My Adventure Bag
We love to go on adventures, and here is one way that we plan to get the most out of our summer fun - an adventure bag!
We went to The Garden in the Woods today to hike. When we checked in today, they presented us with a bag full of goodies. It included binoculars, a magnifying glass, a BINGO game, a bug handbook, and a small journal with crayons. I thought that it was a fabulous idea! The kids loved everything in the bag, and the supplies certainly enhanced the trip. I’ve been thinking about it a little more, and I think we’ll take an adventure bag with us when we go out adventuring.
Take apart the bag for a moment. Think about why certain items should be included. The science journal with colored pencils is the most important component of the bag. This journal will keep a record of your child’s science work for a particular unit of study. Being required to accurately draw a picture of something in the journal will also cause your child to observe more carefully and think. Your child will also practice writing for a different purpose in this journal. This is a great way to get your reluctant writer to do a little writing. It is often easier to write about experiences and something tangible than something abstract.
The other components of the bag basically add to the quality of your child’s observations. The binoculars and magnifying glass make it possible to look closely at something and create an accurate drawing of it. This allows your child to use real tools to make observations with. It takes practice to master using these tools correctly. This is a chance to take risks with those skills since there isn’t any pressure on a family hike.
I love the idea of including a handbook or field guide. Your reluctant reader might be more willing to read up on exciting creatures and interesting plants knowing that you are heading out on an adventure. The photographs and illustrations in these books also make it much more compelling to read while the shorter bits of text make it less intimidating. You might look for particular animals or plant life from the book while on the hike, too.
If you bring a camera, your child can document the trip in photographs. What a great opportunity to try out a different medium for art! Depending on how much you know about photography, you can help your child with composing a shot and using lighting in an artistic way. Your child could use the photographs in a scrapbook if you like.
Additionally, I would include a small first aid kit in the bag. We have had many incidents that require first aid while we are hiking. Also talk about basic safety before you go adventuring and review some basic rules for the trip (stay with the group, don’t jump into the water, don’t eat anything you see growing, etc.).
Of course, it would be too much to try out all of the ideas on one adventure trip, but it us great to have all of your important adventuring tools in one place. It allows you to go out on a hike, and follow your child’s lead to see which tools from the trusty adventure bag s/he uses. Go out and have fun with your adventure bag!
Home School Gardening Project Tips
As a homeschooler, I find that preparing materials for great work that I want to do is sometimes hard. Some things just take a lot of preparation. One way you can limit curriculum planning for your home school is by setting up ongoing projects. There is always something to do when you have a project, and you can add a lot of learning that is fun and interactive. Projects often take on a life of their own.
One great project is a garden. Gardening incorporates layers of skills, and it is great for kinesthetic and tactile learners. Obviously it is a science project, but there is so much more that you can do with it. My family has started a garden this summer, and we are having fun with it! The kids are really excited about watering the plants and making observations. We are trying to make more detailed observations about the shape and colors that we see in the garden. Here are some tips to add learning to your gardening experience.
- Do some research together about what plants grow in different kinds of light, and allow your children some choice about what to plant in the garden.
- Lookat the seeds before you plant them. Observe the shape, color, and texture.
- Use your science journals to make observations about the garden.
Remember to make careful observations about the plants. - The scientific drawings should be accurate - down to the colors. Remember to include written observations.
Measure the plants as they grow and chart it. Make predictions about how much each plant will grow.- Use new vocabulary when you talk about the garden. Talk about tilling the soil and fertilizing the plants. Name the tools. Find more information about gardening vocabulary at Katina’s Little Gardeners.
Your gardening experience should be a fun family project. Enjoy!
Filed under How to | Comment (0)Summer Science Journals for Your Home School
Do you want to improve your science program? Are you struggling to motivate your kids to write anything let alone something meaningful, especially in the summer? Are you trying to get the most out of those educational summer vacations? Try using science journals! The benefits of journals abound! Have you tried them yet? They are great even for the littlest scientists! Here are a few tips for a summer science journal. Hopefully you will be inspired to try them out this summer!
- Use something that is portable and durable for your journal. You’ll take it everywhere and use it in messy situations. You want it to hold up. Attach a pencil on a string to the journal. Bring some colored pencils or crayons along. Put the journal, pencil, and colors in a folder or a plastic storage bag.
- Bring your science journals when you go to various vacation spots. Children can journal about the ocean, fishing, the farm, the aquarium, berry picking, hiking, and camping experiences (think star gazing, and the like).
- Why not use your journal with some ongoing science projects at home? We have a garden that we journal about. (That’s a whole other post coming soon!)
- Put a title on the page indicating what the entry is about and where the family was. Write the date. (It’s important to maintain good records.)
- Have the kids include detailed, scientific drawings in their journals. They should label the drawings clearly and use appropriate colors in the picture. For example, color the ocean the colors that you see (green, blue, white, yellow), not just blue because blue represents water.
- Write observations in each entry. Little ones can dictate a sentence or two for you to write for them.
- Make the observations interesting and relevant to the topic, too. Don’t just say, “The ocean is pretty.” Try something like this, “When the waves crash on the shore, there is a lot of white foam. The water sprays up, and there is a loud crashing sound. I saw the water pull back slowly after it foamed up. I wonder what causes the water to pull back.”
- Add a layer of challenge by posing a question for the kids to answer before going out and adding the question on the entry page. Then the child’s entry must include the answer to the question.
Have fun with your summer science journal. You may just find that your children love them and use them all year long!
Filed under How to | Comment (1)
