I’ve planned a week’s worth of activities and fun for your kids (grades pre-k – 2)! There is a theme for each day which includes a craft, some easy discussion questions/expansion activities, and some curated links to keep the fun going! Each day has a completely different theme so they don’t need to be in order. You could even do one a week.
MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD- Stop if you’ve never read the books and go read them.
I’m re-reading (probably for the 5th time) the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery. This is probably my favorite series of books ever. I was probably 9 or 10 when I read these books the first time and I skimmed A LOT. As a grown-up, I’m discovering new points that I never saw when I was a child.
It’s okay to indulge your children. Marilla was raising Anne the best she could – L.M. Montgomery doesn’t seem to describe Matthew and Marilla’s life pre-Anne very much but from their characters, I infer they didn’t have very happy childhoods. She starts out hard but her love for Anne begins to soften her and continues to do so throughout the series. She becomes devoted to Anne’s happiness which is all anyone could ask of a parent. I feel that she was trying to build resiliency in Anne but she didn’t understand that Anne was already very resilient and needed love. Matthew got that. For the whole first part of the book – Anne is lamenting that she doesn’t have puffed sleeves and Marilla is firmly against it. Matthew goes behind Marilla’s back because he realizes that Anne feels left out and has low self confidence in some ways. He feels like more fashionable clothing will help. This is a simple solution to a more complex problem but very symbolic in the story. This is when Marilla starts loosening up. Matthew goes to bat for Anne a couple of other times in the same way. I think there are at least two questions you need to ask yourself when you are answering these kinds of requests – one is are they being left out of something because they don’t have the coveted item? The second question – is it harmful to them?
Be yourself – you’ll find your tribe. Anne and I were kindred spirits when I was younger. I was an odd kid. I didn’t know how to relate to my peers. I did better with adults and children who were younger than me. I lived in my head. I was very intelligent but prone to daydreaming and losing interest. Anne was adopted by Matthew and Marilla when she was 11. I sort of started losing my “inner Anne” when I was about 11. I fell behind in school and I didn’t know how to handle the new social intricacies of pre-teen kids. Anne’s lesson is that it’s ok to be yourself – people will find you and love you. I’m learning that lesson slowly as I get older. I am coming to terms with the fact that I’m not for everyone. I want to be – so I try very hard to connect with other people. Trying too hard is my biggest issue. But I have found some tribe members – my husband, a few friends, even brief interactions with strangers that I know mean something. Anne found people who could appreciate her for her uniqueness and uncommon contribution to their lives. I’m so appreciative of the people in my life. “Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.”― L.M. Montgomery
Mistakes are how we learn. Anne made a ton of mistakes. One memorable one is that she dyed her hair green in an attempt to change it black. The next time she tried to “meddle with her looks” she made a lotion from a recipe in a magazine, but instead used a red dye. After that, she poured the lotion out the window and decided that she would not try to change her looks in the future. She also sold a cow that wasn’t hers, twisted her ankle because of a dare, and got her friend drunk. Marilla gives her consequences but doesn’t seem to hold her past mistakes against her and as she grows up – allows her to fix her own. We’ve all made plenty of mistakes – but we learn from them, too. “Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it… yet.” – L.M. Montgomery
Find beauty in the everyday. Anne does this from the first chapter in the first book. She imagines that if Matthew does not pick her up that she will sleep up in a tree. She finds the idea very romantic. As they are driving to Avonlea, she names all of the scenery. The Avenue becomes the “White Way of Delight”. She continues this throughout the series, sometimes allowing her friends to join her (but that’s how we end up with Birch Path). She loves flowers and uses them to decorate the house often. At first, Marilla is not enthused but by the second book enjoys and admires Anne’s floral arranging. She also finds the good in her experiences and people. She accepts people for who they are and seeks to find the good in them. Aunt Josephine – not known for happiness or fun – grows to love Anne and becomes an important figure in her life. Anne sees the possibility in her and she rises to it. What needs a brand new, shiny name in your life? What could use some color and brightness? Who can you notice the good in? “Look at that sea, girls–all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen. We couldn’t enjoy its loveliness any more if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds.– L.M. Montgomery
Everything can be improved upon with imagination and hard work. Anne did an equal amount of both. She was an exceptional student in school and won a prestigious scholarship. She was not afraid of any chore that Marilla gave her. However, when she was lonely before she was adopted – she had imaginary friends and thought about how her life could be better. She and her friends created an improvement society for Avonlea and tried to make real changes in their surroundings. I think the lesson is – imagine what could be and make it so. This can have varying results – like Anne’s aspiration to be a raven haired beauty or trying to change her name to Cordelia. At least she took her thoughts and tried them out. “Because when you are imagining, you might as well imagine something worth while.” – L.M. Montgomery
Because these books were published so long ago – you can read them and other books by Lucy Maud Montgomery for free at Project Gutenburg.
Disclaimer: I’m writing as a newbie to homeschooling.
I’ve never done it before but we decided as a family that it was our best option this year. Our district is offering a hybrid school week – with in person learning for two days and distance learning for three. They are also offering a distance learning only program. Neither of those feel like great options for us. I’ve been exploring how to start for a few months because I wanted to be prepared.
Homeschooling has always appealed to me and I’m kind of excited! One thing I like about it – flexibility! We are going to go at our own pace and schedule. I can also spend extra time on things that interest my children and on things that they need more help with.
In order to start homeschooling in NY, you must submit a letter of intent (LOI) to your school district. It should include your children’s names, ages and grades and state that you are homeschooling for the year. If you’d like some help writing one – you can use mine!
After that, you have a certain amount of time to submit an Individualized Home Instruction Plan (IHIP). This follows the state’s requirements and includes the curriculum you will use to teach your children. I’ve seen examples that are both very simple AND extremely detailed. Here is a shell to get you started!
Your child is required to be in attendance for the substantial equivalent of 900 hours or 180 days. You should keep some kind of record in case it is requested and for your own purposes. My plan is to use this academic calendar and mark whether each child is “present” or “absent”.
I’m using Brain Quest workbooks to get started and to get a better idea of what needs to be covered in each grade. I don’t think these will be adequate to use for our whole curriculum but I do like them as a beginning framework. I have no idea what 2nd and 6th grade look like these days!
I’ve also been following a classmate who’s been homeschooling for 5 years and runs a successful blog and home business. Kristy has made a great list of her articles and ideas that will really help new homeschoolers! I always love the chance to give her a shout out!
That’s what I’ve got right now! Let me know if you have any questions or ideas about homeschooling in the comments below!
Update: My fairy garden is doing well! The log got sealed and planted with impatiens and two other flowers I can’t remember. The Lithodora l I planted is alive and well after a little bit of touch and go. It is not flowering right now but seems to be growing. My Icelandic Poppy has died off – not sure if it will grow back, we’ll have to see. I’ve added a cute little ladder and a piece of fencing that I made myself. I also purchased a couple of new accessories. I’ve planted the other containers including putting a cucumber vine I grew from a seedling in one. Just have fun with it! If you’ve done some whimsical gardening this year – let me know! I’d love to see.
This photo was taken about a month later after I had most things planted but before I added few new accessories.
I love fairies and all things magical! Anything that sparks a little bit of wonder and joy speaks to me
. I started fairy gardening about 5 years ago. I first started when we lived in Texas and much of that garden was more architectural in nature with lots of stones and shells. It is fun […]
Buttermilk Falls is in Ithaca, NY near a busy shopping area. Our trip here was Eh…
We stayed Wednesday night to Friday morning due to campground availability – weekends are heavily booked at the state parks right now. I overheard a park employee describing it more like a city park and while that didn’t feel exactly true, it was funny to see store building tops from our walks. I imagined sneaking away to Starbucks a couple of times (especially on Thursday when I had the boys alone).
I could have made it a little better with more planning – like calling the park to see what was going to be available.
Swimming will be available starting July 4th and is only open on Fri, Sat, and Sun. We went on July 1st – 3rd. The bathrooms are not open in the lower park until sometime in the late morning as far as I can tell. The ones in the campground are closed from 11-12 and 4-5 for extra cleaning. I know most of this is because of COVID-19 precautions so I can’t really complain.
The campground was nice but very stony. We bent our stakes trying to get them in the ground and sort of worried about our tent caving in or a strong wind blowing it away. It did not blow away. We appreciated that the site was shady and near the bathrooms.
We definitely did some hiking – going from the campground to the lower park entrance twice and back via the Owl Creek trail. We also hiked to the scenic overlook via the same trail. It’s amazing! You can see across to farms on the other side…of something 🤣 (maybe Cayuga Lake?). Near the overlook is also a huge rock wall presumably created by glaciers which people have signed by scratching their names with a rock. That’s where we saw our first snake. We saw our second snake on the portion of the Rim trail that leads to the park entrance. I had the boys make a list of everything else they saw.
lots and lots of chipmunks – these guys were everywhere!
It was a hot few days – we kept hydrated and took lots of breaks when we needed to.
Another hiking option is the Rim Trail/Gorge Trail loop. These are two seperate but connecting trails – currently they have them operating in a loop due to COVID-19. They describe them as fairly challenging so I didn’t attempt without another grown-up but I saw other families doing it.
Other nice things to do included a playground and large playing fields. My 6 yr old gave the playground two thumbs up!
The park was beautiful and I would visit again on a day trip during the week. I’d camp on the weekends if it was available.
I was worried that my kids were going to be spending too much time on electronics this summer. I had let them have free reign for a few days and they began to look like little zombies. In response, I made a daily to-do list with time for electronics scheduled in after they completed what I thought were worthwhile activities including time for play.
We had a few good days with it and then we were all sick of it. I felt like an enforcer and the kids felt nagged. Neither of those feelings were what I was going for.
Then I changed my perspective…
My main goal was to keep them busy and off the electronics. It wasn’t to micromanage their day. Inspiration finally struck at 2 a.m. the other night.
Google says gamification means “the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity, typically as an online marketing technique to encourage engagement with a product or service.”
An article titled Gamify Your Life from entrepreneur.com says that playing a game can trigger intense emotion and winning brings a great deal of satisfaction to a person. This is due to neuro-chemical activity in the brain including dopamine – which produces the sensation of pleasure. If you organize your to-do list to include pleasurable activity when you complete other tasks – you are starting to use this concept. You would be teaching your brain to associate completing those tasks with enjoyment.
That accurately describes my new approach. I took the same to-do list and turned it into a menu of activities they can do to earn points. The points can be used towards time on the television and game systems. This is another important component of gamification. Entrepreneur.com cites Tom Chatfield who did a TED talk – one of his points was that every bit of effort should be rewarded.
The kids get a visual reminder of their point earnings because I am handing out poker chips as they complete things. I assigned higher values things that I especially want them to focus on. Everyday simple tasks that can be done in less than 5 minutes are worth less. If they go through a simple morning routine of getting ready each day – they can earn their first 40 or so points. It sets them up for success and even their minimal efforts are rewarded.
There are some other elements that are covered in both the TED talk and the article that I haven’t incorporated yet – so I’m going to be thinking about it. One that I think will require deeper thought because I find it very important is the incorporation of both long and short term goals.
Applying the principles I covered here was easier than you’d think. I feel that the most important element is the point system. However, I think the visual appeal will turn out to be important as well:
If you compare these two lists – which is more fun and exciting? I feel like I threw a smiley face on the first one at the last second to save my butt. I’m really proud of the second one – I tried to find more exciting fonts and came up with a cool title!
My kids are highly competitive – so I had to lay some ground rules fast. I told them that this game is about their own personal growth and that they should not brag about or compare points.
If you want to try it – here is the list I made! Get Your Game On!
If you want to try gamification in your own life – I recommend Habitica. You have a little character and they level up when you complete your daily tasks, to dos, or complete a habit you want to adopt. There are pets to collect and you can level them up too. It’s a to-do list that’s fun for grownups!
I recently posted about father’s day gifts that you could make inexpensively. My son did even better and made his gift for free. Except that it was priceless.
I offered the options on the list to both kids and my youngest chose the mug (which turned out beautiful). When I give the boys choices, I try to leave room for their own ideas. Sometimes it’s hard because I get excited too and have visions of how things should look.
Anyhow, my oldest said that he’d like to make a video for his Dad. We worked on it in two sessions. I had him practice what he’d like to say and then I jotted it down for him so he’d have notes. We used WeVideo to record him and used it in clips to break up the pictures. We also recorded it as audio only for mixing purposes.
With WeVideo we were able to intermix video, pictures and a sound track to make about a minute and a half worth of footage. He loved how we put everything together and had a great time picking music, pictures, and transitions. I really reccomend this tool because even the free version was amazing!
It was fun to make it with him because he was very engaged! It was truly special to see how much my husband enjoyed it! 💜💜💜💜💜
Marj💜
Comment below with a favorite gift you’ve given or received!
Progress goes slowly on the dinosaur. I’ve lost my helpers to Minecraft Dungeons…and the mastermind is not in love with the craft of paper mache. He does not love the glue on his hands.
Mr. Stegosaurus now has firmly attached feet. I ran strips lengthwise from the bottom of the feet up both sides of the leg and then wrapped additional strips around the leg.
I’m working on attaching the spines. I used what the boys drew and made more. I think I’ll need about 10 pairs of spines in varying sizes to finish. I used the handy-dandy masking tape from Scotch that doesn’t suck and went to town. One tip I can share – I attached the spines together where they met and hopefully gave them more stability.
I’ll reinforce them with more strips and glue and then add paper mache clay to give them detail. The next big task is making the paper mache clay. I’ll use the clay to smooth out my sculpture and add finer details – besides accenting the spines. I’m thinking toes, facial features, and bumps for knees are possibilities.
Three ingredients that I remember off the top of my head are joint compound, toilet paper and PVA glue (like white Elmer’s). I’m interested in how far the recipe from Ultimate Paper Mache that I plan on following will go in covering Mr. Stegosaurus. I think I’ll probably need multiple batches.
If I continue the dino paper mache saga – I’ll start cutting out the T-Rex. I feel like he is going to be more difficult – because he’ll be standing up on two back legs. Luckily, I found these cardboard boot inserts that I might use for his feet. They seem heavier and like they would give him more stability.
Stay tuned and comment below! What’s the craziest thing you have made for your kids?
I googled the average amount of books children read over the summer and I found this great breakdown by Scholastic called “The Summer Reading Imperative”.
According to this source during the summer kids ages 6-8 read approximately nineteen books. That number drops to 9 for 9-11 year olds and continues to decline as children get older. It does say one variable could be that the texts they read get longer and more involved as they progress in age, ability and skill.
It also addressed some problems that kids can have in school when they don’t practice any skills over the summer. One thing that strikes me is that the average number STARTS at 19 for kids who are just developing their reading skills at ages 6-8. A picture book or two a day during the summer is not unreasonable and there are approximately 80-100 days depending on the length of your summer vacation.
Books have ALWAYS been important in our home. We used to call ourselves “The Golden Book Pirates” because while I was pregnant with our first son we visited many garage sales and thrift stores. We’d buy every Golden Book on the shelf or table. Our babies had a sizable library before they were born and it has only continued to grow! We are always looking for books that they would find interesting and encourage them to choose books for themselves. Reading is a great way for families to spend quality time together. While I am trying to encourage a habit of independent reading, we also read books as a family. Currently – there are about 3 books floating around that we’ve been reading to the kids; Fablehaven, Redwall and The Knight in the Castle.
I’m not concerned as much as I’d like to keep them in the habit and make sure they know they have some expectations for the summer. The pandemic thing has turned them into screen monkeys. I’d also like to start establishing routines and practices that might work for us if we decide to home school. There are hundreds of different reading charts and logs online so I took what I liked from each of them and made some franken-logs. I’ve customized them to account for the kids’ different reading levels and needs.
I’ve decided to have my 11 yr old read at least 10 books – he likes reading and I think this goal is manageable for him. We talked about it and I asked him to challenge himself – he agreed to limit the amount of books that seem a little easy for him like the I Survived…series. I like this series and it definitely holds his interest but the kid also reads 500 page fantasy epics.
A hidden goal/benefit of this activity is that it will help him practice writing skills. He has trouble with his handwriting and developing his ideas while writing. The log I developed asks him to write a paragraph summarizing the book he read.
*Some* of my 11 yr old’s books…
We are discussing possible rewards for completion and the possibility of completing more than one log. One idea is a “pizza party” which sounds feasible. It would also give him an opportunity to plan a dinner/write a shopping list/or place an order…more sneaky learning.
My youngest has been a little slow to pick reading up – but he is gaining confidence and I think he is surprising himself! I made a simpler version of the log consisting of the title, author and his rating. Earlier, I discussed how the average number of books for a 6-8 year old is around 19 books. I am not setting him a number because I think he would find the average overwhelming to hear and ultimately I think he will read quite a few more than that number. Instead, he has the goal of reading one book a day and I’ll make him new sheets as needed. We’ll celebrate milestones as he goes along with little prizes or maybe he’ll want to get in on the pizza party!
My 6yr old’s bookcase in his bedroom 🤣
He is choosing his own books right now with mixed results. The first day – he picked The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss and the second day he choose a Magic Treehouse book. He did very well with The Foot Book but I have a feeling he pretty much looked at the illustrations in the the other. I let him choose it because I don’t want to discourage him but I’m going to keep an eye on it.
We have two days in and I think it’s going really well! I haven’t had very much push back because I think the boys feel pretty good about the expectations. That gives me a clue that something is going right. One thing about the independent reading time is that for 30 minutes or so, there is some peace and quiet in our house!
Books I’ve Read This Summer – just the book spines on a shelf with a place for title, author and rating would be appropriate for kiddos going into preschool-3rd grade (more help is needed when they are younger). My almost 2nd grader can fill his out independently. I would recommend the other version (with an attached packet for writing summaries) for kiddos entering 4th – 6th grades. I feel like I would do something different for kids older than this – it would depend on their interests in reading and how they were doing by this point. If I make something – you’ll be the first to know.
How much reading do your kids do over the summer? What strategies have you used to encourage reading? I’d love to hear! Comment below!
I think we’ll be doing a lot of hiking this summer. I want to explore state parks that we’ve never been to as a family before. We picked a direction and looked up a park!
This time we decided to visit Chimney Bluffs State Park (right on Rte 414 N) on the shore of Lake Ontario.
The geography of NY state was heavily influenced by the activity of melting glaciers. The bluffs are primarily composed of clay and were formed by erosion. They are amazing to see! I visited here as a kid at least once and I thought the boys would enjoy seeing a Great Lake and the unusual scenery.
My 6 yr old son is in cub scouts so before the trip – we reviewed the six essentials together and he decided to bring a notebook to write about the things he saw. Most people didn’t have snacks or drinks or even a bag, so maybe we were a little over prepared but we ended up hiking the whole park! I was really proud of my sons for carrying their own packs the whole way.
We arrived about 2:20 pm and we waited about 10 minutes to park. There was a machine to pay for a parking pass which cost $5.00.
The park has bathrooms which are open and they seem clean – currently they ask that you wear a mask to enter.
People were very polite during the whole trip; some wore masks and some did not but everyone kept their personal space.
We played in the picnic area from which you can see the Bluffs in the distance. It is a pleasant, sunny area with very nice stone tables and benches. We took the opportunity to view the bluffs through binoculars and pointed out interesting features to each other. It was about 70 that day but the wind coming off the lake made it feel cooler. I was glad we packed sweatshirts. The waves were also very high.
We hiked to the Bluff Overlook via the East-West trail (heading East) where it connected to Drumlin Trail and then continued on the Bluff Trail which was marked as closed on the side we exited but not on the side we entered. We enjoyed identifying trees, talking about ferns, listening to the birds, and counting dragonflies.
I don’t recommend taking the Bluff trail with young kids. We had our 6 yr old who feels nervous with heights and you could see the drop almost the whole way down. It was also not well cleared, narrow and muddy in places. I would do that particular trail again with my husband or another grown up because I loved seeing the water which was particularly dramatic when we visited.
There is another parking area at the opposite end of the Bluff Trail and there is more direct access to the lake. After we finished our hike, we drove to that area and got a closer look at the water and the beautiful rocks on the shore.
It was a beautiful day! The kids enjoyed the park and were fascinated by the landscape. As we hiked up the bluffs – the air seemed to smell cleaner. It was refreshing to see the sunlight streaming through the trees and to watch my sons practice balancing on logs. We also saw many hawks and on the short ride to the other side of the park – we were surprised by a pair of swans on the marsh and two fawns.
I definitely recommend this park if you are in the area – most of the hiking trail was easy and the views aren’t to be missed! We appreciated the bathrooms being open and we didn’t feel like there were any social distancing concerns.
Amenities: Bathroom, Picnic Area, Hiking Trails
Extra things I was glad we packed: binoculars, sweatshirts, a journal and pencil
☆☆☆☆ 4/5
Pokemon Go fans: There are two gyms and two pokestops in the main park area and another pokestop in the other parking area. My husband and I both have Pokemon Go on our phone and we make it *part* of our adventures.We discussed it after this trip and feel that it helps heighten the appeal of new places. Sometimes it also serves as a positive distraction but we don’t let it stay the main focus.
It's All Whimsy 