For the older children, how about letting them plan the budget for the summer? Have them budget for all of the household expenses water, electricity, mortgage, food, gas, etc. Then, they can help write the checks and balance the budget as the summer progresses. Perhaps they can earn a percentage of any budget savings they identify, too! Not only will they learn about the difficulties involved in managing family expenses, but they will also discover the importance of saving and planning ahead for the unexpected. If they are too young to manage the entire family budget, perhaps they can manage just the family food budget – smaller amount with plenty of interesting variables like food sales, coupons, and so much more.
For those of you with sports fans in the household, the mathematics of statistics can be explored through the baseball season of summer. The children can track the stats of their favorite teams and team members, posting them in the kitchen and getting the whole family involved in cheering on the team. If the children are involved in sports themselves, they can learn to calculate and track their own statistics. Terms like average and total and other math terms can be understood in a meaningful way.
The time-honored summertime effort of working to save for a special item should not be overlooked, either. The child can plan to work to earn set amounts of money, saving and calculating how much more he/she will have to do to be able to buy that special bicycle, computer software, or whatever they've set for their goal. They can mow lawns, babysit, clean houses, etc. to earn money. They can watch the sales, determining the lowest price they will have to pay for the item. The lesson of working to earn what you want or need in life, can be a lesson in life as well as one in math.
And now, for the most fun area of all to enjoy in the summer – SCIENCE! So many moms are so nervous about teaching science to their children, and summer can provide the perfect opportunity to overcome this fear while launching a child into the fun and excitement of discovering the world and all of it s wonders. A simple project like a small vegetable or flower garden can fill your summer with studies of insects, plant science and cook- what-you- grow. Sometimes you can turn a picky eater into a vegetable enjoyer, and learn all through the summer as the crops are harvested.
Summertime is also a wonderful time to volunteer to help nature groups counting migrating birds, manatee observation, and much more. The family can volunteer to help out together and you can all learn together. The nature study groups appreciate the help, and your children can learn more about wildlife firsthand. Summertime can also be a time of camping and nature observation. We've had some wonderful experiences camping star watching together, observing hawks and mining for rubies. We've also learned about respecting nature poison ivy, ticks, snakes, and more. From watching meteor showers to sitting quietly and watching a family of hedgehogs, the lessons don't come from a text book. They come from God above! We've been slowly investing in a whole collection of field guides at garage sales, and these guides stay somewhere between the car and the family room and the creek. Nature provides some of our very best science lessons.
I hope that this article has given you some ideas and motivation for summertime learning and fun. Explore the forces of gravity on a roller coaster ride and watch the effects of sun and rain on a row of sunflowers. Watch the growth of nature this summer, as well as that of your children!
Blessings,
Amanda B.
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