Sneaking In Summer Learning
As summer approaches, homeschool families often ask about the school schedule. Do you follow the schedule of the local public school? Do you take a summer break? Do you school year-round?
And if you do include some learning during the summer, what does that look like?
How Formal Is Your School Year?
One factor that impacts our summer approach to learning is that even during the school year, our school doesn’t often look like the typical classroom environment. We don’t do a lot of workbooks or textbooks. Lots of learning happens through individual exploration and is interest-driven. Since this is our format during the traditional school year, it isn’t at all unusual for that learning to continue and flow over into the summer.
Instead of thinking of summer as a time that my kids will miss out on opportunities for free time, we sometimes view summer as our chance to get in some regular subjects while all of the parks, museums, and our other favorite spots are full, so that during the school year when everyone else is in class, we can have them virtually to ourselves.
Summer Slide
It isn’t unusual for kids in a traditional classroom to come home for the summer with enrichment packets or book reports to complete over the summer because schools know that there’s a danger kids will forget what they’ve learned over a two-and-a-half month break from all learning. This is also why public school classes often begin with several weeks of review material at the start of a new year.
But if learning is a lifelong activity that happens, whether it is school time or not, this experience will naturally carry on through the summer as a regular part of everyday life.
The Raising Lifelong Learners Podcast Episode #200 – Sneaking In Summer Learning
Will you continue school during the summer? Or will you learn in other, less formal ways? In today’s podcast episode, Colleen shares what summer looks like for her family and how they use it in ways even homeschoolers might find surprising!
Links And Resources From Today’s Show:
- SPONSOR: CTC Math
- The Learner’s Lab
- Navigating Summer Learning With Gifted And Twice-Exceptional Kids
- Finding Homeschool Balance
- Create a Custom Homeschool
- Interest-Led Learning In The Early Years: Preschool and Beyond
- Interest Led Homeschooling: Helping Your Child Find Their Interests
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