Summer "School" -- Getting Started!

In my Cute Pic Post for April, I mentioned that I was starting to think of doing a miniature version of homeschooling this summer. I've heard it called Home School, I've heard it called Tot School, I've heard it called Intentional Play, but I've decided to call what I'm going to do Summer "School". I'm calling it that because I only plan to do this during the summer and because I hope to teach him something (anything!). Thinking ahead to the future, I can see myself doing something like this every year, so I wanted something that would grow with the boys.

I heard from a lot of my friends (people who read this) that they thought the idea was great, but basically no one had any ideas of where to begin. So I started with Google. And Google was my friend! (Normally Google and I have a tenuous relationship, it tells me I have cancer or gives me tons of answers which don't actually get me what I need but I need it so much, I can't give it up.)

So, this first post (of a long series of posts which will hopefully be weekly, come the summer) is just a place for me to record all the resources I found online and the other things I am planning on using. If you know of others, please send them my way! Or perhaps you see what I'm using and come up with an additional something on your own, please share. This is by no means a I-know-everything-about-this-and-I'm-telling-you-what-to-use list. It's simply me feeling my way through the dark and recording it so I (and you) can benefit for the future.

Websites: 

I do not remember how I stumbled upon these, but it was probably a simple Google search. I have spent TONS of time on them in the last week, and I'm in love. Simply in love!

http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/
This one has more stuff than you could possibly hope for and is very overwhelming. There's a newsletter that I've signed up for and a blog to read and an Amazon list of stuff that you could buy (she doesn't make them, just recommends certain things you could use to accomplish whatever the goal is), etc. It's huge, overwhelming, and wonderful.

http://totallytots.blogspot.com/
This especially has great craft ideas. Most are way more than I would want to attempt at this age, but I have gotten some ideas from here.

http://www.handwritingforkids.com/
This specifically has tons and tons of worksheets that I've printed. It's the bulk of "material," honestly. Please see the stack I've printed so far down below.

I bought the following at JoAnnes:

I've pretty much avoided these sorts of things until now, seeing them only as a hassle to clean up after. Having heard somewhere that Crayola Washable is the easiest to wash up after, we got Crayola everything.

I had a coupon so this book was less than $5 and I could barely stop looking through it, it made me so excited!

Here's a sample page of the inside.
I'm not expecting he'll be able to do everything, but I'm excited to see him try!

A few more things:

A portfolio sorter thing I bought at Target. It has 13 sections which is perfect for the 13 weeks we'll be doing Summer "School." And a huge stack of stuff I've printed already.

I've collected everything into a plastic tub that we had just sitting around and will get more thorough into sorting and lesson planning (maybe all that teaching I did at El Centro will really be useful, here! I hadn't thought it would!) will begin after Mother's Day. It's the last big event we host until Thanksgiving and therefore the dining room can become my workroom all summer long (mostly scrapbooking, but will be initially for lesson planning and sorting the weeks). I mean, Book Club still happens every month, but they don't care if it's messy (so great to have been meeting for 3.5 years!) and we don't need the table during those meetings.

Again, if you've found something you think I might find useful, please share it with me! If you've thought of something while reading this post, please share that too! I'm feeling my way in the dark here, and can use any and all support/resources/ideas/suggestions/advice/everything!