In our homeschool, we have the mantra that if Daddy’s working, so are we. Being a family of teachers, my husband works during the school year and also teaches a lighter summer school schedule during the summer months. This works really well for our family as it allows us all to work when it is time to work, then rest and play as a family when we have school breaks. When our kids are older, we are confident that these habits will serve them well. In the summer months, we take a more relaxed approach to our school work while keeping in mind that we are always presented with opportunities to learn and grow. I try to choose a few gentle studies that will keep us in the habit of learning together and prevent any regression in our studies over the summer months. Here are our summer learning plans that we will focus on over the next few months.

What to Focus on in the Summer Months

Connection

The very first thing you should focus on in your homeschool is connecting with your kids. If this is the only thing you do all summer, it will be well worth your efforts. As the regular school year draws to an end, we tend to focus hard on finishing up whatever curriculum or learning we wanted to “get done” before the end of the school year. Sometimes,this can lead to stress and a sense of disconnect in the family. This year, I realized in mid-May that I was becoming more of a “task master” Mommy and less of a gentle, inviting educator for my children. When I recognized this, we cut school cold turkey. I stopped all of our formal studies and felt zero guilt for doing so! It was more important for me to have good relationships and loving connections with my children than it was for them to “finish” their schoolwork I had allotted for the year.

Chances are, you’re doing better than you think. If you look over your entire school year at all of the things you discovered with your kids, you will realize that learning was happening organically every single day whether you planned it or not. Looking back, I noticed that my children were already ahead in math, both boys having started on their next year’s math books. While we weren’t as far ahead in reading, I accepted the fact that we will get there when we are good and ready! My kids are by no means behind. They are thriving in their studies and my stress towards our schooling was more towards checking off my to-do list rather than their actual learning. So, we stopped and now we focus on playing, exploring new places, reading aloud, and enjoying each other’s company.

Simple Math

And I mean simple. We don’t need workbooks to keep up on our math skills. If that works best for your family, excellent! For us, I take a look at what we’re learning in our math lessons and find a way to incorporate them into our everyday life. My oldest son could use some practice with fractions. Therefore, we’re doing a lot of baking and talking through fraction word problems. For example, we love to go canoe camping. In a casual conversation we had the other day, my husband was chatting about a time his cousin was behind the group after leaving his coffee cup at the last campsite. He asked my son “if Jesse had to turn around to get the coffee cup he forgot, and we had already traveled ½ mile, how much farther will Jesse need to travel than the rest of us?” Our son was able to think it through and come up with the answer, without realizing he was doing math. Perfect!

We are also working through multiplication facts. This can be organically approached in many different ways! We sing the old-school Schoolhouse Rock multiplication songs, present real-world problems that use multiplication, and occasionally use manipulatives such as seas shells or rocks to show a multiplication problem. Another thing I picked up from our library was the book Bedtime Math which our kids love (and so do my husband and I!). The book has math problems for three age levels, wee ones, little kids, and big kids. These levels fit perfectly for our boys and their math skill levels.

Reading

Reading has, and always will be, a huge part of our family culture. My husband has a personal goal to read every single book we have in our home. This has proven to be difficult since I keep buying books before he can catch up. I can’t help it, we love to read! We have thankfully passed this passion along to our kids. On a daily basis, you can find our children perusing through a beloved book, sometimes causing them to avoid doing their chores… We have a daily reading time for everyone that happens at the beginning of quiet time in the afternoon. The break from our busy day is so necessary for us to unwind and reset, especially for me as the mama to four little kiddos. Each child (three-year-old included since he gave up his nap) must spend at least 20 minutes reading during our daily quiet time.

To get the kids excited about reading, I have baskets of library books scattered through the house. I also have encouraged my 7-year-old to find a chapter book series he likes and can work through. Right now he is liking the Dragon Storm Series. Getting hooked on a series helps keep him engaged in the story and eliminates the “what to read” question. For my emerging reader, I will sit down with him periodically to read through the BOB book series together. The simple text and illustrations bring us so much delight without overwhelming him as a reader. Other than that, he will just enjoy looking through picture books and delighting in the ones I’ll read aloud to him and his siblings.

Read Aloud/Family Book Study

This year, I wanted to take our reading to another level. I love to read aloud to my boys, but I wanted to engage even deeper with the stories we were reading. I found this book study by Treehouse Schoolhouse on the chapter book My Side of the Mountain. This book fits perfectly with our nature-loving, outdoorsy boys. In the month of July, we will work through the study week by week, reading assigned chapters together, learning how to build fires, make shelters, and many more relevant activities to engage in the story. The reading level is above my oldest’s reading ability which is perfect because he and his brother can engage in hearing the story and benefit from the more complex language without the stumbling block of decoding the text. I am very excited to begin this with the boys, it’s a perfect fit for the summer months! 

Special Interests

You know those subjects you desire to do with your kids but you can never seem to find time for? Summer is the perfect time to explore them! This summer, I will be working through the Homegrown Intro to Real Food activity book with my kids. Eating healthy, well-balanced meals is a big priority for me, and a skill I know will serve our children well. So many Americans don’t know how to fuel their bodies well, leading to the obesity epidemic in our country. I have learned a lot as an adult about how to fuel my body well and I want to pass on the ability to do this to my children so they will always be equipped to take good care of themselves. I was very excited when I found this resource and I will start the conversation now with them to build good habits. In addition to inviting them into our kitchen while I’m preparing meals, I know they will begin to understand what is good fuel for them and make good choices that will serve them well.

Aside from healthy eating, virtually any subject can be explored during these summer months. Have a specific area of science you want to explore? Pick up some books or a study about it! Didn’t get to art this year? Enroll in a class at a local studio. Your kids will be delighted in learning a new subject. Involve them in the selection process so they can follow their interests. Look at the skills you want your kids to leave your house with and make choices that will teach them those skills. I am already looking ahead to next summer, and potentially doing some financial literacy studies with my kids.

Writing

This can be so, so simple. I have incorporated writing into the above studies we will be exploring. The book study will have some copywork and journaling. The Homegrown Intro to Real Food study has some letter formation practice. Keeping those muscles working will make the transition to more formal studies in the fall much smoother. Write letters to relatives, write stories together as a family, make check lists while packing for vacation, the possibilities are endless. Get creative and have low expectations! This is just practice and should not cause stress for your kids or yourself. Meet them where they are at and just know that a little writing can go a long way.

During the summer months, rhythms change and make way for more opportunities to engage and connect as a family. If you can get some math, reading, and writing practice in, then you’ll be continuing to build good learning habits. But remember; all learning counts, regardless of if there is tangible evidence. If the only thing you accomplish this summer is enjoying your children, then you have succeeded! What summer learning plans are you looking forward to? Do you homeschool year round or do you take a break from formal lessons for a few months? Share with me in the comments!