I already introduced you to why we make summer learning plans. Today I’m going to share simple steps for creating your own simple, relaxed summer learning plans. I did this for the first time in 2012 and it worked great–even though we were not strict about sticking to it. It’s an outline, not an itinerary. In 2013 I did less pre-planning and I feel like we got less out of it as well. So I’m going back to my first-year concept. I’m not done (obviously–since I pretty much just started last week!) but here are the steps to creating a simple, fun, relaxed summer learning plan for your kiddos. Something the family can all enjoy together. (Oh, and I linked to some great printables from other bloggers to help you out!)

 

1. Print a calendar

Does that seem too easy? Well, summer is a lot longer than you think until you see it on paper! It can also be a lot shorter than you think if you don’t sit down for a few minutes and look at the big picture. I like to do my planning on paper with a pencil. Even if you prefer digital, I would suggest drafting it out on paper and then transferring it. I just print May, June, July, Aug, and Sept and stick them in a page protector for the summer and keep it with me. I used this free calendar printable, because I like having a notes section and don’t like having to number my own calendar days. (Here’s another simple monthly calendar with notes. Here’s a monthly calendar with a larger notes section. And there are some great blank calendar printables here.)

2. Add known events

Last day of school. Summer holidays like Memorial Day, the 4th of July, and Labor Day. Pre-planned vacations, weddings, summer camp, birthdays, special church events…just write in whatever you already know. This is when I also add in our summer daycare schedule–and make sure I’ve got summer care locked in! I also note our expected back-to-school day in the Fall, and pencil in a “back-to-school” week where I don’t want to add any additional activities or stress. {smile} And I mark out the first week of summer vacation as a free-for-all week for everyone to decompress. This will give you a better idea of how much time you actually have to plan with.

3. Brainstorm topics with the family

Now grab a separate sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle long-ways.

One one side you want to brainstorm topics of interest. In the past, I did this part myself. I reviewed what novels were already on our bookshelves for read-aloud and picked one per month–adding a few activities in around the book. This year I picked a handful of topics that seem to generally interest everyone in the family and got the kiddos’ input on narrowing it down to 2 or 3–basically one per month of vacation. You know your family best, and if you stick with known topics of interest it’s a good bet you’ve already got learning materials in your house. This year we’re going with Vikings, Western/Plains Indians, and more Jamestown. (My kiddos just love Jamestown right now and they’re studying it in school again as well.) Here’s a great summer fun brainstorming printable from I’m an Organizing Junkie to get you started if you need a little help.

4. Brainstorm field trip ideas

This list goes on the right side of your page. And this one I don’t do with the kiddos. {smile} I have a better grasp on our budget and time than they do.

I sit down and just start writing down everything I can think of. Starting with local playgrounds or parks, the library, the farmer’s market, local parades…and moving on to our favorite local museums, zoos, etc….then any ideas that might have been sparked by earlier brainstorming. I also talk with Mr. Fix-It and see if he has any ideas and add those. Then, I’ll get on the computer and start researching local attractions and make note of anything interesting or unexpected that pops up there.

5. Narrow down and match up your lists

Since I’m not home full-time in the summer, I take free, local activities like the playground and the library off the list and add them to a separate list to share with our summer daycare provider. Those will be perfect for her to do with the kiddos while I’m at work. What I’m left with are local, free, and a couple hours or half-a-day activities. Then I try to match at least one field trip idea to each study topic we picked as a family trip. Jamestown was easy this year, but the other two were tough! Visiting Viking ruins in Denmark or Little Bighorn Battlefield were out for us this year. {smile}

Last, I try to pick at least one extra field trip/family adventure per month to pencil into the calendar. They don’t have to be related to our study topics, just something we think will be fun and inexpensive family time. I particularly like to plan trips to explore local history and we have found a lot of “hidden” local treasures this way. Having these little jaunts pre-scoped also makes it easy to incorporate visiting family and friends. “So-and-so and the kids want to come visit that weekend.” Great! We can all go to Bluebird Gap Farm and have a picnic lunch on the playground! I shoot for 6 planned field trips a summer, about one every other week.

I’ll keep the rest of the list with our final summer calendar as fall-back ideas. The idea is to have a game plan, but not over-schedule or become a slave to the schedule. Remember, relaxed summer learning!

6. Add plans to the calendar

Get some post-it notes for this part! You can see that I start out using standard 3×3 post it notes for our main theme–giving me room to brainstorm or add notes. You could also use the half-sized ones if your notes section was smaller. Then I move to smaller flag-sized post it notes for specific field trips or activities. I use post-its on the calendar for several weeks as we countdown to the summer. That way I can move them around while we’re still in the “planning” stages. I write firmer plans in the NOTES sections around the last day of school.

I tried to match our themes to the crew’s schedule. For example, the Ladybug is really excited about Vikings right now but she has a week of camp in July. We also have an out-of-town wedding in July. So I put Vikings in June–that will be our least busy month and our most in-depth study topic. I put Jamestown in August–which will be our shortest and most busy month because our kiddos already have so much background on the topic. We’ll just go on a couple field trips with an easy book and call it a day.

The last steps in prepping for summer learning require a little more detailed and I’ll cover them more in the next few posts–with some more fun printables and resources!

They are…

7. Create a simple daily routine with learning activities

8. Develop the unit studies you penciled in

(And by unit studies, I mean really simple family unit studies like our Oregon Trail unit study!)

I actually enjoy pulling these things together and look forward to all the fun I know we’re going to have as a family as we go through them. I can relax, knowing we have an outline in place to work with–even if it gets tweaked a lot!–and there’s plenty of simple fun to keep our crew busy with their minds and muscles! By the time I’m done next week, I’ll have put in about 10 hours of planning and prep over the course of two weeks for a whole summer of fun, frugal, family learning activities.

It doesn’t have to even take that much time! But I get lost on Pinterest easily! {smile} I’ve also gotten more confident about finding things the kiddos will enjoy, so I’m willing to plan more activities within the unit studies that I did in the beginning–and know that it will still be fun and relaxing for us. This process can be easily tweaked to accommodate fewer activities or fewer topics to stretch out the “lessons” for a more low-key approach if that works for your family!

Do you have summer plans in place already?