Our summer learning plans: travel, literature, math, rest

Written by Kara Fleck

Our summer break is coming up and I am looking forward to it. It has been one of our best school years ever, but it took real effort and hard work from all of us.

We’re ready for some time off.

But first, before we mark the break between grades and school years, I want to squeeze in a summer session. I have plans for travel, a family literature study, and a mini math (not so intense) intensive.

I love our summer school sessions. We sleep in, move many of our lessons outdoors, and the pace is slower. I narrow the focus of our learning, keeping things simple, for them and for me.

Summer is a good time for review, for travel, and for exploring topics that we might not have had a chance to get to during the rest of the year.

Travel

We’re going to be packing our bags and heading off on some adventures when the calendar turns to May. I’m looking forward to time as a tourist and to learning about the places we visit.

I hope to put our local state museum’s Travel Passport program to good use.

It was a pleasant surprise to discover that our Indiana State Museum membership has benefits nationwide. If you’re located in the United States, I highly suggest checking to see if your local museum shares in this passport program which provides free admission to many museums (over 300 nationwide).

Roadschooling, anyone?

Family literature study

We have had a wonderful experience using a family learning guide for literature recently. As I write this we are finishing up a study of The Hobbit. 

We purchased the guide from Hearth Magic and it was a perfect fit for all of us, from my five-year-old to my high school student. As a mom who usually writes her own lessons, I appreciated having the planning done for me for a change.

I was thrilled to find out that Amber of Hearth Magic is also releasing a family learning guide for Charlotte’s Web. I’ve already pre-ordered my copy and am looking forward to sharing one of my favorite books with my kids as we work our way through the guide.

Math

I’m also planning on a week or two dedicated just to math.

We will have a kindergartner, a third grader, a fifth grader, and a tenth grader next fall and before each kid moves forward I feel like we would all benefit from some time spent dedicated to our math studies.

I am still sketching out plans, but so far this is my vision:

• Playing math games (online and around the kitchen table) – I’ll be cruising through My Little Poppies Gameschooling archives for inspiration
• Pulling ALL of the math books and manipulatives off our shelves and scattering them around the house, strewing – style.
• Looking through the Math videos at Pepper & Pine – I think my kiddos will especially enjoy some of the form drawing and the picture books. Hana is one of my favorite homeschooling YouTubers and I highly recommend her channel.
• Working on our Math Interactive Notebooks – we use these workbooks as a guide
• Cooking and baking – one of my favorite kinds of math

I’d love to hear any of your suggestions and ideas as I’m planning our math “not so intense” intensive for June.

A true break

We will be taking the entire month of July and part of August off for our summer break.  I’m sure the kids will still be learning, little sponges that they are.

However, this mama plans to spend that time with her feet up reading books that have nothing to do with lesson planning or education.

This will be our eleventh year of homeschooling. As much as I love homeschool, I am “seasoned” enough to know that a true break is good for both myself and for the kids.

We will relish our time of “no more school, no more books, no more harried homeschooling mama’s pleading looks.”

What about you? What do you plan for the summer months?