Summer Activities List / Our Grammar Studies

I haven't planned any studies for this summer. We've been working on our adoption paperwork and going swimming and doing VBS and the library summer reading program but we've had no formal studies for the past month or so. I did make the summer list of fun things and I have them do 6 or 7 of those before turning on any video games or TV. The summer list has been good for getting the kids to exercise and go outside. We have had a limit on screen time for a long time, but the summer list has kept the battles to a minimum and really cut down on the "I'm bored!" whining that I was hearing. You can see the summer list on my blog entry from June 9. I recommend making a summer list to everyone who is fighting the screen time battles. A good activity list is a good ally to have in the battle. I'm going to do a new one every couple of weeks this summer, just to keep it fresh.

We've had an informal spontaneous grammar lesson, led by the kids, for the past few days. We've been doing Mad Libs and they've watched Schoolhouse Rock a couple of times. For thoses readers who don't know what Mad Libs are, they are stories that have key words removed and the kids are supposed to fill in with the same word type, noun, adjective, adverb, etc. It's a fun introduction to the parts of speech. They are always funny and my 2 older kids try very hard to come up with new and interesting words to fill in the blanks, but with my 8-year-old answering the questions, they take on a new twist since he has favorite words he likes to use in them. His favorite adjectives are foggy, green and hairy. If asked for an article of clothing he almost always says "underwear" and for a body part, he says "left foot". He only knows 2 celebrities, Donald Trump and Brittney Spears. (He has watched The Apprentice a few times, but how he knows Brittney Spears, I have no idea!). This combination of words makes for hilarious mad libs and he knows it, comedian that he is. And, everytime someone can't remember what an adverb is, we start singing, "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, get your adverbs here."