Summer Homeschooling: 8 Ways to Implement It in Your Home6 min read

Summer may be a time to relax, but being a homeschool parent, you need to think about what the summer is going to look like for your kids too. What if you try summer homeschooling?

As much as taking the summer completely off may look tempting, you may realize that your family will thrive and do much better with a little bit of structure.

8 Reasons Why Summer Homeschooling Works Well for Many Families

Allows you to have time off during the year

This is probably one of the best reasons to homeschool during the summer. You get to have more flexible time off during the traditional school year!

Anytime you’re feeling burnt out or your family wants to enjoy the winter holidays or take an impromptu road trip, you don’t have to worry about missing school days.

You will already be homeschooling during the summer months! Homeschooling year-round helps to give you more space during the year.

Routines will help your kids and teens to be busy

Routines are so important for kids and teens. They feel much more grounded, secure and productive when they have predictable routines to follow.

Routines prove greatly beneficial when times are uncertain or when there’s a big change happening like welcoming a new baby into the family or shifting into another home.

Giving your kids and teens some structure and routine will also eliminate the whole “I’m bored” issue.

There’s no summer sliding that happens

Summer sliding is a real thing. Kids tend to lose touch with their studies and school work when they have too much of a break.

You can easily avoid summer sliding when you’re still homeschooling here and there during the summer months.

A great time to explore areas of interest

Summer is a great time to go ahead and delve into topics and subjects that your kids have shown particular interest in but didn’t have the time to explore during the traditional school year.

You could study a particular time in history or the lifecycle of a dragonfly! Just let your child lead you and you’ll be surprised what you all end up learning together.

A great time to incorporate projects

Another great thing about summer homeschooling is that you can incorporate more projects that are otherwise too time- and space-consuming to work on during the traditional school year.

Don’t hesitate to take full advantage of more daylight hours and lots of outdoor time and bring out those fun, messy, and learning-filled projects that you can easily wrap up by the time summer ends.

All this being said, keep in mind that summer homeschooling needn’t look exactly like the rest of the year! Summer homeschooling should be enjoyable.

Your goal should be to have enough and more much-needed breaks during the summer while still creating learning opportunities that are fun for everyone.

Why You Need Summer Homeschooling

You need the break

You’ve worked hard homeschooling your kids all year long. Summer is the best time to get that much-needed break to get you through the rest of the year.

Your kids need the break

If you need a break, how much more do your kids need it too! They’ve been working hard and studying throughout the year; they’d love to have some time off without constant studying.

Enjoy the summer weather!

Summer is almost everyone’s favorite season! And for good reason: these bright summer days are the best to go outdoors, have ice cream, mow a lawn, or just lie on the beach! Why wouldn’t you want to enjoy this beautiful weather while you can?

Now let’s see a few ways to make summer homeschooling super enjoyable for everyone!

You can think of your own ways to make summer homeschooling productive and fun.

Just keep in mind that the best ideas are usually the simplest.

8 Ways to Make Summer Homeschooling Fun

Read together

You can gather together in the living room with warm cups of hot chocolate and take turns in reading a classic book out loud.

You could also read a whole series of books like The Chronicles of Narnia. There’s no better way to get your kids in touch with the classics than to read to them and read with them!

Include lots of outdoor games

Summer calls for outdoor activities. And if you’re summer homeschooling then that means playing a bunch of outdoor games.

With such beautiful weather outside, you wouldn’t want your kids to miss out on taking in that warm and wholesome sun. You could also regularly visit a pool or a beach.

Organize field trips

Who doesn’t love field trips? They’re fun and if necessary, they can be educational too! You could plan a field trip to a zoo, an aquarium, a botanical garden, local museums, a historical site, the possibilities are endless!

Camping in a national park is another fantastic idea. Field trips are something that the whole family benefits and learns from.

Listen to audiobooks and audio lessons

If your family travels a lot during the summer, turn on audiobooks during your car rides. You could learn a new language through audio lessons too!

Audiobooks are a great way to learn effortlessly, without it feeling burdensome.

Try fun science experiments together

If your kids are science nerds, encourage them to start a summer science club and try out some cool science experiments that they’ve been wanting to do.

They will enjoy learning this way and will also remember concepts much better after they’ve tried it hands-on.

Plant a garden

Teach your kids about botany, plants, and seeds. Plant a mini garden together. Help your kids to learn how to identify different leaves, seeds, and flowers.

Teach them about pollination, photosynthesis, and the parts of a plant.

Have family unit studies

Family unit studies are the best! You could plan simple arts and crafts, watch a related movie, cook a themed meal and so much more!

Unit studies are an excellent way to integrate some fun learning into the summer.

Make your own bucket list

This one is our personal favorite. Summer bucket lists are always fun, especially when they don’t lead to feelings of pressure or overwhelm.

Remember: it’s a bucket list, not a to-do list! So, make it fun! And shape it to look like what you and your kids would want to do. The best part is, you’re not even expected to tick off every single box.

What to Remember About Summer Homeschooling

Summer homeschooling doesn’t have to be stressful or unnecessary if you don’t make it that way. Instead, it can be fun, educational, and probably the best learning time ever! Summer homeschooling doesn’t have to be the same for everyone, especially for children with special needs.

We hope you try out summer homeschooling and love it as much as we do!