The Wolfe Pack {Reviews~Support~Opinions for the Discerning Homeschool Mom}

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How to Slow the SUMMER SLIDE

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{This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for details.} 

SUMMER SLIDE is a phrase used to describe the slide backwards that many children make in reading and math skills over the summer break. 

When I was a classroom teacher, the SUMMER SLIDE was to be expected. And reviewing for several weeks in the fall in order to combat the SUMMER SLIDE was also to be expected. It’s common practice for classroom teachers to build in several weeks of review at the start of each new school year. Unfortunately, it is impossible to target each kid’s specific “slide issues” so, instead, entire classes receive the same review.  Sally might’ve slid back twelve steps in math and three steps in reading while Billy slid back two steps in math and twenty steps in reading. But both Billy and Sally {plus their twenty classmates} would have to sit through the same review lessons. 

But, one of the many benefits of homeschooling is that we don’t release our students into the wild summer with nothing but a library card and and our sincere hopes that they’ll do more than just watch TV, play video games and sleep late. We actually get to shape their schedules and continue to place expectations on their educations. 

But, unless our kids have no break in their school routines at all, homeschool kids are still prone to the SUMMER SLIDE. 

So, why not be purposeful in making sure our kids don’t lose too much over the summer break? Below are five of our top suggestions for slowing the SUMMER SLIDE. 

 

 

ONE: DO FUN UNIT STUDIES

This is always my favorite educational activity to do over the summer because we get to learn about all sorts of subjects, people and events that we didn’t have time for during the regular school year. The variety of unit studies that is available is endless and also fairly inexpensive. Plus, they are easy to add to/subtract from as fits your family’s needs and schedule. Teachers Pay Teachers has an enormous selection of unit studies on all sorts of subjects including some great current event topics including the 2020 Summer Olympics, the Presidential Election and Sharks! 

 

TWO: PLAY REVIEW GAMES

In order to keep school at least a wee bit fun during the school year, we try to play at least one educational game per week but, sadly,  the weekly game is always the first thing to get cut when we are running short of time. But, summer is the perfect time to be diligent about playing educational games. Whether you want to review math, science, spelling or history, there are several educational games that are both fun AND serve as a very purposeful review. Some of our favorites include Four Way Countdown {which covers all four mathematical operations so it’s perfect for nearly all ages/skill levels,} Game of the States {geography,} Wordical {spelling} and Totally Gross {science}.

 

THREE: SHARE a BACK & FORTH JOURNAL 

We’ve done this off and on for years and not only is it a fun way for my son to practice his least favorite subject, writing, it also provides us with a wonderful keepsake. You can make this super simple with a plain spiral notebook or much more elaborate with a fancy personalized journal. Either way, the concept is to have your child write to you about whatever he/she wants and then to for you to write back. This way, your kid is not only reading AND writing, he/she is doing it on a very personal level. And, as we know, the more personalized we can make the lesson, the more educational value will be found in it. My son, who is now 13 and HATES writing, truly loves when we do a back & forth journal. He especially loves asking me questions that I always take the time to answer and I love the fact that I have a precious journal to keep for the future. {Plus I seem to be able to show more interest in things like MineCraft, dragons and baseball through writing than I do in person.}

 

FOUR: FIND NEW SOURCES FOR RESOURCES

Sign your kids up for the summer reading program at the library. Or, finally look into their digital resources that you bookmarked in your web browser months ago {like me.} Do a deep dive into Netflix or Disney+ in search of a “new to you” educational series. Sign your kids up for an old fashioned magazine subscription or, instead,  a modern subscription box {I don’t even need to subscribe to anything….we can just dig out the 24 editions of Zoobooks my son has accumulated but hasn’t read yet.} I always have a stash of ideas that I wish we could get to but save “for when we have more time”. Well, summer is the perfect time to dig into that stash!

 

FIVE: USE LEFTOVER CURRICULUM PAGES

This is an idea that I came by accidentally but have used every year since I discovered it. As the school year winds down, I always go through all of our son’s work in order to finalize grades and organize things for storage. Inevitably, I discover incomplete pages amidst his finished work, additional practice pages in the rear of his textbooks, alternate test versions in the teacher’s manual and fun/trivial items that I purposely had him skip in the interest of time. All of these items make great review pages during the summer months. And because they tie in perfectly to what was just learned during the school year, they are not busy work, but rather purposeful pieces redesigned to serve as a review. 

What will you do with your kids to slow the SUMMER SLIDE? Let me know in the comments below! 

Why Our Kids Need to Understand the ELECTION PROCESS {no matter how we feel about politics}

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Whether you are a classic homeschooler whose kids have never stepped foot in a traditional school or you are a reluctant parent facilitating your child’s education at home during this crisis….

Whether you have precious early elementary kids or moody teenagers nearing adulthood…

Whether you detest politics or live and die by Fox News…

Whether you cried when Obama‘s second term was up, voted for Trump in 2016, or have been burning for Bernie for several years, doesn’t matter.  Your kids need to understand the election process. 

No matter what you believe or how you feel about the 2020 presidential candidates, your kids need to understand our country’s election process. 

And here are three simple reasons why…

ONE: KIDS NEED TO UNDERSTAND OUR HISTORY It wasn’t until I started homeschooling my own son that I developed an understanding of the value of our country’s history. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve always been patriotic and knew basic facts about the founding of our country but I never truly appreciated the need to understand our full and complete history. Our history is one of both planning and perseverance, and the process by which we elect our presidents is a testimony to both. The concept of the Electoral College was not accidental. The age at which the president can be elected is not arbitrary. The allowances that different states have to run their elections is not incidental. All of that was planned. And it was all planned for a reason. And our kids need to understand all of it. 

TWO: KIDS NEED TO KNOW THEIR FAMILY’S VOICE IS BEING HEARD Especially in the unprecedentedly uncertain times of today, our kids need to know that we are not voiceless members of a tyrannical society. Our kids need to know we live in a democratic country where every citizen has a say. Understanding the election process not only teaches how we can each use our voice appropriately and effectively, it can also lead to an understanding of the legislative process of our government. We vote to put the lawmakers into place. Our kids need to know that their families have a voice and that those voices are being heard. 

THREE: KIDS WILL VOTE SOMEDAY As adults, we need to recognize that we are raising voters. When I taught a Presidential Election class for our co-op in 2016, we did quick math to figure out in which future election each kid would get to vote. The kids probably felt that four, eight or twelve years away was an eternity, but it really brought home to ME that the responsibility of voting was just around the corner for our kids. I remember my first time voting. I was excited. I was proud. But, I did NOT, in any way, shape or form, understand the severity of that responsibility and all that it entailed. I guess I was more preoccupied with getting the attention of Billy Barry during my US Government class in public school than I was focused on understanding the process by which we elected a president…or even what that truly meant. We are raising voters and it’s never too early to teach them about the election process. 

And, believe it or not, Election Day 2020 is less than 200 days away! 

So, whether you are a classic homeschooler or a pandemically-induced parent facilitator…

whether you have First Graders or Freshman….

whether you watch CNN, Fox or no news….

whether you love or hate Trump doesn’t matter. 

Your kids need to understand our country’s election process. 

 

 

If you’re needing a fun and easy way to teach your kids about our country’s election process, you might want to check out this highly rated Presidential Election Fact Pack.

It’s a very simple, yet thorough way to teach about the Electoral College and the entire process by which we elect our president. I have used it with ages ranging from 6 to 14 with great success and loads of fun! It’s available through Teachers Pay Teachers using this link: Presidential Election Fact Pack. 

Little Blue and Little Yellow: a St. Patrick’s Day Activity

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{This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for details.} 

Long ago, while living in a foreign country, I wanted to make sugar cookies and have my students decorate them as a fun little St. Patrick’s Day treat. But I could not find a shamrock-shaped cookie cutter anywhere so had to get creative with my approach. I ended up making simple round cookies and using a book by the classic author, Leo Lionni, to create an easy, fun and tasty St. Patrick’s Day activity!

And I have repeated the lesson dozens of times since then! I’ve done it for stateside First Grade students, MOPS toddlers, homeschool co-op children and, of course, my own kid. Everybody loves it! And it’s super duper easy! {And, better yet, it’s YUMMY!}

Materials needed:

round cookies

white canned frosting

blue and yellow food coloring and

a copy of Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lioni.

That’s it!

The story is short and sweet.

It’s about a little blue blob and a little yellow blob who are best friends… 

…who accidentally run into some trouble.

But, thankfully, they are able to solve their issue in the end. 

The lesson from the story can be as simple as

blue + yellow = green

or as deep as

stay true to yourself and don’t lose your identity.

But no matter how serious you make the book discussion, the kids will love the next part!  

Give them each a cookie, a small blob of yellow frosting and a small blob of blue frosting. 

Have each kid mix the two blobs together to make green frosting.

Then they can decorate the cookie and enjoy a treat!  

That’s it! It’s a super easy, fun and tasty activity!

For additional ideas for St. Patrick’s Day activities, check out Three Ways Homeschoolers Can Have Some St. Patrick’s Day Fun!

Three Simple Ways to Make the Most of LEAP DAY

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LEAP DAY comes around only once every four years, which really isn’t very often in the grand scheme of things. It dawned on me recently that, though this will be my son’s fourth LEAP DAY, we’ve never done anything to recognize this anomaly on the calendar. And, frankly, I am not even sure I have EVER done anything, as an adult or as a child, to commemorate LEAP DAY.

So, I decided that 2020 would be the year we’d make the most of LEAP DAY! But, I also know we have Bible, pre-Algebra, General Science and World Geography to work on plus we need to keep up with our outside activities.  So I definitely needed to keep things simple.  So, how do you keep things simple but make the most of LEAP DAY at the same time? 

ONE: RECOGNIZE IT! This is so easy to do, and yet, I failed to do it in the past. All we need to do is just simply RECOGNIZE that there is an extra day this year and that it occurs on February 29th. When LEAP DAY rolls around, don’t let the day go by without drawing attention to the anomaly. That’s it. RECOGNIZE the special date!

TWO: LEARN ABOUT IT! Once I started down the path of wanting to celebrate LEAP DAY,  in pure homeschool Mom fashion, of course I went immediately to wanting to LEARN ABOUT IT. So, I did a wee bit of research and LEARNED as much as I could about why we have LEAP DAY. Then I whittled it down to a child’s level and created a LEAP DAY Fact Pack, which you can snag  here for FREE. It’s ten pages of informational text, comprehension questions, writing prompts and a crossword puzzle. {Or if you really want to pay for it, you can get it here for less than $3.} Or you can LEARN about LEAP DAY with this in-depth article on Wikipedia or in a much simpler form with this great little video. I plan on having my son watch the video and then work on the Fact Pack to LEARN ABOUT IT!

THREE: ENJOY IT! Now, this is where you can really go crazy with LEAP DAY plans but you can also keep things pretty simple and still ENJOY IT.  If you have little kids, you might want to stick with a frog theme and focus on all sorts of LEAPING activities. Play Leap Frog outside. Create a frog craft. Make a healthy or an unhealthy froggy snack. Color froggy pages.  There are loads of other frog-themed LEAP DAY ideas on Pinterest! If you have bigger kids, you might want to forgo the cutesie frogs and focus on the scientific fact that LEAP DAY won’t occur for another four years and make a simple time capsule for your family to “dig up” on 02-29-24! The best part of doing the time capsule is that it will just about guarantee that you’ll make the most of  LEAP DAY 2024! But no matter what you decide to do, just do something to ENJOY IT! 

You might also want to check out: 

THREE Ways Homeschoolers Can Have Some St. Patrick’s Day Fun

The Value of Celebrating Your State’s Birthday

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{This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for details.} 

I’m a California girl who was born and raised in the same house all through my childhood and then attended college just a few hours up the coast from my hometown.  But after marrying my husband, we moved to Missouri where we lived for three years, followed by three years in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In 2010, we moved to Kansas and we’re still here in the year 2020! While it’s very different than my coastal home state, it offers its own unique beauty and interesting characteristics.

Shortly after moving here, we started homeschooling our only son and I quickly connected with a co-op.  Since we knew very few people in town, the co-op was a God-send to us in a variety of ways, not the least of which was showing me that I was sorely lacking in Kansas history. Apparently, it’s typical for Kansas kids to celebrate Kansas Day every year.  “What is Kansas Day,”  you might be wondering? I wondered the same thing until my new co-op crew filled me in.  It’s the day set aside to celebrate Kansas’ statehood. Kansas became the 34th state on January 29, 1861, therefore, every year on January 29th, kids all across the Sunflower State celebrate its “birthday.”

Kansas Day celebrations take place in classrooms and homeschools alike with sunflowery crafts, yummy treats and loads of lessons on the state mammal, bird, reptile, motto and more. And this happens every year for Kansas kids; it’s not just a Fourth Grade standard like it is in California. It’s something they look forward to annually. Our local libraries offer special programs, bakeries make themed cakes and teachers shift their lessons for the day to include all things bison, sunflower and tiger salamander. 

If you’re wondering, like I did at first, WHY so much effort goes into Kansas Day, let me give you the two-cent opinion of a Californian transplanted to Kansas after short stints in Missouri and Michigan. 

It teaches STATE HISTORY to our kids. 

It imparts a STATE IDENTITY in our kids. 

It instills STATE PRIDE in our kids.

And, it’s fun! 

Knowing that the American Bison is the Kansas State Mammal or that the Barred Tiger Salamander is the Kansas State Amphibian seems like nothing more than silly trivia at first. But, when the kids learn how each animal was chosen, they learn state history because there are actual legit, logical reasons behind those decisions. When they can begin to recognize that “Sunflower Bank” and “Bison Electric” are not just randomly chosen business names, they’ll begin to identify with their state as a whole. And when they learn what the state motto means, they’ll surely come away with some pride for the state’s founding fathers and their journey to statehood. 

As mentioned earlier, I was born and raised in California. From PreK through a Masters Degree, I was educated in the state and I LOVED growing up there.  And, yet, I could not tell you when California’s statehood actually took place. If given a few minutes, I could garner an educated guess on the year based on a few history facts that I’d need to pull up from the recesses of my brain, but I could never tell you the month and day. I could tell you the state nickname for sure, probably the state mammal and possibly the flower. But if you were to ask me about the state bird, state amphibian or state motto, all I could provide would be purely wild guesses.

{For my UNGoogled guesses on California Facts, go to the very end.}

I’ll admit that when I was first introduced to the concept of Kansas Day, I was a bit skeptical. I assumed it was a fluff holiday and an excuse to take the day off from regular schooling. But, as our KS years have rolled on and our KS Day celebrations have ramped up, I now see the value in celebrating your state’s birthday. 

It teaches STATE HISTORY to our kids. 

It imparts a STATE IDENTITY in our kids. 

It instills STATE PRIDE in our kids.

And, as a bonus, it is loads of fun! 

So, do you know when your state’s birthday is?

Do your kids?

Check the list below and start planning a party! 

If you happen to be a current Kansan, like me, check out my Kansas State Fact Pack on TpT. It’s chock-full of Kansas State facts and fun activities! 

And, for ALL state birthdays, an excellent place to start is with your state’s edition of the Discover America, State by State series.  Below is just a small selection, but there is one for every single state {and even DC.}

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My UNGoogled guesses on California Facts:

{Year of Statehood: 1851} WRONG! It was actually 1850, so I was close!

{State Nickname: Golden State} CORRECT! Yay me!

{State Mammal: bear} MOSTLY CORRECT. It’s the Grizzly Bear. 

{State Flower: poppy} CORRECT! Not sure why I knew that. 

{State Bird: golden eagle} Eeks! So WRONG! It’s the California Quail.

{State Amphibian: Sonoran Desert Toad} Totally WRONG! It’s the red-legged frog,  but my guess sounded so legit, didn’t it?

{State Motto: Go home! We have no more gold.} Obviously WRONG, but ya gotta admit, it was a funny guess. It’s actually “Eureka!” 

That’s a score of only 43%! EEKS! That’s not good! I bet if I had celebrated California’s birthday every September 9th, I would’ve done a whole lot better!