Summer Studies For Your Homeschool

Summer is a time to be more relaxed and delve into a few different things in our homeschool.

After all, learning never really ends, and I find my kids will be at loose ends if we don't have some learning opportunities in place. 

The following are summer studies I'm making available to my children -  we won't get to ALL of this, but I like to have a lot in my bag of tricks so the kids can pick and choose, and so we can be flexible and follow interests as they arise. 

*This post contains affiliate links

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Latin & Greek Vocabulary

This is one I'm sure will get accomplished, because it is low stress, entertaining, and 100% computer based.  

I've heard awesome things about WordUp! The Vocab Show and can't wait for Grant to learn more about language with this. 

(I'm also hoping this will prepare him for a more formal study of Latin that we will be undertaking in the fall!) 

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SQUILT Music Appreciation

Summer is a wonderful time to delve into music appreciation. This is one of those areas that many homeschool parents let fall by the wayside during the regular school year (I get it).... but I hope you take the time this summer to teach your children how to appreciate beautiful music. 

Yes, my OWN children will be working their way through the 4th volume of SQUILT (Modern Era) this summer, which I haven't done with them yet. (Considering I wrote the curriculum they need to get moving with it - ha!)

This music appreciation curriculum is designed to make learning about beautiful music easy and FUN - and most of all - it is designed for even the most non musical of parents. Super Quiet UnInterrupted Listening Time teaches children the grammar of music through listening, responding, drawing, and writing. 

It goes very well with any style of homeschooling (I've recently had lots of Classical Conversations readers tell me they particularly love how it fits so well with the CC model, too). 

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Art with Southern Hodgepodge

My dear friend, Tricia, provides many free art tutorials for the homeschool community. She also has a chalk pastel curriculum that is BEAUTIFUL. 

We have enjoyed her lessons (I think Angry Birds was the favorite - we had an entire Angry Birds day one time... MUCH fun!).

If you don't know about Southern Hodgepodge, check it out! 

Learn to TYPE! 

Many kids  (mine included!) need a focused opportunity to work on keyboarding skills. 

We have used a few FREE sites that you might like:

• Dance Mat Typing
• e-Learning For Kids - Keyboarding Skills
• Typing Web -- great for older kids!

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Special Literature

Summer is a good time to tackle a read aloud that is longer or just one you want to savor a bit longer. 

This summer we are listening to Treasure Island  (we've already started!) and are using the study guide published by Memoria Press. 

I'm also making my Harry Potter Notebooking Pages (a free download) available to my son in case he wants to sink his teeth into Harry Potter this summer.

We will also be listening to the Focus on the Family radio dramatization of Billy Budd, Sailor to help Anna prepare for reading this book in Challenge I. 

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Make a Summer Scrapbook

I just love this idea from Simply, LindseyLoo -- just to simply have your kids make a scrapbook of their summer. 

It doesn't take a lot of money (she uses Dollar Store supplies) and uses a bunch of creativity. I think this would also inspire you to have more fun adventures during your summer, too!  

Play "Categories"

Ok, so this isn't learning NEW information, but it is reviewing memory work and hopefully taking something your kids already do and putting a new twist on it! 

Play this simple game (my kids tell me it's called "Categories") and have FUN! 

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Kiwi/Tinker/Doodle Crate

If you've been reading here for any length of time, you know how much my kids love their Tinker & Doodle Crates.  We have a box for each of them (unopened) that they will be starting this week! 

These boxes are delivered to your door and include activities your child can learn from, have fun with, and many times do independently.  I URGE you to check into this valuable resource for your homeschool! 

The Tinker Crate is great for your science and technology minded child, and the Doodle Crate is good for the creative child. If you have younger kids, the Kiwi Crate might be your better option.

I love that there are so many choices in the Kiwi Crate family.  

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Check out My Freebies!

I have provided several freebies for download -- everything from composer studies, to notebooking pages and resources for other unit studies. 

Look around and see if there is something that strike's your child's fancy for a fun summer study! 

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What are your kids up to this summer?  Do you have any fun summer learning opportunities to share with the Homegrown Learners community?

{ Feel free to Pin this post for future reference, too!  }

Teaching Children the Grammar of Music Appreciation

Are you children able to converse about the finer points of a piece of music?

If you were to take them to the symphony, could they talk with you about the instruments being used or the tempo of a piece being played?

Just as we teach our children the GRAMMAR of math and science, so we should also be teaching them about the grammar of music appreciation. 

I am on a mission to get children talking about and enjoying GREAT music! 

AND - I want to shout this from the rooftops - teaching your children about music appreciation is EASY. It is ENJOYABLE.   It will be something that stays with your children for their entire lives and it will ENRICH their lives in so many ways. 

How to START Teaching the Grammar of Music Appreciation

If you were to simply play a piece of music for a child and ask them what they hear it might be a difficult question for them to answer.

There is A LOT that goes on in a piece of music, so it is best to start with ONE THING.

For example, if you ask your child to listen to The Flight of the Bumblebee, simply ask them to listen for the TEMPO of the music (does it go FAST or SLOW?).  Simply starting a conversation with your child about the tempo of a piece of music is a very easy place to start - not intimidating at all.  

In this piece, the TEMPO is fast - or PRESTO. 

After that, you might have them listen again - this time asking them to listen for the sound of the STRINGS, which create the buzzing of the bees. 

If we teach our children the vocabulary - or GRAMMAR - of music, slowly and methodically, repeating the same process over and over with different pieces of music, eventually they will learn the grammar and then be able to apply it to pieces on their own when they listen. 

What if You Know NOTHING About Music?

The one stumbling block  many parents encounter in teaching their children about music education is that THEIR musical knowledge is lacking. 

I heard this fear expressed so often when I would write posts about music appreciation, so I took that consideration to heart and began crafting a music appreciation curriculum specifically for the NON MUSICAL!  (Of course, you can use it if you have musical knowledge, too!)

I thought about subjects that are foreign to me (art appreciation, Latin, etc....) and thought about how I teach these to my children.

I search out resources that are simple and that walk me through the GRAMMAR of the subject little by little. 

Using my experience as an elementary music teacher (where we used SQUILT daily in all grades), I decided to create a music appreciation curriculum for multiple ages that teaches children the GRAMMAR of music, while making music fun, engaging, and SIMPLE. 

SQUILT Music Appreciation

Super Quiet UnInterrupted Listening Time  teaches children the grammar of music.

It helps  children learn about great pieces of music (from all eras) and gives them the ability to articulate what they are hearing. 

SQUILT also gives children the gift of SLOWING DOWN and LISTENING - something many children (and ADULTS!) have a hard time doing.

The centerpiece of  SQUILT is a simple notebooking page which encourages children to write about the elements of music. If your child is too young to write or writing is a struggle, there is a simple "Draw What You Hear" notebooking page as well. 

SQUILT Basics:

• 100% internet based curriculum - no need to purchase music - all you need are basic school supplies and a computer or tablet/iPad

• Each volume corresponds with a musical era (Baroque, Classical, Romantic & Modern) and consists of 10 representative pieces of music

• Students notebook their musical findings - and I talk you - the parent - through each piece! Parents are learning with SQUILT, too!

• SQUILT is AFFORDABLE - each volume is $12 - which means you pay only $12 for AT LEAST 10 (normally 20) weeks of music appreciation

• SQUILT meets kids where they are - each volume includes many fun enrichment activities and unique performances of pieces to keep children engaged, intrigued, and laughing!

• Multiple Ages can use SQUILT - I provide notebooking pages and activities for ALL ages (preschool - middle school), so the whole family can learn together.

• Bind only the pages you want together into a music appreciation notebook for your child - great for portfolios and as a record of learning.

This video tour of SQUILT walks you through a typical volume in the series: 

Do you teach music appreciation in your home?  Are you a SQUILT user?   Leave me a comment below and talk to me about music in your homeschool.