Summer Fun and Relaxing Learning

Summer is half way over and it has been a great time! I had all of these great plans to do our unit studies all year, but it hasnt exactly worked out that way! We were all set to study trees, but Carly all of a sudden got way out of control! She was crying all the time, and if she couldnt do something perfectly, then it was a store of hurricane proportions! So I backed off. She told me that she wanted to learn about Lanie ( the American Girl Doll that she bought who learns to have adventures out in her back yard). So I did that. We just played in the back yard! She loved it! We looked at our plants, planted out garden, watched out birds, and caught our bugs! She was very impressed by the Red Admiral Butterfly we caught, and we learned that it eats bird poop and rotting fruit. ( she even named it Jackson!). I cut a little house out of bushes in our yard that were dead. It was big enough for both of the girls to stand in! ( I really need to cut those bushed lol).

The other thing that really got us thinking this summer was mom's great idea to have discovery weeks. She decided that she would pick an idea and let the kids explore it on their own. So one week she did dirt and gave them tons of bowls, pans, spoons, dirt and water. They made mud pies and learned about the different consistency of mud. They played all week. The next week it was water, and they had colors, straws, bowls, tubing, buckets, corks, etc. Carly loved that so much we took the idea home and had a water kitchen out side that week too! We played with mixing colors and pouring. We also did a bubble day! Talk about fun! There were bubbles, soap, and water everywhere! This week is sculpture week and we are playing with clays! It should be fun and I cant wait to see what they come up with!

So I have learned that my ideas sometimes get in the way of learning and that Carly (I'm sure most kids) is presented with ideas and opportunities then will learn more, learn better, and have a bunch more fun in the process! I guess I need to relax a little! Its easier on me too! :) Has anyone else had any great ideas or summer fun? Let me know, I'd love to hear what you all are doing! Happy Summer!