24 March 2011

Summer Homeschooling


Do you homeschool during the summer months? Kerrie recently wrote that she sure does, because after all, "the pool doesn't open 'til noon!" So why not?

I think often we've been trained to think of education in the summer as being remedial or an infringement on the child's time. It doesn't have to be. What I usually do is a bit of math and a little reading and one more subject. Last year, it was science because we studied trees and plants, and our walks at the nature park would count as schoolwork.

I think that by having short breaks of a few occasional days off, it helps Elf and Emperor feel good about their schedules. They may *like* a day off, but what they really *need* overall is a bit of consistency. Not a regimented schedule, mind you, but the assurance that we do math every weekday after breakfast.

Do I also need to add that your summer activities don't have to be expensive? Elf and Emperor made "kites" last year from plastic Wal-Mart bags. :)


5 comments:

  1. I've been thinking that we may be doing some scheduled math and reading this summer. I know my kids are going to complain, but in the long run we're going to be better off for it. My oldest, especially, needs the structure and the consistent learning in little bits.

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  2. Once I actually start homeschooling I plan to go throughout the summer, though maybe not as agressively.

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  3. I am really tempted to school during the summer months this year....Gavyn will be going into 8th grade and I want him 'on top' of things, especially his math. We did Summer Bridge books last summer, and even though that was a great refresher, I don't know that I think it will be enough this year.

    Bag kites are a great idea!

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  4. We kind of school during the summer... it takes second place to visiting with visiting family though. I don't get anxious about missing a day or even a week.

    Wait, that is how I am homeschooling now. We haven't done a whole week of homeschooling since getting back from our trip to Kansas for a funeral. First I had the flu. Then the kids had that flu. Then we were just getting back to the grind and we had a giant snow storm. The schools had a snow day. I took one too. I shoveled instead. Today, we did reading, My Father's World and Dessert Math. (I bought 3 crates of strawberries. The kids counted, cleaned, and quartered them. They graphed their results and identified greater than and less than. Then we put a little sugar on them and ate them with cake after supper.

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  5. we do school during the summer too. I like my days to go by a schedule of some sort. But we do take those occasional days off during the "regular" school year and during the summer school too. This summer I plan on focusing on a lab science and Oklahoma history for my 9th grader. We will take a break from math, history, etc.

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Non-troll comments always welcome! :)

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