# Summer learning, your thoughts please!



## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

I have a 10 yr old son who is visually impaired, he attends public school, which he loves and I love the school as well... I work, so homeschooling isn't really going to happen..
That being said.. he isnt the best student... so to try to keep him from sliding this summer and maybe giving him a better advantage in 5 th grade this coming school yr I have kind of developed a schoolwork plan... I kept all the notebooks from school- his teacher made a Math work book for him to practice that is enlarged to his print for him to be able to see it- and I have his reading journal- that he can record the books he reads and write 3 sentences or 4 on a few areas of the book that made a impact on him-
I also want to develop his story writing- 
I plan on having him do one page of the Math book a day- 2 a day in July and 3 a day in August- 
and reading at least 30 min a day- it usually is an hour though- cause he loves reading- this can happen when I am at work- 
once I am home I want to work on skills- like he bought DH a knot tying book for Father's day- that would be a skill- 
Baking with me- science- and walking and going to parks- science/nature- 
I am looking for ideas and thoughts for my plan- and from people who homeschool normally- what do you think?
I have named this the Summer of SOL- Summer of Learning -


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Cooking is not only a great skill but also a way to give kids some on-hand experience with fractions. I challenged my kids. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup and 1 cup ingredients and I would give them a 1/4 cup and tell them to work it out. Same can be done with a 1/3 cup and 1 and 2/3 measures. Ratio like for hummingbird mixture or jelly is another good one. 4 parts water to 1 part sugar is the hummingbird nectar. Can't remember the jelly one right off. You could try making syrup too.

How visually impaired is he? Knowing that would be helpful for those making suggestions.


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## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

Danaus29 said:


> Cooking is not only a great skill but also a way to give kids some on-hand experience with fractions. I challenged my kids. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup and 1 cup ingredients and I would give them a 1/4 cup and tell them to work it out. Same can be done with a 1/3 cup and 1 and 2/3 measures. Ratio like for hummingbird mixture or jelly is another good one. 4 parts water to 1 part sugar is the hummingbird nectar. Can't remember the jelly one right off. You could try making syrup too.
> 
> How visually impaired is he? Knowing that would be helpful for those making suggestions.



He is dayblind and colorblind- he wears sunglasses at all times- and can see to read - but has to have the item he is reading at least 8 inches to his face-


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

Another thing we did was to keep an observation journal. Dd had a very difficult time describing things she saw (still does) so we would set outside for about 15 minutes to half an hour each day and just observe the plants and wildlife. Then I would have her write what she saw. I don't know if you could do this with your son. The half hour or so between sunset and total darkness would be an ideal time for him. Maybe he could write about things he hears too.


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## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

Danaus29 said:


> Another thing we did was to keep an observation journal. Dd had a very difficult time describing things she saw (still does) so we would set outside for about 15 minutes to half an hour each day and just observe the plants and wildlife. Then I would have her write what she saw. I don't know if you could do this with your son. The half hour or so between sunset and total darkness would be an ideal time for him. Maybe he could write about things he hears too.


Oh I love the idea... the best would be what he hears I think... maybe try the what he sees too.. but right after sunset like you said...
Thank you! Such great ideas you have!


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

Becka03 said:


> He is dayblind and colorblind- he wears sunglasses at all times- and can see to read - but has to have the item he is reading at least 8 inches to his face-


 
This is where a kindle type tablet would be helpful.
You can increase the font size as big as you want it to be!

(It has proven helpful for dyslexia as well.)

And there are so many interesting books, cook books etc.. available for the kindle!
And plant and animal and insect identification too!


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## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

Chickenista
We have a kindle I never thought of that!! Awesome idea


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## shoelace (Mar 25, 2014)

With regards to story writing. Some kids have trouble writing their story out -- Some need to practice just telling a story to get those wheels turning. Try storytelling dice. There's a company that makes Story Cubes - Ive seen homemade story blocks / stones and Ive seen some just gather a plethora of small items from around the house to choose from. Make it a fun game to get the gears turning - then after playing the fun game a couple times see if everyone playing can remember and write down their best / funnies / coolest story. Best of luck! Have fun this summer!


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## TerriLynn (Oct 10, 2009)

I will have a 5th grader this fall too, and his teacher suggested he work on his writing over the summer, (which so far we have been kind of slackers  )

He is a perfectionist and a hard one to get started so what we do when we are outside doing stuff, is I will start a sentence and ask him to finish it. I then kind of pick it apart, pretending I don't "get it" and ask for some supporting details and more describing words. 

What I'm hoping to do is develop a thinking pattern and habit he can take with him to the classroom next fall. He was really ready for a break this summer and I hate to overwhelm him so I am hoping this will benefit him.


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