Summer Homeschooling Roundup

Summer is here! Camping, swimming, hiking, and… schooling? Many homeschoolers “do school” right through the summer, but not all summer school looks the same! Here are several different approaches to choose from when it comes to teaching your kids over the warmer months.

A Lighter Load

Many homeschoolers go year-round but have a lighter load during the nicer weather. This approach is flexible based on your climate and any vacations. For example, you might do lessons on days, or times of the day, that are too hot to play outside. You may also scale back your lesson plans to the essentials or things that get you outside enjoying the weather.

Here’s a post at UpsideDown Homeschooling, written by Annette Breedlove, that has great summer homeschool tips and ideas to get you started.

Want a glimpse into a homeschooler’s summer schedule? Sanz at From the Mrs. lets us be a fly on the wall!

Dive Into Nature

Get outside and try more nature studies! Whether you’re walking to the park, picking berries, going camping, or even just in your back yard, there are great opportunities to explore nature.

This post at Homeschool.com, written by Misty Leask, is a list of 10 beach learning topics and ideas you can take with you on your beach trip this summer!

Focus on Literature

Reading is also a great anchor for your summer school. Take advantage of all the reading programs and books lists out there, or make your own! Find some good summer reads and do fun lap books, journals, plays, or projects centered around them.

Joyice from Raising Boys Homeschool has a great post about the Bible and literature studies they will be doing this summer.

Center on Character Studies

As you assess your homeschool year and plan for a new one, you may notice some character issues that need to be addressed. Summer can be a perfect time to hone in on important heart issues.

Is obedience an issue you need to focus on with your kids? Try this new study on obedience from Not Consumed (affiliate link), available for different ages.

Hobbies and Handicrafts

Choose a new hobby as a family or individually, or pick a handful of fun handicrafts to focus on for the summer. This can be a perfect time to pick up some activities that you just didn’t have time for in regular schooling months!

Dollie from Teachers of Good Things gives us 10 great ideas for hobbies to introduce over the summer. Your kids will love these!

Try Something New

If you’ve been thinking of changing up your curriculum or trying out some fun homeschool ideas you found on Pinterest, summer is the time to do it! It is also a convenient time to dabble in other methods. See how your kids enjoy notebooking, unit studies, or lap books. Perhaps you’ll find a gem to incorporate into the coming school year!

Here is a great post from Laura of Day by Day in Our World about delight-directed homeschooling, a great method to try out over the summer!

Bucket List

Summer “bucket lists” don’t just have to be about cookouts and ice cream. Try adding some educational activities and goals, or incorporating learning opportunities into your summer to-do list. Add a study of the constellations to your stargazing outing. Take a tour of the ice cream shop. Throw in some teaching goals that you didn’t get to last year or want to finish up in preparation for the new one.

Dollie from Teachers of Good Things created a fun and easy hands-on checklist for her kids that provides low-key learning activities.

Thaleia from Something 2 Offer gives us a huge list of frugal activities that can help fill up our homeschool summer bucket list.

Vacation School

As you launch into vacation mode, take the opportunity to plan some learning experiences. Learn about oceans as you go to the beach, the history and geography of a different state, or visit museums wherever you go. The possibilities are endless!

Laura from Day by Day in Our World shares some great things they’ve learned by exploring their home state of Alaska, including nature, history, and cultural studies. In this picture, they’re panning for gold!

Unschooling

For homeschoolers, learning never ends. Even when we’re not making lesson plans or schedules, we’re learning as a family! Embrace homeschooling and enjoy your summer!

Missy from Dot-to-Dot Connections shares how her family is transitioning to unschooling for the summer and what that looks like.

Schooling in the Sun shares all the ways her family will be doing school even though they’re not actually doing school. 🙂

No School!

If you just want to be done with school for the year already, then do that! There are still many homeschoolers who follow the old 9-month approach and it works well for their families.

Misty from Finding Joy in the Journey shares about how she realized year-round schooling was NOT working for her family and switched over to the traditional school year.

Ready to wrap it up for the year but aren’t finished with your plans? Here’s some encouragement and practical ideas from The Homeschool Post, written by Davonne Parks.

More Ideas and Inspiration

• At The Homeschool Post, Davonne Parks shares her top 10 fun and frugal summer learning activities.
• The Frugal Homeschooling Mom has a list of free resources for finding free summer reading books for any grade level.
• Living Life and Learning shares her lighter load homeschool plans for the summer.
• Homeschool Creations shares some reasons for year-round schooling and shows how she’s doing “just enough to keep up with the basics” over the summer.
• Great Peace Academy has a terrific post of various homeschooling methods for inspiration.
• The Waldorf Homeschool Connection has a good starting list of handwork ideas.