As teacher-astronaut Christa McAuliffe once said, "I touch the future. I teach." As
you close up shop for this year and start to plan for next year, never forget that in all you do and say and plan, you touch the future every day. What an awesome superpower to have!
Reaching out into the future, you may find an idea or two in this bundle from Rainbow City Learning. The Summer Activity Calendar is a must! Lots of ideas for other add ins.
What was the Super Summer Kit? It was simply a large ziplock bag or white 8 1/2 x 11 envelope filled with an activity calendar, a list of books "Recommended in Rainbow City" by other students, a goodbye letter from me filled with memories of our year together, and hopes I held for them as they grew up and away, fun writing suggestions like nature observations and different ways to make fun books and journals, a list of fun local day trips and summer field trips, and a summer bucket list brainstorming activity called "I Would if I Could". Kids used these throughout the summer with no future deadlines or pressure. Some even took them to camp for some downtime suggestions to share with bunkmates. I made a colorful and personalized cover page for each one, and loved having this unique gift to greet them on the last day of school as important as the backpack bags I greeted them with on the first day!
Since I have now have evidence that so many are hugely successful adults, and since those who looped with me or returned to a classroom of a teaching friend that I could check in with came back refreshed and even smarter, I have to conclude that the Super Summer Kit was enough. The thick worksheet books that parents used to clamor for at our local book shop every May and June seemed daunting and uninteresting to me. What kid wants an assignment to complete every day all summer long, in the interest of "keeping skills sharp"? Kids need their vacation and down time just as much as we adults do to refresh, recharge, and renew our interest in learning. I always found that the activities that I selected for that kit (most found right here in this bundle) were a "just right" approach to summer learning.
So, if you are lamenting the end of the school year, even while looking forward to your own summer plans, and want to send your babies off with a fun and learning filled kit for their summer, I hope you'll check out these summer resources from Rainbow City Learning for a happy slide through summer and into the next school year. And don't worry, they're still making more! (Love and kisses to Joanie, now in Heaven. She always told me not to cry on the last day because they were making more (kids) and when they were ready, they'd send them!)
For more summer inspiration, please check out the fabulous bloggers of Teacher Talk! This is our last linkup until August. Posts in this linkup are limited to Teacher Talk member bloggers only.
If you would also like to be a part of Teacher Talk, we are a group of teacher bloggers who share posts that are heavy on the ideas with just a little selling of our educational materials at TPT. For more information about joining The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative, go to https://bit.ly/3o7D1Dv. Feel free to email me at retta.london@gmail.com if you have any questions.
