Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. The end of the symphony season / school year has always felt like a water slide to me. You go go go go faster and faster until - splash - nothing. We are on week 3 of nothing now. We are slowly adjusting to the summer routine. I have stopped waking up in a panic sure that I am missing a rehearsal.

We are afterschooling this summer: reading and math as well as science and social studies. I also have plans for art and home ec.

Alice's social studies workbook came home at the end of the year basically untouched. This coupled with the public school students who told me that Germany is located in Africa has made it clear to me that social studies / world geography is not given a whole lot of emphasis in the early grades here. Same with science. Since a big reason we afterschool is to fill in the gaps, science and social studies / geography / history will be a big part of what we do this summer.

Here is our curriculum for the next week or so:

Reading: whatever she wants, she is required to read 30 minutes a day. She usually reads more than that, though, and I don't think I've had to make her do her reading yet. She's been reading the Goosebumps series, the diary of a wimpy kid books, and the American Girl books.

Math: Singapore math curriculum book 1B (2nd grade) - addition with regrouping
Singapore mental math curriculum book 1 (2nd grade) - strategies for mental addition of two of the same number (37+37, 44+44, 52+52, etc)

Social Studies: we're discussing commercials - why companies advertise, how they advertise, etc. She is keeping a tally of commercials aimed at kids vs commercials aimed at grownups during Sponge Bob Square Pants. I might have her keep a tally of commercials that are realistic vs unrealistic too.

Geography: US states, capitals and landmarks. We are playing games, doing puzzles, and reading books about different states.

Afterschooling only takes up an hour or so of our day. There is plenty of time for running in the park, swinging, swimming and all the other wonderful things about summer.