Please note that we request for Amazon to mark down journals to a specific price for a certain length of time but they don’t always get marked down/ stay marked down the whole time. If there’s something you really want, make sure to grab it soon!
For those of us who tend to follow a public school system-type schedule, school is nearly out for the summer! Let’s talk about Holiday School and how we might incorporate it into our summer months. These ideas below were originally put together for Christmas break, but can also be applied to Thanksgiving, Easter/Spring break, or summer vacation!
-Holiday School is a break from the “normal” rhythm of school to enjoy the summer break
-There’s no wrong way to do Holiday School- just take time to enjoy time w/ your family and enjoy this special season
-Time to enjoy cooking, baking, learning a new craft, learning to play or sing a hymn, play games and make puzzles, listen to music, create art, watch movies, etc
-Enjoy summer activity books like hidden pictures, vacation-theme word searches, crossword puzzles, and lots of coloring pages
-Try to learn a hymn in another language
-Lots of families read a book per day
-Some families keep the “core subjects” or do one main journal per day and lots of extra fun vacation activities
-Do summer themed copywork, recitation, and dictation
-Memorize a passage of a famous book
-Create a play
-Also a great time to relax and refresh after a busy year!
-All ages can enjoy Holiday School. Tap into what your kids are interested in and see where it leads
-Some families choose to do a special unit study
-Teens are often really tired by the end of the year and may need extra time to just REST
Below is a peek inside our Holiday-themed journals (if you’d like to do “Christmas in July”)! 😉 We have so many journals that could be adapted to a summer holiday:
Give kids control to choose what they want to do and when they want to do it
Montessori students know what needs to be accomplished in a designated amount of time and are given the freedom to complete their tasks in any order they choose
Montessori classrooms rotate out activities/works
Can rotate single-subject journals and complementary materials
Store them on a low shelf/table for easy access
Nature study, Life Skills, character development, and the arts are a big part of Montessori
We have journals for all of those!
Pair them with hands-on life experience
Use Montessori materials like sandpaper letters, Montessori math manipulatives, and motor skills frames/toys alongside the journals
Wooden puzzles!
Popular in Montessori and go great in a Fun-Schooling basket
Nomenclature cards/ 3-part cards
These are used to introduce new words and teach different subjects
Would work great along with journals, especially with vocabulary building pages
Fun-Schooling journals can be used by a wide range of ages and Montessori classrooms are multi-age classrooms
Put together a multi-age group of other homeschoolers to go through a journal together
Montessori teens choose an area of focus and engage in hands-on in-the-field study on that area of focus
Just like choosing a major!
Montessori values teaching independence and equipping kids with skills to thrive on their own
Our research method and journals are set up with this same goal in mind
Watch a flip-through of some of our Montessori-friendly journals here:
The Montessori Method was founded by Maria Montessori
An Italian educator in the late 1800s/early 1900s
She was the first female Italian doctor
Advocated for women’s rights and child labor laws
Studied child development and learning before opening her own school
She researched educational approaches and philosophies throughout the ages and studied children in-person to create her approach
Pulled heavily from the work of Jean-Marc Itard and Edouard Séguin
Main Focuses of a Montessori education
Very hands-on and sensory focused
The Montessori schoolroom engages all the senses
Activities are referred to as “works”
These works will engage multiple senses at a time
The environment itself is kept low-sensory and very tidy- everything has a place and is always put back in that place. Only one work out per child at a time. Known as a “prepared environment”
Lessons are incredibly tactile with things like sandpaper letters, counting beads, building blocks, and lots of manipulatives
Play is work- and children should not be interrupted while working or playing. A big focus is on letting them do things at their own pace with full concentration
Everything is adapted to be child-size and child-friendly
Works will be put out on low shelves, kid-size tools are made readily available and presented to the child from a young age, kid-size chairs, tables, etc.
In the kitchen, kids will have their own set of kid-size cooking items and a special stool to be able to stand up at the counter
Kids are given real glasses instead of plastic and “real” tools that are simply child size
Taught to work with careful consideration and attention to detail
Big focus on Life Skills
Taught from a very early age and children are encouraged to be independent from toddlerhood
Excellence in completion and attention to detail is a bit part of learning Life Skills
Self-care, cleaning, cooking, sewing, and other basic Life Skills are taught beginning in toddlerhood
Gardening and farm work are often a part of the daily school tasks
Natural materials
Plastic is almost never found in a Montessori setting
Wood, fabric, and glass are the primary materials found
The main core educational subjects are taught along with a big focus on art, citizenship, independence, nature, and engaging in the community
Other tidbits
In a school, children are grouped with a wide age range- usually 2-4 grades all together
Self-directed learning lets children progress at their own pace
Still guided by an adult with each work very carefully introduced in a methodical way
Children then can work through things at their own pace and based on their own interests
There’s not usually a strict schedule of X subject at X time
Instead, children will know what they are expected to accomplish in a day and be given the freedom to complete their tasks in the order they desire
No screens until at least 4th grade
Age 0-6 is a key age for introducing concepts, life skills, and development
Some similar components to Waldorf and Charlotte Mason but starts academic instruction at a much younger age and is much more methodical
Stay tuned for our next post where we will talk about integrating the Montessori Method into your Fun-Schooling!
We have many Fun-Schoolers who love the Charlotte Mason method in our Fun-Schooling Mom Support Group on Facebook! Visit these posts for some great info:
This curriculum handbook is designed to be used along with library books, audio books, tutorials, documentaries, and classical music. Unlike our other core journals, we tap into the Charlotte Mason method by incorporating Picture Study daily and creative writing/ narration sections. Make homeschooling fun for your students, while tapping into their interests and covering all the basic subjects.
This plan is perfect for struggling readers and learners. We have included Art & Logic Games that help with dyslexia, reading confusion, and letter reversals.
“Great layout for Charlotte Mason beginners that need to transition. Still elements of fun-schooling but definitely an enjoyable resource and we love that it implements nature study, picture study, and copy work! Key elements in a Charlotte Mason atmosphere. We also love that Sarah has taken the time to look out for the struggles some of our children have with dyslexia and ADHD. Well done!” ~Amazon Customer
“This is truly a beautiful one of a kind book. It has art study in it which is different than the other journals. The book is just beautiful and my daughter is really enjoying it.” ~ An Amazon Customer
What aspects of the Charlotte Mason Method are addressed in Thinking Tree journals?
Nature Study
Art
Poetry
Timelines
Copywork
Utilization of great books
Speaking of timelines…here’s a little peek at how we used them a few years ago…
1. I put the Timeline, 3 history books, pens and pencils, and a calculator on the table in the dining room.
2. I ask all the kids to come to the table.
3. I tell them that today everyone in the family will add something to the Timeline, including mom and dad.
4. I added the summer of 1950 when both my parents were born. Joe added pictures and dates to 5 pages, Esther added WW1, Rachel added January 1917. Some kids will work later.
5. I will clear the table once everyone has added something.
Who doesn’t love Autumn? Crisp, cool temps, gorgeous foliage, bonfires and roasted marshmallows, cozy sweaters, and curling up with hot chocolate and a good book by the fire…delightful!
Help your kids to love this season as well!
What do moms like you think of this beautiful journal?
“We love all of the Thinking Tree books but my seven year old is using this one the most this season. He loves the detailed coloring pages and the flexibility of the work pages. If you have a child that is very self-driven and passionate about certain subjects, these journals are great! They are also fabulous for kids with learning disabilities or struggling learners, because the design of the pages are inviting and not overwhelming, and you can modify them to fit whatever needs your child has.” (Live2Learn, Amazon reviewer)
“My daughter has been using this one for a couple of months now and is doing well with it. We are finishing up the school year with most of the stuff that we had already purchased, but will be making the switch to complete fun-schooling next year. This book allows her to journal her way through her own interests and really keeps her mind engaged. This is a great way for creative children to learn. Love it!” (J. Pope, Amazon reviewer)
“This, I have been told, is a good step up from the young journals because it has less writing than some of the older kid journals. It certainly is one of my favorite journals and I am looking forward to using it with my son in the fall. You can see the inside of it in my video. I received this at a discount in exchange for my honest review. I honestly love it and we will be using it. I have seen the inside of many of these and this one is a favorite.” (Momtographer, Amazon reviewer)
Click here to see inside:
And click here for a Q & A to answer your questions!
