Many parents face the decision of whether to homeschool or not during the summer season. Summer Homeschooling can be tricky, but careful planning and scheduling could result in a very valuable lesson. If you are a homeschooling parent that wants to homeschool during the summer, try some of these planning tips and guidelines to start your summer schooling now.
Let your kids help choose what they want to learn
If your kids are excited about the subject, then your teaching will feel much less like school and more like summer. Letting your kids choose their subject (and you choose the curriculum) also means you get to hone in on their self-driven passions.
Homeschooling during the summer can provide daily structure
Most parents would agree that summer days can bring a little chaos. One of the upsides to summer homeschooling is creating some structure in the midst of those chaotic days. When you schedule your schooling throughout the day, whether you use parts of the day or the whole day, you can apply this structure year round, making the transition into fall very easy.
Formal schooling is completely optional
One of the decisions you must make for the summer homeschooling curriculum is how “formal” you want the teaching to be. Do you want to sit down at a desk for a specific amount of time? Do you want to homeschool outside or at a location away from home? The “Unschooling” method even suggest using “the whole world” as the classroom. Summer schooling will give you an opportunity to try out a few methods can you can use later in the year.
Don’t leave out the books
Reading rarely feels like school. Most homeschooling parents require their kids to read a certain amount of time each week anyways, so why would you remove reading from your daily plans? Even reading a book aloud together can be a fun activity for you and your kids while they are learning something new.
Fields trips are fun
You can consider field trips as a part of a “roadschooling” method or you can just consider field trips since you might already have travel plans. Not familiar with “road schooling?” Check it out here! Either way, use travel and places to incorporate schooling. What’s better than learning something new while having fun? Your kids won’t even know they’re in school.