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I always feel a bit out of step with the schooling/homeschooling world this time of year. The buzz, even in homeschooling circles, is back-to-school. And my mind is just not in that space this time of year.
Like I've written earlier, this is our first year of summer homeschool. But we have always been year round learners and for the last few years we've done our state required assessments in mid August to reflect that. This week I am sending the necessary paperwork (2 pages in all) to the state education department for next school year along with the just-completed assessment (with a copy to the local school board).
Then I breathe a big sigh of relief and rest a bit.
The end of summer is certainly a time of new beginnings and marks a new year for me just as much, if not more so, than January. Even so, we like to ease our way into September's changes and I don't think too much about that until we've maxed out our enjoyment of summer.
So while the rest of the homeschool world is buzzing with back-to-school excitement (not those unschoolers of course who are motoring on as they usually do, unstructured and free) we're in an in-between space right now. Thinking about a new school year but still enjoying summer. And taking a break from morning math et al. for mommy to rest and get organized.
The kids are busy these days devouring library books and engaging in messy and creative work. Making silly putty has been a recent activity that is an easy, safe chemistry project.
I wrote about this project a couple years ago and this is the link, Homemade Silly Putty. This is an experiment/craft that my kids have loved to do over and over again and keeps hands and minds engaged for hours. All you need is borax, water and white glue.
Buying extra bottles of white glue for this project has been the extent of our back-to-school preparations.
Is anyone else in an in-between time or are you all on the back-to-(home)school bus?
Studying caterpillars and butterflies is part of our summer science. A beautiful part of summer science. (You may have noticed monarch photos showing up in posts this month).
Each summer for the past few years the kids, predominantly Laurent, have collected and identified caterpillars. The kids keep the larvae in jars, determine their diet and feed them until they develop into a chrysalis or cocoon (chrysalis for butterfly, cocoon for moth). Alternately, the kids will keep a critter for a short time, research its natural habitat and observe its behavior then return it to our backyard.
We have had the most success with studying monarch caterpillars and keeping them till they emerge as beautiful butterflies. Two years ago Laurent wrote How to Keep Monarch Caterpillars and How to Feed Them. That same year I wrote Raising Monarchs with photos of the complete life cycle, minus the egg stage which is minute and could not be photographed with my camera.
Each summer we are inspired by these beautiful creatures and their marvelous transformation, not to mention epic migration.
If you'd like to read more about these amazing insects and butterflies/caterpillars in general we recommend the following books:
An Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly
The Journey: Stories Of Migration
Now if you'll indulge me a bit here's some photos from this month of monarchs flitting through our backyard, doing what appears to be a dance. Perhaps mating?
Some days there have been three at a time sucking nectar from the butterfly bush (Buddleia), a plant I highly recommend for it's intoxicating fragrance that attracts beautiful butterflies.
I've taken hundreds of photos trying to get a clear, crisp flight shot but I think these soft movements are beautiful and tell the story just as well.
My most recent post at Simple Homeschool, 4 (Fun) Basic Elements of Backyard Science is published today and I encourage you to read it if you'd like a bit of lighthearted insight into how we teach science.
I've been working, very slowly I should add, on explaining our family's approach to learning the academic basics in the early education years. So far I've written about math and world study. In the works are reading and writing. I hadn't planned a science post. Not because it isn't important, it is. But I feel it is not as important as a good foundation in reading (books of all kinds), writing and math. Sounds kind of old fashioned, maybe it is.
Which is not to say we don't study science. We do. Everyday. In fact, I find science to be one of the those subjects I don't have to think about teaching my children. It just happens around our house without me making an effort to do so. I think we're just that kind of people.
The kids read scientific books (DK, Eyewitness publishers and the like), watch documentary and educational videos and like to design little experiments. Damien is a computer programmer with a background in civil engineering and often does science activities, around his own interests, with the kids. My Bachelor of Education focus area was secondary biology and math. We are not lacking in scientific mindedness around here.
Our family also loves the outdoors and most of our children's science study has been focused in hands-on nature exploration. This just feels right for their ages and interests. Later, in their high school years they can pursue physics, chemisty and biology in depth if they so choose but I'm not worrying about my 8 year understanding how a battery works, unless they want to know.
My main goal for these years is to lay down the foundation for later study. To keep their interest and curiosity alive, to encourage natural exploration and their own discoveries. From time to time my children believe they have discovered a new scientific principle or species. I love that enthusiasm and open mindedness.
All that to say, I don't teach science beyond our everyday experiences and what my kids specifically ask to learn.
So maybe my lighthearted post today at Simple Homeschool isn't so off the mark. I really believe science is fun. And in our house it's an everyday, hands-on study that helps our children answer questions about the physical world around them.
If you want to know a little bit more what that looks like I highly recommend Stefani's recent post, Simple Tools for Scientific Discovery at Simple Homeschool. Her thoughts very much echo our own approach to early years science education.
How do you approach science education for the elementary years?
PS. I apologize for the lack of recent photos to accompany this post. I ran out of time to find some, these photos are from last year. Brienne's grin has since developed teeth and that's the pond Laurent and I built last summer so he could study creatures.
