Why We Homeschool Through The Summer Months



How many times are homeschool families asked, “Do you homeschool through the summer?”  Keep in mind that not every homeschooling families does school year round, but it works for us.  Once the question is answered, it usually followed up with: “How do you have time to homeschool during the summer?” or “Don’t they deserve time off?”

Homeschool Through the Summer

That’s when I explain that they do get time off, just at different times.  I can see where they’re coming from if you look at a traditional school calendar.  Homeschooling through summer is definitely a choice and one that works best for us.

A Typical Day Looks Like:

Summer months means a more relaxed approach for us.  Outside time happens in the mornings and evenings when the days start getting hotter.  We also make time to head to our library for their summer activities. 

Bascially we add an elective along with two core subjects. Some years the electives and subjects are the same, and other times they are completely different. 

Are there benefits to homeschooling throughout summer?

First off I’m going to say that I’m in no way an expert in this year. With us going into our fifth year of homeschooling, I have learned a few things over the years. One of those being that having a relaxed homeschool schedule during the summer months definitely has its benefits. Every family is different and what works brilliantly for one family, may end up being disastrous for another. While we can find a teachable moment in many day-to-day activities, we still prefer to include formal lessons throughout the summer months. Here’s why:

Adds structure

I have found that having some type of structure in our home helps our days run a little smoother, and keeps the boys asking for less screen time.  As I mentioned, we do carry a lighter load during the summer months, but we still enjoy play dates, field trips and so many more activities.  Chances are we can be spotted at the local library activities, farmer markets, craft shows and whatever else may be going on in a week.  Even with all these activities, we still find time to fit in our classes with ease.

Flexibility

While homeschooling through the summer allows us to have structure to our day, it also allows us more freedom and flexibility during the other months of the year. We are able to do more activities, add additional hands-on experiments that can be very time-consuming, head out on vacation, etc. without having to worry about trying to get everything done. Also, because we do go to school through the summer months, we’re able to take more breaks throughout the school year which is pretty awesome. 

No summer brain drain

Our girls both graduated from public school, so I remember all too well how hard it was for them to head back to school at the end of summer. Not only was it hard for them to back into the routine, but they also had forgotten things taught the previous year.  Continuing with school through the summer months I have found that my boys seem to retain more information because not only are we learning new things, but we also go back and focus on things that they weren’t able to fully grasp during the school year.  We do this with worksheets, flash cards, games, etc.    

It’s seriously fun

We truly have fun with summer learning. I know this may sound odd to some people, but during the summer we’re able to take what we’re learning indoors to the outside and get more out of it.  We’ve included Botany with my rising fifth grader. While this is a subject that can obviously be studied anytime, we have thoroughly enjoyed it during the warmer months. It’s given us the opportunity to do more hands-on in not only science but other subjects as well.  Also, our dedicated reading time becomes every more fun since they take part in the reading program that our library offers.  Every week, we encourage the kids to not only read a minimum of 20 minutes a day, but also to do fun activities that get them thinking. At the end of each week, they turn their papers in for a fun surprise.

Do you school throughout the summer?



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2 comments

    • mami2jcn on at 7:55 am
    • Reply

    Yes, I homeschool year-round! We’re also in NC and have 4 kids. I’m having trouble with my oldest this summer, though. He keeps complaining about all of his neighborhood friends having the summer off. I keep reminding him that he will have off in the fall when we take a family vacation. We also always get done with homeschool work by 1:00 pm, all year. Public school kids don’t finish until 3 pm.

    1. That’s us. Sometimes we have a slow day and it’s around 2 by the time we finish, but those days usually mean we had a late start, or had other things going on. I have to remind them of that as well. Not only does the public school finish at 3…most days they don’t get home until around 4 plus they have homework. Definitely the older they get, they question the little things like year-round school. 🙂

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