Okay, we still are not done with this school year! I am over it and so jealous of all the families that have been done. We still have class until the last week of June. Ugh, I have to admit that I have slacked on supplementing JustaBXgirl’s curriculum for about the past month. That isn’t to say that I haven’t been completely hands-off with her learning. I have just relaxed the schedule A LOT.
Rather than continuing with our extra online lessons from Education.com, BrainPop, and Lyrics2Learn I have left the supplemental learning to the fun stuff. I have been sharing a little on my IG and decided to add a mix of what we’ve been using and what we will be using this summer in this post.
Some of these have been in heavy rotation around the house and others we are saving to take with us when we go to my cousin’s house in a few weeks.
Chalk of The Town – I know. I know. You are wondering how a shirt connects to learning. This shirt has endless opportunities. First, the easiest go-to is ART CLASS. Littles can create gorgeous and not so gorgeous designs and wipe them away with no worries for permanence. BUT, when you’re ready to go deeper you can use it as a way to practice spelling, work on math problems or even discuss the importance of marketing and advertisement.
Solar Powered Rovers – My cousin and I were on the phone discussing what building this will look like with my child and her teenagers. JustaBXgirl has already begun planning how she will be using the solar panels. Finding items that can capture the interest of three different aged young people can be difficult, to say the least. Being able to talk science, engineering, and more at once is AWESOME. This set allows you to build three different versions of a rover, a robot, and a fan.
Doodlematic – You might remember seeing this in my STEM holiday gift guide. We already know that this is a STEM toy and teaches littles about game design but let’s look at how to connect that to what they’re learning. Littles love challenges. Challenge them to create a video game that includes facets of recent lessons. Get them to create a game using animals that they have seen at the zoo and then follow up with a documentary about those animals.
My Discovery Telescope – JustaBXgirl loves going on nature walks in our neighborhood. We have wetlands nearby and she always wants to do a bit of bird watching. This telescope is so versatile that it can work for the birdwatching, checking out La Luna, or just investigating in my cousin’s backyard. Yup, we will be taking this with us so that we can compare what the moon looks like from the Bronx verse the suburbs of Suffolk County.
Aquabeads – We’re back at art class! I love how independent JustaBXgirl is when doing these. They are awesome for reinforcing colors with little littles. They work for math when you figure out how many of each color are needed. We have been using this Trolls set but Aquabeads offers a huge variety of styles. You can do an animal or nature theme or something else that helps reinforce the lessons that you are working on at home.
DinoMazing – Are your littles obsessed with dinosaurs? This is the perfect toy to complement lessons about the Mesozoic era. Remember that making learning fun doesn’t mean that learning doesn’t happen. It means finding ways to incorporate fun into your lessons. With the DinoMazing egg decorator, you can discuss the way dinosaurs reproduced and have the littles enjoy some art time decorating eggs.
Tutti Frutti Dough – Dough is so important for many developmental aspects. It helps with eye-hand coordination, it increases fine motor skills and it taps into littles’ creativity. I think it can be used to supplement any subject. And it helps solidify lessons. This can truly be used with any age group. Younger littles can create letter and number shapes. Older littles can use it to build dioramas on books they have read. We really enjoy the Tutti Fruitti dough because our set has glitter and all of the sets are made with natural ingredients and can be rehydrated so don’t worry if it gets left open! Oh, and did I mention they have scents?
My Fairy Garden’s Fairy Lights Garden – I remember when JustaBXgirl was in Pre-K and they did a science lesson where they grew seeds. She was able to connect to it and really enjoyed it. A few years ago we had the Fairy Garden Cottage and it was her favorite thing for a while. This summer we are going to use the Fairy Lights Garden to add to the gardening lessons that JustabXgirl gets in my cousin’s backyard. The My Fairy garden sets are ideal gardening spaces for those with little or lots of space,
And by this point of gameschooling you are probably exhausted so do what all of our favorite substitute teachers used to do…wheel in the VCR and put on a movie! Okay, maybe not the VCR, unless you’re giving a history lesson on technology BUT the movie part still works. We are big documentary fans at home so I used them regularly to teach JustaBXgirl about life outside of the Bronx.
Remarkable Rabbits is a recent PBS release that teaches us about there being over 100 different types of rabbits and hares. Who would have known?! It’s an interesting piece that shares how they exist along with the challenges they face in nature from habitat loss to climate change. Tell me that you can’t pull a lesson or twelve from that!
If documentaries aren’t really your thing then check out Wild Kratts Around the World Adventures. This set includes over ten hours of Chris and Martin fun. That is over twenty adventures where your little will learn about creatures from around the world. I adore watching Wild Kratts with JustaBXgirl. I know that I usually learn something when watching episodes.
I know that I’m still not taking JustaBXgirl into stores so when I do food shopping and run some errand that JustaBXgirl and JustaBXgrandpa hang out in the car waiting for me to finish. Taking her DVD player with her allows her to keep herself busy. These options are also great for any road trips you’re planning for the summer.
I would love to hear from you if you’re planning to do any educational activities over the summer or if you’re going for a full break from academics.
