One of the biggest reasons that we moved to a year round homeschooling schedule was because I was tired of hearing how bored my kids were for three months out of the year. I would spend nine months pouring my heart, time and energy into teaching my kids and would be looking forward to the summer break when I could find a bit of rest. Then, instead of resting I would discover that my children were restless and needed me more during the summer than they did during the school year. As the saying goes, there was no rest for the weary.
As a year round homeschooler people often ask what our summer homeschooling schedule looks like. I believe that teaching Math and English throughout the year is essential, but those are the only two subjects that we do consistently throughout the summer. Once our selected studies for History, Science, Art, Music and Geography have been completed for the year, we move to a more relaxed schedule for summer homeschooling.
During the summer we incorporate a lot of PE, nature hikes, artistic creations and reading/literature, with Math and English mixed in about three days a week. One way that we make summertime learning fun is by playing games. My kids love them so you’ll find us learning with games a lot in the summertime. This summer my children are also enjoying the apps from Spelling City which allows them to play games while working on their spelling and vocabulary skills.
A Sample Week of Our Summer Homeschooling
Monday
7th Grade
5 Pages of Key to Geometry (This is what my son is using over the summer before getting back to our favorite Math curriculum!)
1 English Lesson from Rod and Staff
5th Grade
1 Math Lesson from Rod and Staff
1 English Lesson from Rod and Staff
Tuesday
Baseball for PE
Geography Games
Spelling & Vocabulary
Wednesday
7th Grade
5 Pages of Key to Geometry (This is what my son is using over the summer before getting back to our favorite Math curriculum!)
1 English Lesson from Rod and Staff
5th Grade
1 Math Lesson from Rod and Staff
1 English Lesson from Rod and Staff
Thursday
Reading/Literature
History Games
Spelling & Vocabulary
Friday
7th Grade
5 Pages of Key to Geometry (This is what my son is using over the summer before getting back to our favorite Math curriculum!)
1 English Lesson from Rod and Staff
5th Grade
1 Math Lesson from Rod and Staff
1 English Lesson from Rod and Staff
Saturday
Music Games (like this one!), Unit Studies or Era Studies
Nature Hike for PE and Science
Sunday
Artistic Creations
While this may seem like a detailed, over the top summer homeschooling schedule, keep in mind that all of these lessons and activities take less than two hours a day and aside from Math and English they are lots of fun and laid back.
Since we homeschool through the summer we are able to take unexpected trips and vacations during the “normal” school year which is extremely beneficial as family business owners.
Summertime homeschooling is our favorite time of the year to learn! Our schedule is less intense, the weather in Maine is beautiful and learning happens through a lot of fun activities and lessons!
What does your summer homeschooling look like?
