Summer is a time to be more relaxed and delve into a few different things in our homeschool.
After all, learning never really ends, and I find my kids will be at loose ends if we don't have some learning opportunities in place.
The following are summer studies I'm making available to my children - we won't get to ALL of this, but I like to have a lot in my bag of tricks so the kids can pick and choose, and so we can be flexible and follow interests as they arise.
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Latin & Greek Vocabulary
This is one I'm sure will get accomplished, because it is low stress, entertaining, and 100% computer based.
I've heard awesome things about WordUp! The Vocab Show and can't wait for Grant to learn more about language with this.
(I'm also hoping this will prepare him for a more formal study of Latin that we will be undertaking in the fall!)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
Summer is a wonderful time to delve into music appreciation. This is one of those areas that many homeschool parents let fall by the wayside during the regular school year (I get it).... but I hope you take the time this summer to teach your children how to appreciate beautiful music.
Yes, my OWN children will be working their way through the 4th volume of SQUILT (Modern Era) this summer, which I haven't done with them yet. (Considering I wrote the curriculum they need to get moving with it - ha!)
This music appreciation curriculum is designed to make learning about beautiful music easy and FUN - and most of all - it is designed for even the most non musical of parents. Super Quiet UnInterrupted Listening Time teaches children the grammar of music through listening, responding, drawing, and writing.
It goes very well with any style of homeschooling (I've recently had lots of Classical Conversations readers tell me they particularly love how it fits so well with the CC model, too).
Art with Southern Hodgepodge
My dear friend, Tricia, provides many free art tutorials for the homeschool community. She also has a chalk pastel curriculum that is BEAUTIFUL.
We have enjoyed her lessons (I think Angry Birds was the favorite - we had an entire Angry Birds day one time... MUCH fun!).
If you don't know about Southern Hodgepodge, check it out!
Learn to TYPE!
Many kids (mine included!) need a focused opportunity to work on keyboarding skills.
We have used a few FREE sites that you might like:
- Dance Mat Typing
- e-Learning For Kids - Keyboarding Skills
- Typing Web -- great for older kids!
Special Literature
Summer is a good time to tackle a read aloud that is longer or just one you want to savor a bit longer.
This summer we are listening to Treasure Island (we've already started!) and are using the study guide published by Memoria Press.
I'm also making my Harry Potter Notebooking Pages (a free download) available to my son in case he wants to sink his teeth into Harry Potter this summer.
We will also be listening to the Focus on the Family radio dramatization of Billy Budd, Sailor to help Anna prepare for reading this book in Challenge I.
Make a Summer Scrapbook
I just love this idea from Simply, LindseyLoo -- just to simply have your kids make a scrapbook of their summer.
It doesn't take a lot of money (she uses Dollar Store supplies) and uses a bunch of creativity. I think this would also inspire you to have more fun adventures during your summer, too!
Play "Categories"
Ok, so this isn't learning NEW information, but it is reviewing memory work and hopefully taking something your kids already do and putting a new twist on it!
Play this simple game (my kids tell me it's called "Categories") and have FUN!
Kiwi/Tinker/Doodle Crate
If you've been reading here for any length of time, you know how much my kids love their Tinker & Doodle Crates. We have a box for each of them (unopened) that they will be starting this week!
These boxes are delivered to your door and include activities your child can learn from, have fun with, and many times do independently. I URGE you to check into this valuable resource for your homeschool!
The Tinker Crate is great for your science and technology minded child, and the Doodle Crate is good for the creative child. If you have younger kids, the Kiwi Crate might be your better option.
I love that there are so many choices in the Kiwi Crate family.
Check out My Freebies!
I have provided several freebies for download -- everything from composer studies, to notebooking pages and resources for other unit studies.
Look around and see if there is something that strike's your child's fancy for a fun summer study!
