Summer Homework - Again!

This is the 5th year of summer homework for us and the 3rd year of elementary school summer homework.

Beach Days with Kids

One of the things we love to do the most in summer is visit the beach.
A successful beach trip, especially when traveling by train, is partially the result of careful planning.

I saw this video on Facebook this week and it reminded me of some of my favorite tips that I've received.  Here's our Top 5!
- Keep a bottle of clean water for washing sand out of eyes.
- Use baby powder to help dry/wipe sandy feet.
- Store sand and beach toys in a mesh laundry bag
- Pack quick-dry towels so they will dry between uses
- Pack healthy food - fruits and veggies - with bottles of frozen drinking water


Our beach packing list usually includes:

Wet/sandy bag (big Ikea plastic bag)
 - Inflatable inner tubes for the kids
 - Kid's lifejackets
 - Sand toys in mesh bag
 - Small sun shade tent
 - Bottle of water for washing sand from eyes

In the Cooler
 - Frozen Nalgene bottles of water
 - Fresh fruit and veggies cut and in baggies or empty milk cartons
 - wet washcloth for wiping hands

Backpack
 - Suntan lotion
 - Phone (in a water/sand proof bag)
 - Change of clothes for end of day (in a plastic bag that will hold wet clothes when done)
 - More snacks
 - Towels

Looking for a beach? Here are some links to information & even some example itineraries from moms!
Atami Sun Beach, Shizuoka
Onjuku in Chiba
Okinawa
Inn By The Sea - Kamakura
Chiba - Splash Guest House

What are they reading?

Zilla is 8 years old

Mega is 5 years old 

Reading is so important yet it can be hard to know where to start, when to start and which books to move on the next. Here's an update on how the reading is going at our house.

Mega is confident in reading hiragana (one of the Japanese phonetic alphabets) so she reads books and magazines at school as well as the few Japanese books that we have at home.  Recently she's been growing in confidence with her English books as she works her way through the BOB Books series and the Early Reader books that we have. She is enjoying reading to the stuffed animals and preparing to read to her younger cousins when she sees them this summer.

At bedtime Zilla and Mega each get to choose a book or a chapter to listen to.  Mega enjoys the Star Wars parody style picture books or a fairly tale.  Reading the "real" fairy tales has been eye-opening for her as she is familiar with the Disney versions and some of the Japanese versions.
Both kids enjoy the "Who was..." series. We are currently reading about Harry Houdini. I've enjoyed this series as well. It is a great one to use to review before a trip to an art museum or to learn about a famous composer before learning to play one of his songs.

Zilla is required to have a "regular books" with him to be read at school He's working on a series of Start Wars books for kids.

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What are they reading?

Zilla is 8 years old

Mega is 5 years old 

Reading is so important yet it can be hard to know where to start, when to start and which books to move on the next. Here's an update on how the reading is going at our house.

Mega is confident in reading hiragana (one of the Japanese phonetic alphabets) so she reads books and magazines at school as well as the few Japanese books that we have at home.  Recently she's been growing in confidence with her English books as she works her way through the BOB Book series and the Early Reader books that we have. She is enjoying reading to the stuffed animals and preparing to read to her younger cousins when she sees them this summer.

At bedtime Zilla and Mega each get to choose a book or a chapter to listen to.  Mega enjoys the Star Wars parody style picture books or a fairly tale.  Reading the "real" fairy tales has been eye-opening for her as she is familiar with the Disney versions and some of the Japanese versions.