Got Summer Plans?

by Miss Lynn

So what are you up to this summer? More school to finish up that curriculum? Or 3 months of lazing around? 🙂 I enjoy that summertime offers more freedom than ever for homeschoolers (even continuing on with studies is exercising freedom of choice). I love summer as a break from the norm, and so I make sure we do as little “school” as possible. Although we still do plenty of free reading and enough skills review so that our brains don’t turn to mush by next September, summer fun is a top priority!!! Learning still happens, but it takes on a new form as we get out of the house a lot more, and our summer learning emphasis becomes the “world as our classroom.” We especially make sure to live it up in the outdoors so that our souls are satisfied and delighted with a bounty of wonderful summertime nature experiences before being required to settle back into the indoor school routine in fall. So here are some of the things we like to do in summer!

Field trips, nature play, and reading (for mom)! The freedom of summertime not only provides opportunities for real life learning experiences through various fieldtrips and lots of outdoor adventures, but also gives mom 3 months of personal reading time, or you could say, professional development time. I hope some of my plans will help you in planning to make the most of your summer too!

Go on Field Trips

Museums (get free passes from the Contra Costa Library to over 40 places, including the zoo)
Fruit picking in Brentwood
Nature Hikes at regional parks: Tilden, Redwood Regional Park, Sibley Volcanic Preserve, Huckleberry Botanic Preserve, Sunol Regional Wilderness
Butterfly Garden at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont
Mine tour at Black Diamond Mines in Antioch (age 7 and up)
Dairy farm, Organic Pastures Raw Milk in Fresno
Calaveras Big Trees State Park and Moaning Cavern
The Beach (Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz has nearby tide pools to explore)
Lake Anza at Tilden
Water Parks (Hap Magee Ranch Park in Danville, Sprayground in Pleasant Hill Park, Meadow Homes Spray Park in Concord, Blue Goose Park in Brentwood)
Roaring Camp Train Ride and The Mystery Spot (Santa Cruz)
Amtrack ride to Old Sacramento
Gilroy Gardens
Fairyland
Transit field trip (ride bart, take a trolley, stroll over a walking bridge)
Ardenwood Historic Farms
Monterey Bay Aquarium (or reserve free tickets in September for fall homeschool days)
Go to a children’s theater performance and/or concert
Visit an Animal Shelter
Tour a Recycling Center

Play in Nature

50 things kids should do before they are 11 ¾

The National Trust (UK) launched a campaign to encourage sofa-bound youth to venture out into the big outdoors, compiling a bucket-list of 50 things kids should do before they are 11 ¾.

The bucket list is can be found on the website www.50things.org.uk.

1. Climb a tree
2. Roll down a really big hill
3. Camp out in the wild
4. Build a den
5. Skim a stone
6. Run around in the rain
7. Fly a kite
8. Catch a fish with a net
9. Eat an apple straight from a tree
10. Play conkers
11. Throw some snow
12. Hunt for treasure on the beach
13. Make a mud pie
14. Dam a stream
15. Go sledging
16. Bury someone in the sand
17. Set up a snail race
18. Balance on a fallen tree
19. Swing on a rope swing
20. Make a mud slide
21. Eat blackberries growing in the wild
22. Take a look inside a tree
23. Visit an island
24. Feel like you’re flying in the wind
25. Make a grass trumpet
26. Hunt for fossils and bones
27. Watch the sun wake up
28. Climb a huge hill
29. Get behind a waterfall
30. Feed a bird from your hand
31. Hunt for bugs
32. Find some frogspawn
33. Catch a butterfly in a net
34. Track wild animals
35. Discover what’s in a pond
36. Call an owl
37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool
38. Bring up a butterfly
39. Catch a crab
40. Go on a nature walk at night
41. Plant it, grow it, eat it
42. Go wild swimming
43. Go rafting
44. Light a fire without matches
45. Find your way with a map and compass
46. Try bouldering
47. Cook on a campfire
48. Try abseiling
49. Find a geocache
50. Canoe down a river