Do you homeschool through the summer? It's a question I get asked a lot and it sort of puzzles me. The kids learn constantly. To keep them from learning during the summer, I'd have to keep them in a closet. But, then, during the school year, what we do sort of looks like summer vacation. Yet we still call it homeschooling.
I guess you could say we homeschool through the summer. After all, I'm not exactly going to sit on their heads and forbid them from learning. Since learning is fun for them, that is exactly what they want to spend their summer doing! Here are a few samplings of what they've been learning:
Books, books, books!
I think only Curly got officially signed up for the Library's summer reading program, but they have all been reading. Curly's finished all of the A-Z Mystery books she could clean out of the local bookstores, and has moved on to Boxcar Children and Magic Treehouse. Hubby's reading Narnia aloud again, and Abi pretends to read the Braille I've put in many of the baby books, which is perfect pre-reading and tracking practice.
Swimming
We bought a pool pass. More on that soon when I have pictures.
Geography
We found an iPod app called Stack the States that has sparked weeks' worth of intense study of all of the United States capitols, states, trivia and history. When the iPod wasn't available, Mister wanted me to find US geography games on his computer instead.
Gardening
I gave Curly a potato and some pumpkin seeds. To my surprise, her little garden has flourished, and looks to be well on its way to yielding crops. I'm hoping she inherits the green thumb that everyone in my family seems to have. Everyone but me, that is!
Finger Puppets
The other day, Curly created several of her own finger puppets and put on a play for us. Mister soon followed, and we had a story about a man with a pet whale named Ben.
Chess
Finding two of the chess pieces under the couch renewed interest in the game. I get a kick out of their games, which tend to be less about strategy and more about who can set up the biggest bloodbath and take one another's pieces. After all, that's why chess is fun, isn't it?
Playing Outside
I love, love, love having nice weather. The older two have spent hours across the alley at the neighbors' house (who have five kids of similar ages to my four). They build forts, dig in the sand, climb trees, shoot water pistols, pretend to be pirates... whatever kids usually do in the carefree summers. To me, this is the best kind of learning of all. Learning to work together and to use their imaginations, the kids get dirty and wet, and they live their lives completely immersed in the moment and filled with the joy of a sleepy summer afternoon.
I guess you could say we homeschool through the summer. After all, I'm not exactly going to sit on their heads and forbid them from learning. Since learning is fun for them, that is exactly what they want to spend their summer doing! Here are a few samplings of what they've been learning:
Books, books, books!
I think only Curly got officially signed up for the Library's summer reading program, but they have all been reading. Curly's finished all of the A-Z Mystery books she could clean out of the local bookstores, and has moved on to Boxcar Children and Magic Treehouse. Hubby's reading Narnia aloud again, and Abi pretends to read the Braille I've put in many of the baby books, which is perfect pre-reading and tracking practice.
Swimming
We bought a pool pass. More on that soon when I have pictures.
Geography
We found an iPod app called Stack the States that has sparked weeks' worth of intense study of all of the United States capitols, states, trivia and history. When the iPod wasn't available, Mister wanted me to find US geography games on his computer instead.
Gardening
I gave Curly a potato and some pumpkin seeds. To my surprise, her little garden has flourished, and looks to be well on its way to yielding crops. I'm hoping she inherits the green thumb that everyone in my family seems to have. Everyone but me, that is!
Finger Puppets
The other day, Curly created several of her own finger puppets and put on a play for us. Mister soon followed, and we had a story about a man with a pet whale named Ben.
Chess
Finding two of the chess pieces under the couch renewed interest in the game. I get a kick out of their games, which tend to be less about strategy and more about who can set up the biggest bloodbath and take one another's pieces. After all, that's why chess is fun, isn't it?
Playing Outside
I love, love, love having nice weather. The older two have spent hours across the alley at the neighbors' house (who have five kids of similar ages to my four). They build forts, dig in the sand, climb trees, shoot water pistols, pretend to be pirates... whatever kids usually do in the carefree summers. To me, this is the best kind of learning of all. Learning to work together and to use their imaginations, the kids get dirty and wet, and they live their lives completely immersed in the moment and filled with the joy of a sleepy summer afternoon.
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