I’ve gone back and forth for several years not knowing where I fit with homeschooling (since we don’t homeschool full-time) and finally embraced the fact that we do homeschool–just not full-time. But I am–we are–intentional, teaching parents and we create a constant learning environment at home. Well, we try, anyway. {smile}

So this week I’ll be sharing some of my planning process and what our summer calendar looks like. But first I’d like to share some thoughts on why I go through the trouble of making summer learning plans, and how we keep it relaxed and fun. The munchkins hardly know it’s a “plan” or “learning” at all!

So why do I go through the hours of laying out a summer learning calendar?

Because I’m the momma and it’s my job to keep their brains from turning to mush three months of every year. And because I want them to want to learn, to love to learn, to see that learning is part of life–not just something they have to endure September thru May each year.

Because we are a home-learning family.

Our kiddos like to learn. Life is interesting to them. They like to explore, to see, to investigate…and they especially like to spend time together as a family.

The other weekend when we were all out scrubbing buckets and spring cleaning the farm, Speedracer looked at me and said “this is the best day of my life, momma.” He didn’t mean that raking straw in the feed shed was his favorite thing–he meant that all of us being out together, working together, sharing a purpose as a family, made his little heart happy. Mine too. We have found that our kiddos will respond positively to just about any activity if we’re all in it together–and they’re not over-tired or hungry. {smile}

How do we keep it fun?

For us the key is knowing our kiddos and our family dynamic. Knowing what they enjoy and what their preferred learning style is. The Ladybug is a do-er. The boys enjoy a good, rousing adventure. We all love fresh air, nature, and being out free in the sunshine. We all enjoy car trips (again, if we’re not over-tired or hungry), and antique stores, and old barns, and dusty go-cart tracks, sunflowers and dirt! We love heroes, and family movie nights, and always eating dinner together.

So when we want to teach, we teach through nature study, through movies and audio books, through cooking and sewing projects, through service projects, and simply through conversation.

When it comes to planning for summer learning here’s our DOs and DON’Ts.

DO…

• Use living books and family read-aloud time to bridge the age differences and allow us to learn as a family group.
• Take turns picking topics we want to “study” together to incorporate everyone’s interests.
• Incorporate multi-media and hands-on projects related to our core read-aloud to create small unit studies.
• Use nature study extensively.
• Use art or mixed-media, scrapbook-type journaling extensively, with minimal formal writing.
• Provide tools for summer learning adventures, including notebooks, colored pencils, magnifying glasses, backpacks, water bottles, collection jars, etc.
• Incorporate field trips to engage minds and apply what’s been learned.
• Plan or fit learning adventures into planned family vacations.
• Engage family and friends to join us on summer learning adventures.
• Explore our local area and enjoy staycation type activities.

DON’T…

• Spend a lot of money on materials or trips. (We DO discuss a limited budget for events and admission prices.)
• Overschedule the summer so that learning adventures become just one. more. thing. we have to do.
• Adhere to a strict plan, calendar, or curriculum.
• Require extensive writing, worksheets, workbooks, or other structured “school-work” type activities.
• Do any testing or learning assessments of material covered.

I’ll post a more extensive outline of the process I follow for developing relaxed summer learning plans tomorrow (along with sharing some great printables from other busy mommas!), but the important part as we go through is to remember that RELAXED is about the attitude we approach the summer with, as much as it is about any specific plans we make. The idea is that we’ll provide opportunities for them to have fun and learn something–and whatever little things they pick up will be more than enough.

I’m not quite as worry about what or how much they are learning, as I am simply that they are learning!

I see a lot of “bucket list” posts on Pinterest this time of year. We just make sure our summer bucket lists engages their minds as well as their bodies and their sweet tooth! {smile} Are you busy making summer plans yet? We’ve got weddings and summer camp to plan for as well this year. If you’re looking for engaging projects or summer boredom busters, you might want to check out my Fun Stuff for the Crew and Nature Study Pinterest boards–I keep adding great ideas for them with their sitter! (We let her do the really messy projects!) {smile}