August Rabbit Trails
My family usually tries to go to the beach for a week in August. We don't do this quite every summer. We've sometimes gone to other places, but mostly the beach. This summer we went over the July 4th week because we are expecting our grandchild sometime around August 8th! That's the due date. Even if you live far from the sea and maybe visit other bodies of water (pond, lakes, rivers) I'll include some of things we've read and done over the years.
Family Read Alouds:
Treasure Island
Kidnapped
Island of the Blue Dolphin
Call It Courage
Sailing Alone Around the World
Kon Tiki - this is one I wish we had done, but never got to. I loved reading it in high school.
Swiss Family Robinson
Seabird
Paddle to the Sea
Water Sky
Great Horned Spoon - mostly for the part about sailing around Cape of Horn
Swallows and Amazons - our middle son absolutely adored these books. And now works at a sailing marina!
Teens:
Life of Pi (mature teen - lots of religion questions and a murky ending)
C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower series (he has a couple of affairs - not graphic but they are there)
Salt; A World History by Mark Kurlansky - fascinating history of this important element, ties into economics, trade, lots of ocean voyaging, geography, and history of course.
Endurance by Alfred Lansing - riveting tale of Ernest Shackleton's 1915 expedition to the South Pole.
Topics that can become rabbit trails:
Titanic - Robert Ballard is one of our heroes.
Shipbuilding in general - evolution of types of boats and ships
Vikings
Pirates - not very historical but my little kids loved both Tough Boris and Do Pirate Take Baths.
Marine life - huge topic! Start your own aquarium!
Shells
Water cycle
Ocean exploration
Tides, coral reefs, currents
Buoyancy - Here's a good list of experiments on this. Includes playing with water!
Great sailors and explorers
Naval battles
Canals - Erie and others
The seawalls or dykes of Holland
Learning to read maps. We enjoyed this book for beginners.
Math/Science
Navigating a boat takes a lot of math! Check this out.
Lesson plans on navigating by the stars
Movies:
Moby Dick (we liked the newer version with Ethan Hawke, surprisingly!)
Treasure Island - the Walt Disney classic - the guy who plays Longjohn Silver acts up a storm!
Swiss Family Robinson - old movie, cheesy but fun
The Old Man and the Sea - Spencer Tracy - good for older kids
Captain's Courageous - wonderful, actually quite Catholic movie
Field Trips:
Aquarium - we have visited several over the years. Always a great time.
Nature exploration of pond, lake, river or sea shore - check out local nature centers.
Any kind of boating adventure - tubing, canoeing, rowing, sailing, motor boating
Riding a ferry
A trip on a canal barge
Visiting a historic ship
Fishing/crabbing
Stream monitoring - our county has a program where kids can volunteer to help monitor water quality and habitat in local streams. Maybe your county does too!
One Small Square - Pond
The Amazing Impossible Erie Canal
Art/Music
Kahn Academy has a nice lesson on Watson and The Shark. This is for older kids.
This one is for younger kids on the same painting. (Video)
Listen to Claude Debussy's La Mer. Here's a recording on youtube by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Or learn Sea Chanties!
Copywork:
Sea Fever by John Masefield
The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear
At the Sea-Side by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Saints' Days. Here's a link to all the great saints' feast days in August. August 15th is a Holy Day of Obligation for the Assumption of Mary. There are other really wonderful saints we celebrate this month too, like:
St. John Vianney (8/6) - we loved this book as a read aloud.
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (my oldest daughter's confirmation saint)
St. Maximilian Kolbe - I remember my oldest son being riveted when learning about this saint.
St. Monica and St. Augustine
And many other other great saints to learn about and celebrate and plead for their intercession!
Family Read Alouds:
Treasure Island
Kidnapped
Island of the Blue Dolphin
Call It Courage
Sailing Alone Around the World
Kon Tiki - this is one I wish we had done, but never got to. I loved reading it in high school.
Swiss Family Robinson
Seabird
Paddle to the Sea
Water Sky
Great Horned Spoon - mostly for the part about sailing around Cape of Horn
Swallows and Amazons - our middle son absolutely adored these books. And now works at a sailing marina!
Teens:
Life of Pi (mature teen - lots of religion questions and a murky ending)
C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower series (he has a couple of affairs - not graphic but they are there)
Salt; A World History by Mark Kurlansky - fascinating history of this important element, ties into economics, trade, lots of ocean voyaging, geography, and history of course.
Endurance by Alfred Lansing - riveting tale of Ernest Shackleton's 1915 expedition to the South Pole.
Topics that can become rabbit trails:
Titanic - Robert Ballard is one of our heroes.
Shipbuilding in general - evolution of types of boats and ships
Vikings
Pirates - not very historical but my little kids loved both Tough Boris and Do Pirate Take Baths.
Marine life - huge topic! Start your own aquarium!
Shells
Water cycle
Ocean exploration
Tides, coral reefs, currents
Buoyancy - Here's a good list of experiments on this. Includes playing with water!
Great sailors and explorers
Naval battles
Canals - Erie and others
The seawalls or dykes of Holland
Learning to read maps. We enjoyed this book for beginners.
Math/Science
Navigating a boat takes a lot of math! Check this out.
Lesson plans on navigating by the stars
Movies:
Moby Dick (we liked the newer version with Ethan Hawke, surprisingly!)
Treasure Island - the Walt Disney classic - the guy who plays Longjohn Silver acts up a storm!
Swiss Family Robinson - old movie, cheesy but fun
The Old Man and the Sea - Spencer Tracy - good for older kids
Captain's Courageous - wonderful, actually quite Catholic movie
Field Trips:
Aquarium - we have visited several over the years. Always a great time.
Nature exploration of pond, lake, river or sea shore - check out local nature centers.
Any kind of boating adventure - tubing, canoeing, rowing, sailing, motor boating
Riding a ferry
A trip on a canal barge
Visiting a historic ship
Fishing/crabbing
Stream monitoring - our county has a program where kids can volunteer to help monitor water quality and habitat in local streams. Maybe your county does too!
One Small Square - Pond
The Amazing Impossible Erie Canal
Art/Music
Kahn Academy has a nice lesson on Watson and The Shark. This is for older kids.
This one is for younger kids on the same painting. (Video)
Listen to Claude Debussy's La Mer. Here's a recording on youtube by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Or learn Sea Chanties!
Copywork:
Sea Fever by John Masefield
The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear
At the Sea-Side by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Saints' Days. Here's a link to all the great saints' feast days in August. August 15th is a Holy Day of Obligation for the Assumption of Mary. There are other really wonderful saints we celebrate this month too, like:
St. John Vianney (8/6) - we loved this book as a read aloud.
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (my oldest daughter's confirmation saint)
St. Maximilian Kolbe - I remember my oldest son being riveted when learning about this saint.
St. Monica and St. Augustine
 |
| This is oop, but was the version of Augustine' Confession my teens read. |
And many other other great saints to learn about and celebrate and plead for their intercession!
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