Rest and rejuvenation. Rejoicing. Recover and regroup. These could all be descriptions of summer break, a change of pace, a different routine. But what can keep learning fresh and active during the summer months?
For our family, summer is a time of gardening, day trips, and often a vacation that I have been known to overpack with educational opportunities!
Living in the great state of Pennsylvania, there is a vast array of learning opportunities around us. Consider a membership with the Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation (https://www.paheritage.org/), an organization that I was first introduced at the CHAP Convention. For our family, one trip covered the cost of the membership. After that, we were able to enjoy another museum for FREE. They have member sites throughout the state, with a variety of museums and historical topics.
Use the patriotic holidays to reinforce our nation’s history, the science of fireworks, or respect for the flag. While at this year’s CHAP Convention, I discovered a great resource—the American History Education Project (https://www.ahep1776.org/). With the tremendous number of quality resources available, some extra reading and learning in the summer is sure to be beneficial.
Check with your local state park or wildlife refuge. They often offer educational programs concerning local wildlife, especially on the weekends.
Does your local homeschool support group offer summer get-togethers? These are great times for connecting with other homeschool moms in a more informal manner. It is a chance to talk about curriculum, learning styles, and challenges.
Could you do extra volunteer work in the freedom of the summer hours? Could you concoct some way to earn money? Could you use this extra time to take up a new hobby or teach a child to cook or sew?
On blissfully rainy days or dreadfully hot ones, we may watch a carefully chosen classic or educational movie. Audio books or radio dramas are perfect accompaniments to travel or lunchtime distractions.
And the opportunity to learn with water is a natural event in the warmer months. There is ocean life to investigate while on vacation, pond life to ponder at a park, or a stream in the forest to explore.
Do not be afraid to let your children have plenty of free time to investigate the world on their own. Boredom does not have to be a bad thing. We do not have to continually entertain our children. Free play seems to be a relic of past generations, but our children need a chance to safely run with their imaginations. Making chains from curled dandelions or mudpies (see Mudpies and Other Recipes: A Cookbooks for Dolls by Marjorie Winslow), putting Queen Anne’s Lace flowers in a vase of colored water, making a tent from a sheet, or pretending what they have read recently in history.
All of these activities can help carry on the educational goals we have set for our families. Whatever the case may be, know that the wonder of childhood can be used to a mom’s advantage in the summer months, no textbooks necessary. As always in the homeschool family, the world is your classroom.