Mad Dogs and Englishmen

By Rebecca Santa Cruz, Director of Curriculum Development for
Polaris Learning http://www.polarislearning.org

“Summertime and the livin’ is easy”, or so the old song goes. Most of us know that even though summer is supposed to be relaxing; family vacations, social events, lessons, sports activities and of course the dreaded cry, “Mom, Dad, I’m bored!” often create an atmosphere of pressure and stress. Making literature and writing a part of summer activities can be a good way to slow down and enjoy these precious summer hours.

Noel Coward fans know that only “mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun”. Having a regular story time during the sultry afternoon hours when it is a misery to be outside can be a great way to gather your family together to cool off. Selecting a theme such as Russian fairy tales, Native American stories or ancient Egypt can pique children’s curiosity about various subjects. Teaching about history and culture through reading narratives is a good way to draw children into a different time and place.

If you are going on a vacation, pre-reading about the areas you plan to visit will give your children a context to understand the importance of the site. Most national parks have great websites that give important history and highlights as well as activities such as nature walks or night hikes. Many of these activities are free. The directory of the National Park Service at: http://www.nps.gov/index.html can link you to the website of any national park. You can find fantastic learning materials here for students and teachers, for example the Grand Canyon website has on-line trip planners, information on backcountry hiking and river trips, and the Junior Rangers program. There are three different age ranges for Junior Rangers, and children who meet the requirements are eligible to check out a Discovery Pack that includes: binoculars, a hand lens and field glasses.

Professional artists often tell how important it is to draw from nature. For this reason, many of them carry small sketchbooks in which to do thumbnail sketches as they go on hikes. Carrying a small sketchbook on hikes and having children draw sketches of what they see can be a more personal way to preserve memories than taking photographs. Writing thumbnail descriptions of the scene can preserve the feelings the scene inspired, and small memories that might otherwise be forgotten, such as the squirrels that chased each other from branch to branch of the pinion pines or the deafening sound of silence experienced during the sweltering heat of a desert afternoon.

Hikes are a great way to begin a nature journal. Have your children collect interesting leaves, pods or even small rocks as they walk. They can then paste them in a journal and write a brief description of each specimen and where they found it. They might also write questions about the specimen that they plan to research after the trip.

If you plan to visit an important historical site, do some research about its background before you leave; for example, if you are going to visit someplace like Colonial Williamsburg, you might have your daughters read something from the American Girls “Felicity” series or boys might identify with the Revolutionary War hero Johnny Tremain. The ability to connect a place to a character that might have lived there brings an historical site to life. Colonial Williamsburg has a website at www.colonialwilliamsburg.org, that includes short historical video clips.

After a visit to the site, have your child do an empathetic writing about it. Empathetic writing requires the writer to step into a character’s shoes and write from his or her point of view. Last summer my family and I visited Boston where we took my daughter to the campuses of Harvard and Radcliffe. While we walked through the Radcliffe yard, we thought of Helen Keller, one of Radcliffe’s most famous graduates. A cold rain was falling as we gazed upward at the elegant old buildings and asked; how might Helen have felt the day she first attended college at Radcliffe? What hopes and fears might she have had? What gave her the courage to do something no deaf and blind person had ever attempted before? We had all read the biographical play about Helen, Into the Light, so we knew her story. Afterward, writing a journal entry from Helen’s point of view preserved the memory in a unique and important way.

Personal journals are another good way for children to practice writing. Encourage them to write not just what they do each day, but also what they think and feel. My daughter’s journal about our trip to Washington D. C. when she was eight is a prized possession. In it she wrote about the night we drove into Washington D.C. and she saw the Capitol and the Washington Monument lit up against the deep blue of the night sky. It was an epiphanal moment for her, when the things she had seen and read about in books suddenly became real. When any of us reread that journal, we travel back in time to a great moment we all shared, and we visit again with that eight-year-old girl that is now lost within the layers of the current eleven-year-old edition.

Don’t miss this opportunity to include reading and writing as part of your children’s summer activities. They will not only progress as a result, but will also have preserved some precious memories that can be revisited anytime.
 

About the Author

Rebecca Santa Cruz is the Director of Curriculum Development for Polaris Learning, which is one of the most innovative writing programs where children tap into their passion and interest in a particular book or period in time to learn how to become an accomplished writer and a lover of books forever.
Polaris Learning’s website is: http://www.polarislearning.org