Apostles' Fast and Summer Learning

While I am nearly through actively planning homeschool lessons for the summer, we will continue to do a few learning-type activities into Summer.  We'll be working through the Bob Books series along with the exercises designed to go along with them at Letters of Grace (at a lazy summer pace).

I'd like to increase our time outdoors (even if it's just sitting in our backyard) by getting into doing a Nature Notebook.  Keeping one of these journals by sketching wildlife (or taking photos?) can be a gentle introduction to the scientific world.  As a bonus, the drawing combines the subject with Art, and the notebook can include Poetry if you are creative.  I may start doing this on my own before I foist it on the girls.  If I do a few entries, they'll probably ask to make one of their own anyway.  Then, it's their idea, not mine!

Eventually, I'd like to purchase a copy of The Handbook of Nature Study, by Anna Botsford Comstock to facilitate our learning in this area.

Since we are nearly into the Apostles' Fast, I'd like to do some kind of activity related to the apostles with my kids (although, since I am about to give birth, I don't have any big plans).

Some of the resources I am considering include:

• The Holy Apostles at evlogia.typepad.com ~ a reading list: namely, we ordered this lovely book: The Twelve Apostles, by Marianna Mayer.

• Go and Make Disciples at craftycontemplative.wordpress.com ~ a Jesse-Tree-style list of twelve readings and accompanying symbols to color or craft.

• And for adults, my husband has alerted me to the book Jesus, the Apostles, and the Early Church, by Pope Benedict XVI ~ transcripted talks on several themes related to all of the apostles; on each apostle specifically; and on a few who were not numbered among the twelve, but worked alongside them.

Finally, for our summer education, we'll continue to use the Let Us Attend program at Antiochian.org to prepare for each Sunday's Gospel reading.  I like to do this on the Thursday or Friday before that particular gospel is read so the girls have something to listen for during the actual reading at church, and something to look for in the icon, if the coloring page corresponds to the one we will venerate at church.

With Bob Books, Nature Notebooks, a Let Us Attend activity each week, twelve apostles to read about from Ms. Mayer's book, and twelve readings and symbols from Go and Make Disciples, I think we will have plenty to keep us busy this Summer.  I'd like to lay out some of these resources in some kind of orderly fashion to give it some kind of structure (sound vague enough?), and if I do, I'll post it here.