her face. We'll spend a day at an amusement park a couple hours away. And when we have time, we'll continue on with the academics as usual.

[SeaConquest]

Sacha (6) is doing 4 weeks of sports camp, 4 weeks of theatre camp, 1 week of fencing camp, and 1 week of surf camp. He also wants to do an online Minecraft mod class. I found one for $30 that doesn't require Java. http://www.thoughtstem.com/home/programs/minecraft-courses

 

ETA: He also loves the Prodigy math game, which I hope will help to keep him fresh for the fall.

[Dmmetler]

Here's what DD has going on:

 

Give a workshop for a group of pre-teen girls on frogs, and get PAID (believe me, this is a BIG deal to a 10 yr old).

 

State cheer competition and her first ever cheer team camp (it's the first summer she's been high enough level to go

 

Attend her first sleep-away summer GT program, studying chemistry and biology

 

Piano camp at the University-our 11th year :) (DD's 4th of attending as an official student, but she's been on campus for it since I was recruited to teach when she was 6 months old).

 

Attend the SSAR annual conference.

 

In between-work on her amphibian microbiomes project, write her blog and finish up her book, review Algebra 1, improve microbiology skills.

 

Yeah...our summer just might be busier than our school year....

 

 

[Ethel Mertz]

We're continuing with math, writing, Spanish, Latin, and a summer reading list for a 5 to 6 week summer session. He's extremely focused on ornithology, so he will be traveling to two islands to go birding (one in the Caribbean and one off the coast of Maine). His jazz drumming lessons will continue in June and July and, somewhere in there, we'll fit in continued swim lessons. 

[Purpledaizy]

1 wk German language and culture camp - it's low key and fun;

 

3 days of leadership camp at a local university - an intro to team-building and light emphasis on public speaking;

 

One week family vacay in DC - museums, marine corp band, etc..; 

 

Studying for state fair spelling bee competition in Aug.; 

 

Continue to work on Boy scout requirements and two merit badges - mammal study, bird study; 

 

Coursera course on neurobiology - listending to the lectures just for fun (no pressure and not doing the big assignments).  

 

Review of math skills and preview of new material with Math Mammoth; and reading whatever he chooses from the school reading list.

[KarenNC]

Finishing up algebra 2 (however long that takes)

CLEP government test

(hopefully the above will be done in early June)

 

I've strongly suggested she include some Latin review as she will be moving into Latin 2 in the fall, but we'll see what happens.

 

Other than that: Girl Scout district camporee (weekend), 2 week residential world-building writing camp in August, prepping for creative writing club she's offered to lead in the fall, continue kickboxing and aikido, lots of time for creative writing, maybe a college visit or two.

[Leav97]

2 wk sleep over foreign language camp

1 wk morning band camp

1 wk morning prep for public school middle school

 

continue Pre-A, possibly add AOPS Pre-A summer class

 

piano and flute practice

 

Triathlon practice with 3? triathlons. 

 

ETA: apparently she talked Grandma and Grandpa into paying for a week of swim camp.

[SunshineMom]

DD11 plans to start her own business selling produce from her garden, continue to practice and perform with a community orchestra group, attend a week (overnight) academic camp at a university and tons of reading in the backyard :)

[MinivanMom]

Dd1 has a summer ballet intensive. Other than that, she plans to spend lots of time practicing her instruments, reading, and writing. She wants to work on constructing her own books this summer and learning different binding techniques. She has a book on binding handmade books that she got for Christmas, and it has given her lots of big ideas for this project. She is planning to spend lots of time working on French and already has several French books and movies lined up. She is also starting Latin this fall and is very excited about that so I ordered her GSWL, and she will probably spend some time working through that this summer.

 

Dd2 has one week of ballet camp. She also has big plans to do "harder math", but doesn't want to just continue working through Singapore. I think I may be dusting off our Kitchen Table Math books for some less-textbookish math activities, and she would probably enjoy reading through her sister's Danica McKellar books. She has also declared her intention of learning how to swim and ride a bike. She just finished swimming lessons (now that she has finally gotten over her fear of putting her face in the water), and she is just at the verge of swimming independently. She has been a little late to develop large motor skills, but I think she can master both swimming and riding by the end of the summer if we work at it.

 

Ds1 declares that he plans to do nothing but play in the backyard, ride his bike, and go to the pool this summer. He feels that I overworked him this year, while I maintain that he had an age-appropriate amount of work and simply chose to work s.l.o.w.l.y. on it. Either way, he is feeling a little burnt out and is needing some downtime. He also has Cub Scout Camp, and he's requested more library trips and more time at the museum of natural science.

[bakpak]

DD5 is going to spend lots of time thinking anticipating turning 6 and what the tooth fairy or rat (depending on country) might bring with the loss of her first teeth. Tooth wiggling is in full force already.

 

We are heading to the Caribbean for a couple of weeks in June with friends, so have been working on snorkeling skills in the pool. I'm hoping all the water time and being around other kids will help encourage her to learn to swim this summer. The kids will be doing 'research' and counting and ID'ing fish and birds on the trip, so lots of ecology discussions about various ecosystems. DD & I are heading to Puerto Rico for a few days after the Virgin Islands, so we'll get to practice our Spanish there as well (yay!).

 

I work full time, so DD is in lots of fun camps this summer...two involve an awesome mix of horseback riding, science & French/Spanish. Others include art, extinct species, & world travel.

 

We'll continue violin, although her teacher travels/performs much of the summer. Her teacher this morning acted like we the parents could just teach her whatever songs we wanted this summer - really??! I have no background in violin whatsoever, and my ex's fiddling in no way resembles what she's learning from a professional violinist. Ah well, we must be doing something right! Now that she's starting to read music I'd like her to go back through and play her Suzuki book 1 songs by reading (not memorization), since they're only half-remembered now. She doesn't have a Suzuki teacher, so there's no expectation of a full Book recital, but I can see why you'd go through the process to be able to play them all.

 

As for schooling, we'll continue dabbling in our typical after-schooling subjects: math, piano, Spanish, and French. Hmmm, that sounds boring...maybe I should see what else we can come up with!

[Purpledaizy]

 

 

 He feels that I overworked him this year, while I maintain that he had an age-appropriate amount of work and simply chose to work s.l.o.w.l.y. on it. 

 

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who hears this  :lol:

[sportsmom]

DS10 has Football Conditioning 2 days/week in June, 1 week of church camp (out of state) in July, 1 week of family vacation at the beach in July, Thursday mornings he will be participating in the Junior Ranger Program at one of the state parks, 4 days of football camp in July, and 5 days/week of football all of August.  For formal work, we will probably do some Life of Fred math to keep him fresh for the beginning of the school year.

 

DD4 may take some swimming lessons, but the local YMCA won't allow her to go into an older class even though she is capable.  Sigh.  Other than that, we have very few "formal" plans for her.  Unfortunately, her age automatically excludes her from many activities that she has interest in and would excel at.  She will begin cheerleading in July to prepare for football season.  

[Syllieann]

My older two will have a week of vbs. We're all going on a weeklong camping trip. Most exciting is our coming move that will triple our living space. I'll be setting up a homeschool room and craft room over summer. Ods is super excited to learn Spencerian cursive-his choice, oddly. He'll do 2 days per week of math since we do only 4 days during the school year. I want to teach ods to swim too. I am a former competitive swimmer, certified lifeguard, Red Cross instructor, and former competitive coach. Yet, my kid can't swim. I really need to change that. Our new house is in another county where ymca homeschool gym class is offered, so I'm using that as the carrot for swimming. He's not going to want to be the only kid in class hanging onto the edge.

[Runningmom80]

My older two will have a week of vbs. We're all going on a weeklong camping trip. Most exciting is our coming move that will triple our living space. I'll be setting up a homeschool room and craft room over summer. Ods is super excited to learn Spencerian cursive-his choice, oddly. He'll do 2 days per week of math since we do only 4 days during the school year. I want to teach ods to swim too. I am a former competitive swimmer, certified lifeguard, Red Cross instructor, and former competitive coach. Yet, my kid can't swim. I really need to change that. Our new house is in another county where ymca homeschool gym class is offered, so I'm using that as the carrot for swimming. He's not going to want to be the only kid in class hanging onto the edge.

We are house hunting, I can't wait to set up a homeschool room!

[ssavings]

DD8 and DS7:
 

- A trip to Orlando (probably not the big theme parks) with my parents for a week.

- Two weeks in California with my Mother-in-Law (bless her sweet, sweet heart. it's a rare mother-in-law who will take all four of ones kids for two weeks!)

- Tin Man Press logic/thinking skills type books

- Logic books

- MCT Island level
- Fun writing (I have a few of the books that were recommended on this site)

- Learning cursive (handwriting is a weak area... what can I say?)
- Challenging Word Problems, whatever other math we find
- Continue Spanish
- Continue reading/literature

[Runningmom80]

It looks like we are adding a Shakespeare Project to our summer schedule.  I think I'll re evaluate Latin now, I really don't want him to be doing a ton of work.

[deerforest]

Several weeks of advanced circus camps, 2 weeks of which are sleepover camps. We live in NC and are traveling to Maine and VT to make this happen. DH and I are working remotely while she's in camps. She's also doing local culinary, photography, and Photoshop camps. Plus, swimming when she's home. It's all about her interests and passions for the summer!

 

We are doing minimal writing and math through the summer when we have time.

[Donna]

Our summer…one week of fiddle camp, one week music/dance stage show camp, some travel for CD release gigs and festivals.

 

In between all that some violin lessons, fiddle lessons, continuing some school-French with tutor, finish up geometry online class, finish up biology curriculum. 

[4ofus]

Instrument practice continues although frequency of lessons lessens 

4 days of a Lukeion workshop

TKD continues + tournament

Finish reading Connecticut Yankee alongside binging on free reading

1 week of camping

1 week beachside

Oldest has 3 more weeks of AoPS PA

1 week art camp

Oldest is requesting more sports...he's open to lacrosse, football, soccer, tennis...he really just wants more sports. I've got to get on that one.

 

 

Every year I loosely plan an amazingly productive summer, & every year when it rolls around I am OVER IT. We end up playing outside, bowling, camping, reading, swimming, hanging out with friends with very little in the way of actual work. I love it.

 

 

[LTBernard]

I had planned to just take it easy this summer with only a slight little bit of unstructured school to finish up the couple things we didn't finish up in the official school year.  After today with my children driving me CRAZY due to their boredom I am revamping that idea.

[arliemaria]

I want Robby to complete four or more Jr. Ranger badges (Lincoln Boyhood Home, Jr. Cave Scientist, Jr. Archaeologist, and Ozark National Scenic Riverways). 1/4 complete so far

 

I would like to try a diy.org camp.  The first one is $10.  Might try Space Camp.

 

There is a VBS at our local Greek church, but I don't know if transportation will work out. Didn't work out.  Don't feel bad about missing out at all.

 

We did a fishing tournament and a kid's fishing day at a beautiful spring, but have yet to catch a fish.  We are going to a lake in southern Indiana with family in August so hopefully we will catch a fish then. :) Water was up too much and we didn't want to buy an IN fishing license.  We'll try fishing again soon, hopefully.

 

We have a speech evaluation this month.  Completed and insurance is covering twelve sessions.  First one is scheduled first week of July.

 

We hope to begin communicating with a local boy scout troop and find one that will be a good fit for us. Might try to start a Trail Life USA group instead.

 

ETA:  We are continuing an in-depth study of electricity and magnets.  Our goal is to add at least two pages a week in our lab book for the science fair which is next March.  We will also do a demo or experiment at least every other week.  Progress has continued to be made.
 

We built fairy houses and took to the Renaissance Faire this past weekend.  

 

I plan to do at least one major messy project during June, July, and August with our teenage neighbor girls assisting.

1) Paint Branches:  http://www.artbarblog.com/create/painted-branch-collaborative-art/

2) Rockets to launch on Independence Day Doing an online class with Supercharged Science 8/11/15

3) Cob Oven! 

 

Complete our K-3 MENSA Excellence in Lit list.  We did the Barnes and Noble summer program and will turn in the form this week, probably.  We will also complete the Half Price Books program.  Our library has a program that we'll probably participate in as well.  We are returning Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library.  My husband feels it has too much toilet humor.  This was Robby's chosen book from the Barnes and Noble summer program.  We turned in paperwork for June's minutes for Half Price Books.  I have papers for July's minutes as well.  These need to be returned by Sept. 3.  We'll see if that happens.

 

ETA:  Google Maker Camp

Stream Team  I contacted the local Stream Team.  We'll see if we can begin helping this year.

[SKL]

My advanced kid and my average kid are both doing the same stuff, and here it is.  (Camps are day camps unless otherwise noted.)

• Travel:  Eastern Canada road trip.
• Camps and classes:
  • Scout camp (3 days overnight - I have to come because of their age)
  • Math camp (1hr per week + one mostly-full week in August)
  • Science / medical camp (1 week)
  • Latin American culture camp (1 week)
  • Theater camp (2 weeks, mornings + 2 performances)
  • 4-H Camp (1 week, includes 1 night overnight)
  • Horse camp including archery and "equestrian vaulting" (1-4 days per week, filling gaps)
  • Rec center camp (1 week)
  • Gymnastics camp (about 3 mornings) plus 1.5 hour weekly gym class
  • Swim team (2 evenings per week plus meets)
  • TaeKwonDo (1-2 evenings per week)
  • Spanish immersion cooking & art camp (11 afternoons)
  • A few library classes (3 evenings)
  • Tennis lessons?  Still considering.  (6 or 10 evening classes)
• At home:
  • Complete unfinished 3rd grade school & afterschooling workbooks, daily math facts, bridge workbooks.
  • School teachers will send some summer homework - I don't know what.
  • Work through some MCT books together.  Also other fun books we have re grammar.
  • Work through Beast Academy together.  Also other fun books we have re math.
  • Story of the World, Story of Science (read-aloud).
  • Reading some non-AR books I put aside for summer.
  • Reading some Spanish books.
  • Lots of fun reading (read-alouds and silent reading).
  • Individual scout badges.  Handle like unit studies and include computer skills (Excel, internet research, writing/typing) as well as reading nonfiction.
  • Piano, violin, guitar, trumpet?
  • Yoga.
  • Learn and play chess.
• Other
  • Hanging out with auntie and her dogs - maybe do some dog shows and training?
  • Lots of playing outside, biking, etc.
  • Look into volunteering at nearby national parks.
  • Maybe attend some educational hikes at the nearby marsh owned by the Natural History Museum.
  • Outdoor concerts, art museum, planetarium and other museum exhibits / shows.

Edited June 2, 2015 by SKL

[Runningmom80]

How did your summers go?  I thought it would be fun to update before the craziness of the school year starts.  (I know there's still 6 weeks of the season left.)

 

For us, we didn't school at all!  Happens every year, I don't know why I try to kid myself.  :laugh:

 

We did to swimming lessons, which have been wonderful, and I think we are going to carry them into the school year with a swim team.  They were every day which he complained about at first, but he learned so much, I'm not waisting my time on weekly lessons anymore. His baseball team won their "world series," which was a lot of fun.  Baseball was challenging for him, but he worked hard and practiced which was a big boost for him.  He also got better at working as a team. 

 

I'm glad I ditched the "school" stuff for physical activity.  He's not that athletic, and I usually give him a pass so to speak, but he really blossomed this summer.  He's not an Olympian, but he's definitely more comfortable in his body.  Well, he seems that way at least.  Now puberty will start and we'll be back at square one.

 

My twins also did swimming lessons, and improved a lot.  :hurray:   I'm counting the summers until I can read a book at the pool. :)  My DD practiced reading and is getting pretty fluent.  DS was a strong reader before the summer, he hasn't read much, but I'm not worried.

 

So how about everyone else?  How did the summer go?

[sportsmom]

DS10 has Football Conditioning 2 days/week in June, 1 week of church camp (out of state) in July, 1 week of family vacation at the beach in July, Thursday mornings he will be participating in the Junior Ranger Program at one of the state parks, 4 days of football camp in July, and 5 days/week of football all of August.  For formal work, we will probably do some Life of Fred math to keep him fresh for the beginning of the school year.

 

DD4 may take some swimming lessons, but the local YMCA won't allow her to go into an older class even though she is capable.  Sigh.  Other than that, we have very few "formal" plans for her.  Unfortunately, her age automatically excludes her from many activities that she has interest in and would excel at.  She will begin cheerleading in July to prepare for football season.  

 

 

It's funny reading this.

 

DS10:

Football conditioning - check

Church camp - check

Vacation - check

Junior Ranger program - semi check (I forgot to go 2 days)

Football camp - check

Football season - started this week, check

Life of Fred - nope, but we tested our way through 3/4 of Saxon 65, we will finish in September

 

DD4:

Swimming lessons - nope

Cheering - check

[Dmmetler]

DD10 went to her first GT summer program and loved it, went to piano and art camp and generally enjoyed it, and went to the national SSAR meeting. Her frog project did finally have tadpoles, and she's recorded a decent amount of data, so is hoping that she'll get to present at the state Herp conference next month (eek!). We didn't do much school, but she did finish chemistry this summer as well, plus some fun game theory stuff. Her book was published on Amazon in May. She distributed a lot of toy snakes with project information at various events this summer, and continued to build her project. She got to meet a lot of big Scicomm folks, bloggers, and tweeters at SSAR, which was cool.

 

We skipped cheer camp because of a potential social issue.

 

We started back Monday. I don't think anyone was ready for summer to be over, but since school starts here and outside activities are mostly pegged to school, it made sense to get back on a regular routine.

 

 

 

[Runningmom80]

I keep forgetting that school is starting soon!

 

We aren't starting until after Labor Day.  I just had surgery and my husband and I are going to a wedding in Sonoma at the end of the month, so we will just start in September. 

[purpleowl]

We are just continuing to do the next thing with school work around here.  We just started new books in almost every area last week (and we'll move to a new math book next week).  We're in a good rhythm, so we'll keep going, and then when there are days when we're invited to hang out with friends or something, we'll break from school to do that.  Other than a couple of weeks of swimming lessons, we don't really have anything specific planned.  I wouldn't be surprised if we end up going to visit out-of-town family at some point during the summer, though.

 

This is pretty much what has happened!  I did find out about a fine arts day camp (well, mornings camp) that one of the churches nearby was doing, so DD#1 participated in that last week.  And we ended up seeing family - my parents were in Savannah for a couple days for a conference my dad was attending, and we went up for those same couple of days for a vacation, so we were able to spend a little time with them. :)

[SKL]

 

My advanced kid and my average kid are both doing the same stuff, and here it is.  (Camps are day camps unless otherwise noted.)

• Travel:  Eastern Canada road trip.  [done]
• Camps and classes:
  • Scout camp [canceled because of weather]
  • Math camp (1hr per week + one mostly-full week in August)  [done]
  • Science / medical camp (1 week)  [done]
  • Latin American culture camp (1 week)  [done]
  • Theater camp (2 weeks, mornings + 2 performances)  [done]
  • 4-H Camp (1 week, includes 1 night overnight)  [done]
  • Horse camp including archery and "equestrian vaulting" (1-4 days per week, filling gaps) [done, plus they did their first horse show.  :)]
  • Rec center camp (1 week)  [Did 2 days.]
  • Gymnastics camp (about 3 mornings) plus 1.5 hour weekly gym class [did a little more - they liked the camps]
  • Swim team (2 evenings per week plus meets)  [done, our team won 1st.  ;)  Good experience.]
  • TaeKwonDo (1-2 evenings per week)  [We earned our green belts, then attended a half-day camp to earn green tip, then took a break; resumed mid-August.]
  • Spanish immersion cooking & art camp (11 afternoons)  [did 10 afternoons, except I really don't think they did much Spanish]
  • A few library classes (3 evenings)  [did not happen, but that's OK]
  • Tennis lessons?  Still considering.  (6 or 10 evening classes)  [Did two 6-week sessions.  Learned a little, not much.]
• At home:
  • Complete unfinished 3rd grade school & afterschooling workbooks, daily math facts, bridge workbooks.  [finished some, will continue some partway into the school year.  Threw some in the garbage as there is no point now.]
  • School teachers will send some summer homework - I don't know what.   [Finished about 50 assignments, all except a couple that were impossible for us.]
  • Work through some MCT books together.  Also other fun books we have re grammar.  [Nope.]
  • Work through Beast Academy together.  Also other fun books we have re math.  [Read some math books, but not Beast.]
  • Story of the World, Story of Science (read-aloud).  [Nope.]
  • Reading some non-AR books I put aside for summer.  [Did some, will continue after school starts.]
  • Reading some Spanish books.  [Nope.]
  • Lots of fun reading (read-alouds and silent reading).  [Done.]
  • Individual scout badges.  Handle like unit studies and include computer skills (Excel, internet research, writing/typing) as well as reading nonfiction.  [We have worked on the requirements for some, but have not compiled them into packages yet.]
  • Piano, violin, guitar, trumpet?  [Did some piano only - and not much of that.]
  • Yoga.  [Very little.]
  • Learn and play chess.  [Nope, not yet, maybe this month.]
• Other
  • Hanging out with auntie and her dogs - maybe do some dog shows and training?  [done, new puppies!]
  • Lots of playing outside, biking, etc.  [did some]
  • Look into volunteering at nearby national parks.  [did one volunteer gig - tree planting (3 hours) - it was great]
  • Maybe attend some educational hikes at the nearby marsh owned by the Natural History Museum.  [nope]
  • Outdoor concerts, art museum, planetarium and other museum exhibits / shows.  [done; also a trip to the zoo]

 

We didn't do nearly as much at-home work as I was hoping.  But the academic camps they did were really good - they exceeded my expectations and made up for whatever we skipped IMO.

 

I've been having them write a letter to their teacher every week or two to tell about what they've done this summer.  They have also had a pen pal from school.  So they are practicing writing.  I plan to have them revise the letters over the next two weeks as we review grammar concepts.

 

We added several amusement / waterpark / resort visits.  We will be going to Washington, DC the first Monday of the school year.

 

My kids are getting new bedrooms, hopefully this month.  The construction has been going on all summer.  I guess that's been a learning experience.  ;)

 

They began to learn about fishing and putt-putt golf.  ;)

 

ETA I just realized I did something funky with my quote.  No, math camp was not canceled because of weather, that was scout camp.  :p

 

ETAA I updated as of the first day of school.

[LTBernard]

I had planned to just take it easy this summer with only a slight little bit of unstructured school to finish up the couple things we didn't finish up in the official school year.  After today with my children driving me CRAZY due to their boredom I am revamping that idea.

 

I ended up getting a part time job this summer.  The job took a lot of adjustment since I haven't worked since before my eldest was born.  That lead to us not doing much this summer.  We ALMOST finished up the math we hadn't quite finished up last school year.  We started back our school year yesterday and so are just adding the math in to this year, even though I really wanted to have a more clear line between last year's stuff and this year's.  Oh well, that is probably just me being stuck in the way I had school growing up.  Of course, even though we never had material go from one year to the next, we typically did not finish our textbooks.

[sportsmom]

I keep forgetting that school is starting soon!

 

We aren't starting until after Labor Day.  I just had surgery and my husband and I are going to a wedding in Sonoma at the end of the month, so we will just start in September. 

 

School's here don't start until after Labor Day as well.  We try to stick as close to the typical school schedule as possible.  Exceptions are holidays that my husband has off when school's are traditionally in session, snow/inclement weather days, and when we wrap up for the year.

[SeaConquest]

Sacha (6) is doing 4 weeks of sports camp, 4 weeks of theatre camp, 1 week of fencing camp, and 1 week of surf camp. He also wants to do an online Minecraft mod class. I found one for $30 that doesn't require Java. http://www.thoughtstem.com/home/programs/minecraft-courses

 

ETA: He also loves the Prodigy math game, which I hope will help to keep him fresh for the fall.

 

Had a great time at theatre camp, a so-so time at sports camp, and is currently enjoying fencing camp. Surf camp next week will be a big challenge for him.

 

We never did the Minecraft class. He has been spending a lot of time after camp playing his Wii U games (currently Skylanders) and watching Stampy videos.

 

I didn't plan for us to do school, and we haven't. But, we are almost finished with the third Harry Potter book. I told him that if he wanted to continue that he would have to read them himself. We'll see what he does. We don't start school until after Labor Day.

 

My biggest challenge will be getting Ronen adjusted to preschool and potty trained. Not really looking forward to that drama.

 

We're going to Florida for 10 days at the end of the month -- our last hurrah before the end of summer.

[FairProspects]

I ended up coming to the realization that we have blown through the material of every camp that is even remotely nearby, and we will basically have to up the challenge level and plan to travel next summer.

 

The local robotics camps put on by 4H & First Robotics were a waste and both boys said they didn't learn a thing the whole week. They did have fun, but not exactly what I was hoping for the price.

 

The local private school camp, which was highly and nationally touted, the boys found boring after just one day. They did offer some fun activities but it was not enough mental stimulation to keep them engaged for long.

 

Suzuki violin camp was awesome and inspiring. One of the better experiences of the summer.

 

The surprise hit of the summer was traditional summer camp. Both boys *loved* this, challenged themselves physically and socially, and thrived according to their counselors. We will definitely plan in another week of this next year.

 

Aerospace Camp was similarly amazing because of the scope and depth of activities. I'm excited for older ds to graduate to middle school level next year because he will gain even more opportunities at that level.

 

I'm thinking I will look into camps at the universities next summer. Those descriptions, along with some traditional summer camp, seems to be the best option for the kinds of experiences that both boys enjoy.

 

 

[Runningmom80]

Suzuki violin camp was awesome and inspiring. One of the better experiences of the summer.

 

 

That's wonderful!

My DS does Suzuki bass.  He did a workshop with a famous bassist at the beginning of July.  It was not Suzuki based, but there were lots of Suzuki kids there. It was also a wonderful experience for DS.  He played 4-5 hours of bass a day for 3 days.  I've never seen him that involved before, it was great!

[Syllieann]

My older two will have a week of vbs. We're all going on a weeklong camping trip. Most exciting is our coming move that will triple our living space. I'll be setting up a homeschool room and craft room over summer. Ods is super excited to learn Spencerian cursive-his choice, oddly. He'll do 2 days per week of math since we do only 4 days during the school year. I want to teach ods to swim too. I am a former competitive swimmer, certified lifeguard, Red Cross instructor, and former competitive coach. Yet, my kid can't swim. I really need to change that. Our new house is in another county where ymca homeschool gym class is offered, so I'm using that as the carrot for swimming. He's not going to want to be the only kid in class hanging onto the edge.

Starting school next week so time to update. Everything on our list got done except for ods learning to swim. However, he majorly wiped out while tubing and didn't cry....so we're moving in the right direction I guess. He's still a big 'fraidy cat though. My previously nonverbal 2 year old has finally started mimicking words, which gives me some hope after months of doom and gloom worries about what issues he might have.

[4ofus]

Instrument practice continues although frequency of lessons lessens Done!

4 days of a Lukeion workshop The boys LOVED this! The youngest one is begging for more Lukeion.

TKD continues + tournament Year-round, Done!

Finish reading Connecticut Yankee alongside binging on free reading SO Happy to be Done! w/CY. Not anyone's favorite Twain.

1 week of camping Done!

1 week beachside Done!

Oldest has 3 more weeks of AoPS PA Done!

1 week art camp Done!

Oldest is requesting more sports...he's open to lacrosse, football, soccer, tennis...he really just wants more sports. I've got to get on that one. Team Tennis fit the summer nicely & worked for both boys. Done! :)

 

 

Every year I loosely plan an amazingly productive summer, & every year when it rolls around I am OVER IT. We end up playing outside, bowling, camping, reading, swimming, hanging out with friends with very little in the way of actual work. I love it. Done!

 

It might not sound like it, but we really did stay busy this summer!

 

In addition to the above, the boys joined a middle school "rock band" that met once weekly with a music mentor to guide them while learning about improvisation & whatever else. They loved that too. 

 

So, nothing that looked much like school at all, but tons of growth & development in all areas. 

 

By putting things that *look* like school aside for a season, everyone is usually ready to get back to school in the fall. I'm a big fan of stealth learning in the summer ;).

[Donna]

Our summer was a bit busier than originally planned as we had a few last minute travels added on...

-one week of fiddle camp (done)

-ten days music/dance stage show camp (done)

-some travel for CD release gigs and festivals (done...much more than planned when I commented on this post originally…we are actually traveling right now and have two more gigs on this last minute planned "mini-tour" to Gettysburg, Charleston WV, and Lexington KY--what a blessing it has been to meet so many new people this summer and make some wonderful connections with others who love Irish music. We hadn't planned to go to Ireland this year, we usually go in August, but the opportunity to go in October came up and we have a trip planned now. Dd was also interviewed and a feature article on her just came out in Fiddler Magazine's Fall Edition which was a big deal to her…it's a magazine she has read for years.)

-some violin lessons (continued lessons though took off in July due to all the travel…decided on a teacher and a few pieces for the next year)

-fiddle lessons (not as many as originally planned but had a few with teachers other than her usual teacher and some collaborations that she really enjoyed)

-continuing some school: French with tutor (done though our tutor moved to Paris last week to be an au pair so looking for a new one), finish up geometry online class and biology curriculum (done-also started up a couple of dd's new classes this month to get a jump start on school for this year)

[deerforest]

Several weeks of advanced circus camps, 2 weeks of which are sleepover camps. We live in NC and are traveling to Maine and VT to make this happen. DH and I are working remotely while she's in camps. She's also doing local culinary, photography, and Photoshop camps. Plus, swimming when she's home. It's all about her interests and passions for the summer!

 

We are doing minimal writing and math through the summer when we have time.

We didn't do any school at all, but we did everything else! Overall things went well. Sleepaway camp was a big deal and although she was very homesick, she stuck with it and wants to go back. Didn't get as much swimming in as we had hoped.

 

We had some major health upheavals this summer too. Her favorite cat died from sudden renal lymphoma; DH had emergency kidney stone surgery; I have eye surgery scheduled in a month. DD herself just kept getting recurrent colds that turned into sinus infections but the ENT thinks we finally have it conquered. Nothing serious but she just feeling blah.

 

We started school this week, and she actually remembered things and seems refreshed!