Summer School!

As the school year comes to a close, you may be breathing a sigh of relief.  You made it!  School is over- YAY!  But if you homeschool year round, you know the fun is just beginning.

Summer homeschooling is an odd place.  You are most likely much more relaxed in your schooling approach, there's probably less overall "volume" of work to be completed, lots of fun things to do that are only offered during the summer time and of course now you've got to contend with packed venues because the public schoolers are out.  And of course, if you belong to any homeschool groups or co-ops, they most likely break for the summer time as well.  This means you've got some LONG and potentially BORING days ahead.  Ah- the lazy days of summer.  But y'all, summer homeschooling is my favorite!

For us personally, summer is our time to relax a bit.  Our summer routine has evolved a bit as the kiddo has gotten older but enjoying SUMMER has always been a big priority.  We are lucky enough to live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and can spend pretty much all summer long outside.  We go fishing, swimming in rivers and lakes, trail/nature walks, biking, park days, swimming in the backyard pool and such.  It is not uncommon for us to take off for the lake when the husband gets home from work and return after 10pm.  LOVE THIS!  However summer is also the time we play "catch up" and we try to focus on just one or two areas that the kiddo needs improvement in.  Sadly for him, that always seems to be math.  Well- I suppose it's tragic for us both since I detest math.  Blech!

We also take advantage of programs, activities, camps etc that are typically offered during the summer only. Lots of fun stuff going on at our local library, good stuff happening at the YMCA, some pretty amazeballs camps if you're willing to shell out the money and lots of opportunities for some good ole socialization.

Summer is also the time for the kiddo's READING CHALLENGE in which he basically reads as many pages as he can and challenges himself to read new books and authors.  Yes there's prizes but he must work for them and trust me when I say that he does.  Would you believe this boy child asked me in March if we could set up his Summer Reading Challenge?!?  March y'all....He loves this yearly reading challenge and its special because we ONLY do this during the summer.  

While the amount of actual book work is minimal compared to what we do during the school year- there's still lots of valuable learning happening here.  In fact, I would say that if you participate in any summer activities on the regular, then you too are year round homeschoolers.  The learning never stops y'all!

So this all sounds great, but what does it look like?  How does it all work out?

Well....in our house the kiddo begins each day with time spent in a workbook.  This year, I decided to make it super easy on myself and purchased this Summer Bridge workbook.  He will sit down with his breakfast and completes that day's page.  Ten minutes tops.  From there, he pulls out the work we are focusing on during the summer.  Yep, that's right- it's time for math y'all.  He is typically finished in less than an hour.  While this might not seem like much to you- it's focused, targeted learning.  One hour of quality work is worth WAY more than hours upon hours of quantity work.  Just keep that in mind mmmkay....

From there, the day is pretty free.  We may have an event to go to at the local library, he might have friends over, perhaps watch a movie if it's too hot outside, ride bikes, lounge around and have quiet reading time, we may run errands or do some housework.  It's all pretty chill and we try to really embrace the mentality of summer.

To help break up this "monotony" I have strategically planned camps, programs, activities etc throughout the summer.  This year the kiddo will be going to a Go Kart camp with a fellow homeschool friend.  It's a week long, full days but no overnight, in the middle of July and he is DYING to go.  For the first part of the day they will drive and race Go Karts and then after lunch, they have a mechanics course where they learn to fix, repair and work on these machines.  Perfection.  The best part of homeschooling is combining your child's joys and interests with valuable learning opportunities.  If they have fun, the knowledge and information stays with them and it certainly doesn't feel like being at school.

In addition, we are having some friends over for the 4th of July holiday weekend.  We go BIG for this holiday and put on our own fireworks show.  Basically it's an entire weekend of fun.  Major fireworks, camping in the backyard, lots of yummy food, friends, cocktails, kids- oh my word but it is seriously FUN.

As summer winds down, we typically take a short trip before starting on our Fall schedule.  We do this AFTER all the public schoolers are back in session and just another one of the MANY benefits to being a homeschooler.  It is also our last HURRAH before really getting back into our routine and the kiddo simply loves this final weekend of summer.  And you just know that there's plenty of valuable learning happening here too!


So y'all- summer time homeschooling is in reality, pretty darn easy.  There's many benefits to keeping a year round schedule, the biggest one being the flexibility it offers.  And with a little planning and effort, you can give your kids a super fun summer full of lots of unique learning opportunities.  LOVE THAT!


Want to read more?

• Summer Homeschooling
• A Look Back at Summer
• Gearing Up for Summer
• Summer Reading Challenge

The Summer Schedule

Well here it is- as promised, the second in my 2 part summer series.  Hmm...can you even call 2 parts a series?  Well, whatever....you get the idea here.

Part 2- The Schedule.

So if you remember back to the first part, I described ALL the seriously awesome free and cheap summer activities that my family participates in.  I'm now going to tell you exactly how I make this work AND keep myself and the kiddo on task.  Because let's face it- it's hard to sit down and do homeschooling lessons or focus on work when it's beautiful and sunny outside!

First, I begin by printing off weekly calendars for the entire summer season.  Not too worry- these are FREE and can be found here.  Just make sure you select the weekly calendar and not the monthly or yearly and print them off at the local library so you're not throwing away all that money on ink and paper!  Oh- and I start my calendar on Sundays.  But really, do whatever works for you.

So now you've got your big stack of weekly calendars.  Time to get color coding!  What's that you ask....oh be still my OCD heart!  How I do love my colored sharpies!  Begin by assigning one color to homeschooling lessons, one color should be for scheduled activities and another for chores and rewards. 

Color coding is fun!

For example:

• Green is for workbook, reading and online learning
• Black is for all those awesome activities
• Red is for chores and rewards

Easy peasy!

Now get to work!  It's time to fill in those calendars!  I suggest you start with the activities first because depending on how many things you've got going each day- you may simply not have as much time for homeschooling and chores.

Once you've got your calendar all filled in, it's time to add in the incentives or rewards.  This folks is the super simple way that I keep my son on track all summer long.  Some would call it bribing and you would be totally right.  No shame here folks- sometimes we do what we must.

So you'll notice at the very bottom of my weekly calendar, I have marked "GOAL" in red sharpie.  Each week has a different number.  Here's where these numbers are coming from...simply count up all your green and red (homeschool and chores) and viola!- you've got your targeted goal for that week.  And what would a goal be without a reward- right?

Before you just start filling in the weekly rewards all crazy like- stop for a minute and think about them.  I have a couple bigger rewards spaced throughout the summer time to keep the kiddo excited and motivated.  Things like $10 to spend at the Lego store (which BTW- this would have happened at some point anyways) or a trip to the family fun center.  Mix in smaller rewards like a trip for FROYO, a new app on your phone or Ipad, a pack of Rainbow Loom bands, a new Lego mini fig or an ice cream sundae party with friends.  Seriously- keep it simple here but make sure it's something your kids want that is not something they normally get.

Next, it's time to add in the monthly rewards.  I'm going to be honest here and say that these are things that we are planning to do regardless.  But for goodness sakes- your kids don't have to know that!  Make them work for it!  And folks- just one piece of advice.  Don't make these monthly rewards about "things" or purchases.  Try to focus them on family time and learning activities.  For us, in June we will be going to either the local zoo or aquarium.  July is for the Museum of Flight, August is for the Pacific Science Center and we will finish our summer with a trip to Idaho in September.  My goal is to always start small and end with a bang!

And here's how this is all put into action.  As your child completes the daily red and green tasks, simply check them off.  If they reach the goal, they get the weekly prize.  And you guessed it- they need to get every single week completed in order to earn the larger monthly goal.  You can also add in some "extras" as a way for them to earn more check marks.  This works well for those days where they might not complete all the tasks.  If you have a running list of items- like an extra 60 minutes of quiet reading, dusting, mopping, cleaning windows, projects, workbook etc, your kids can simply select a task to earn back the missing check mark.


Here's another thing you may notice about my weekly calendar.  There's not a lot of chores.  The reason behind this is simple- the kiddo doesn't have a lot of assigned chores.  He's expected to pitch in and help when asked and we don't reward him for this.  As I tell him all the time, we all work together as a family.  And the day you start paying Mommy for doing your laundry and cooking your dinner, is the day I'll start paying you for sweeping the floors and picking up your socks.  This is the way it works in our home- your home may be different.  And that's totally ok- just adjust to suit your family's needs.

You might also see that there's a lot of free time.  I do NOT schedule all the hours in the day.  Yes, there is literally something going on almost every single day.  But it's not all day long.  This folks-this is intentional.  I work from home so I need to be around for the majority of the day, every day.  Many of our activities don't begin until later in the day when I can call it quits at work.  But the other main reason behind this is simple.  I intentionally leave time for the kiddo to simply be a kid.  I want him to ride bikes, jump on his friend's trampoline, play in the backyard, to eat Popsicles in the summer sun, to run through the sprinklers with the neighbor kids...basically, I am giving him time to enjoy his summer and just be a kid.  Don't underestimate this!  Kids need time to just relax, have fun and enjoy their childhood without a constant schedule pushing them forward.

I have not put in the time the kiddo will spend at the YMCA this summer either.  The reason behind this is because its more of a casual/drop in thing.  If he wants to go swimming or hang out at the Sparks Youth Zone, he can.  As long as he has his other items checked off first!

I also use this handy little chart that I found on Pinterest.  Oh- how I LOVE Pinterest!  This is SO easy to adapt to your weekly calendar.  Really!

Mondays are our Project Days.  So this is where we do art projects or science experiments.  I usually just print off a whole bunch of worksheets from Education.com (FREE!!) and then the kiddo picks whatever one he wants to do.  

Tuesdays we usually go to the $1 Movie.  Sometimes we might run a few errands or go out to lunch too.

Wednesdays are spent at the pool or the local splash pad.

Thursdays are the activities and free programs offered by our local library.  And most often, these programs help to jump start the kiddo's creativity and imagination.  It's very common for him to come home from the program and continue on with the learning.

Fridays are for FUN!

So there you have it.  Our summer homeschooling schedule.  I suggest that you keep this calendar visible and easily accessible- we keep ours on the fridge.  Feel free to make a weekly calendar for each child or just use a different colored sharpie for each kid.  Do what works best for you!  I hope this will give you some inspiration for keeping your kids on track this summer- whether you homeschool year round or not!

Bring on Summer!

And just in case you missed it- here's the first part to this Summer Series.  Gearing Up for Summer!