As summertime approaches we are all ready for a break. Homeschooling is a very hard job and one that doesn’t let out at 3pm every day. It can be hard to keep going each and every day so when summer comes we like to put the books aside and relax a bit. But, what if our kids still want to learn?

In our family, we school year round. But, not all families do. So here are some ways to sneak in summer learning during the break:

  1. Keep a backpack in the car filled with pencils, paper, and colors. If you go to the park and see a really cool bug, get the backpack out and draw it for later. When you get home, research it to see what kind of bug it was and learn more about it. This can be done with anything (bugs, animals, flowers, trees, leaves). This is science, art, and handwriting.
  2. Join the summer reading program at your local library. We do this every summer. My kids think it is such a fun thing to do. They choose books each week for 8 weeks. We go back to the library and give an oral report on the books to a volunteer. They earn badges for their lanyards (that hold their library cards) and earn a coupon to a local ice cream shop. They are reading and giving reports each week.
  3. Plan fun summer field trips. We go to state parks during the summer. There is so much to learn at a park. State parks usually have many learning areas as well as play areas. They may even have a fossil digging area. This can be a nature study as you go on a hike.
  4. Choose a series of books to read aloud to your children each morning. During breakfast or right after, get that book out and read for 15 to 20 minutes. They are practicing their listening skills as well as gaining word knowledge.
  5. Purchase science experiment kits or arts and crafts kits to do with them each week. The kids will not think they are doing school work or learning but they will have so much fun.

 

While summer is a time for relaxing and unwinding from a busy school year, it can also be a time to continue learning each day. It doesn’t take much effort to get your kids to have fun learning something new over the summer. So, in between beach days and pool days, try one of these suggestions out and see where it takes you. You might learn something new yourself.