Unbored

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Weekly Challenge: Play

Teachers spend a lot of time each summer growing in their craft by taking courses, reading professional development books, developing units, and more.  I have been getting a thrill out of the two courses I’ve been taking this summer, as well as some of the books I’ve been studying.  The Playful Classroom shares all kinds of research showing the benefits of play in our lives–brain, academic, creative, and social benefits–as well as tons of ideas to incorporate play in our classrooms.  The authors put out a monthly calendar of play ideas I thought your family might enjoy.

Send a photo of your summer play!  We’d love to see!

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Oh, Mold!

Fungus has been WAY more interesting than we ever anticipated.  We started with the question, “Where do leaves go after they fall?” which led to all sorts of mushroomy, fungusy, moldy inquiries.

 

We wondered what might cause things to mold more slowly or more quickly.  Each team used exactly the same foods on their plate but changed one variable they were curious about.  What if the food is warm, in the refrigerator, covered with salt, covered with baking soda, coughed on, or . . . . ?  We did nothing to one plate so we could compare.  Don’t worry, we double-sealed our plates so no putridness would escape into our room.

We observed our plates every day for ten days.  It was disgusting in the best sort of way!  While we observed, we investigated books, websites, our yards, our kitchens, and the forest for more fungus information to add to our Mold Museum.

This was one of our favorite research books.

What a fabulous investigation this has been so far!

 

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Unbored Summer Days

Hope that you are staying as “unbored” as I am!  What a glorious green summer . . .

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Enjoying my brother’s visit!  I always love his guitar playing.

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Gloriana created a “Because of Winn Dixie” tree for our Fourth of July celebration.  We watched the Andover parade with stars fluttering about our heads.

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Our family sings all the time, around the table, in the car, around the piano, . . .  We went to Poppop’s rehab center to sing with him for the residents, and the cousins were a big hit.

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What could be better than an air-conditioned summer tea party with Mrs. Shedd?

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One of our local characters leading the parade.

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A nice dip in Highland Lake to start each day off right.

 

So don’t forget to send me an update of your summer unbored activities for our blog.  I’m sure you’re up to something wonderful too!

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Unbored Summer Adventures–the New Hampshire Ice Cream Trail

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Several months ago, I posted some unique ideas proposed by the 251 Club of Vermont–visiting all 251 towns in Vermont, locating all the covered bridges in your state, hiking the 4,000 footers, or finding all the railway stations in the state.  Today, I was tickled to pick up this brochure from the NH Dairy Farmers.  (Just click to see the pdf of the brochure pictured in this post.)

Did you know there was a NH Ice Cream Trail?  While it doesn’t exactly match our fitness goals (unless you biked the whole trail, I suppose!), it is a quirky reminder of all the endless possibilities for fun this summer.  Don’t forget to share your family’s “unbored” ideas with the rest of us.  Or maybe invite us along if you’re toiling up the Ice Cream Trail!

 

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Oh, the Places My Book Will Go!

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(Photo by Kristen Huebner)

How can you take kids to a whole new world without leaving your home? (Or maybe WHILE leaving your home?)

“Dr. Ziegler asks Finn Larsen, executive director of Christian Educators Association International, ‘How can parents use reading to take their kids to places they may never get to?’

‘Bill, summer is an ideal time for a reading adventure.  Certainly there has got to be time for play and recreation and just getting out and unwinding, but there’s plenty of time to focus your children on reading.  In fact, it can be a great family activity.  Depending on certainly the age of the child.  If the child is very young, they can be read to.  If they’re a little bit older, books can be read together and then discussed.  It can be a phenomenal family bonding time, and it expands the learning that is done during the year.'”

From Dr. Bill Ziegler’s TiPPS (teaching in public and private schools):

So, adventurers, we want to know!  Where are you taking your book this summer?  The book above traveled to Jacob’s Brook Campground in Orford, NH, for the totally amazing Huebner/Johnson Camping Extravaganza!  Not sure if it conquered Mt. Moosilauke with the hikers or not.  Hmmm.

We hope all of our blogging friends will send Miss Blessing a picture of the Reader and the Book in whatever wild and wonderful place you have been reading.  E-mail your picture to cblessing@mvcs.info along with any details of your adventure you would like included.  We can’t wait!

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251 Club of Vermont

I’m always on the lookout for novel ideas around me, especially ones that pertain to teaching.  My parents’ newspaper just featured the 251 Club of Vermont, and I was captivated.

The 251 Club was formed with the mission of visiting all of the towns in Vermont, and their website helps you to keep track of each town you visit.  Some members look for different ways to make their visits special, such as going by bike, walking on each Main Street, or taking a picture by a special building in each town.  The article added information about members who have accomplished this mission only to come up with another one to follow, such as visiting all the covered bridges in Vermont, going to all of Vermont’s railway stations, or climbing every mountain.  Another example of “unbored” people all around us.

Imagine keeping a writing notebook or posting all summer on your blog to document a challenge such as this!  For more information, visit 251 Club of Vermont.

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Unbored

“Boredom is a choice.” My mother is a woman of few words. Considering how wise she is, the few she says are well-remembered by her children.

We learned the “boredom is a choice” lesson thoroughly very early on, and it is one of the life lessons I aspire to share with my students. Of course, she reinforced the lesson with lightning quick consequences. Should we dare to say, “I’m bored,” she “unbored” us immediately, since the beans always needed picking and the bathroom always needed scrubbing. Without the assistance of video games, we found endless pursuits to fascinate us, from tracking wildflowers to building forts to perching on a tree branch with a treasured copy of Anne of Green Gables.

Our class just completed a two week nonfiction strategy unit featuring the Iditarod sled dog race, and while the main objective was literacy skills, we also talked about the wonders surrounding us.  Knowing the details of mushing was not the point, but being “unbored” was.  The Lord has created a world full of intriguing things to learn about and has given us questioning minds full of curiosity.  Watching my students jump and clap, singing, “I did, I did, I did the Iditarod Trail!” made me smile my secret teacher smile every day these two weeks.

So stay tuned, for there is more “unboredom” to come.  Hopefully, that thought gives your brain the same zinging tingle it gives mine.