Whether you are a homeschooling family or not, as summertime approaches it can feel daunting.
For some, summer means trying to juggle children at home more while continuing to work. For others who homeschool, but take the summers off, this part of the year can feel aimless and unproductive. For those who homeschool year-round, it may look like continuing the school year rhythm but feeling the call of summer vacations and sunny days at the lake or pool.
Related: Benefits of Year-Round Homeschooling
In my family, I want to set myself and my children up for a season of intentionality. I want to look back and feel like our summer was marked with memories, fun, and rest, but also learning and growing.
Here are a few rhythms I like to put into place to maintain a sense of calm and order in your days while leaving space for the spontaneity of lazy days, sunny outings, or long weekend trips.
In this blog post:
- Exploring Summer Nature: Fun Activities & Learning for Kids
- Summer Family Devotions: Strengthening Faith Together
- Summer Morning Time: Creating Joyful Learning Moments
- Summer Life Skills for Kids: Practical Activities & Learning
- Handmade Happiness: Summer Crafting Ideas for All Ages
- Fun Summer Read-Alouds: Engaging Stories for Families
- Favorite summer curriculum from Treehouse Schoolhouse
Exploring Summer Nature: Fun Activities & Learning for Kids
Summer is a great time to study nature. You could choose one day a week to dive deep into a fun nature topic, or be more organic in your routine and allow topics to emerge during the season. Or you could simply get outside and visit nature spots in your surrounding area.
My family uses Treehouse Nature Study as the guide for these studies. Each week focuses on a nature theme and provides books, songs, hand rhymes, poetry, art, and projects. You can pick and choose from the guide how much or how little to use each year. Here are some ideas from Treehouse Nature Study, Primary Years: Summer to get you started.
- Start a summer garden and learn about composting
- Try solar printing with a simple Sun Print Kit
- Make sun tea
- Have a Summer Solstice Party to celebrate the first day of summer
- Visit an aquarium
- Collect, identify, and sort seashells
To see what a full week looks like from Treehouse Nature Study, download Summer Flowers week below for free.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Summer Flowers Week from Treehouse Nature Study: Summer
Related: Sunflower Dissection Activity for Kids [Free Unit Study]
Summer Family Devotions: Strengthening Faith Together
Gathering with your family and creating space to dig into the Bible together is a lovely way to start or end each day. Don’t overcomplicate it. Try choosing a book of the Bible to read over the summer and read a short passage each morning and discuss. The book of Matthew or Proverbs are great books to start in.
This year my family is using Rooted Family Bible Curriculum. Most mornings my husband leads our family devotional over breakfast to start our day. We will read a passage, discuss the meaning, and pray together as our day is starting.
Related: Identity in Christ Children’s Bible Lesson [FREE Download]
Summer Morning Time: Creating Joyful Learning Moments
In our family, Morning Time anchors our days year-round. Even if you don’t homeschool in the summer (or at all), try implementing a sacred time to gather in the mornings and include rich subjects like poetry, art study, music, and a read-aloud. This time can be used to keep some structure and gentle learning opportunities to bridge the gap between school years. Put your own curated resources in a basket, or use a resource like Treehouse Nature Study that has it all laid out for you.
Related: Our Homeschool Morning Time
Summer Life Skills for Kids: Practical Activities & Learning
Summer is a great time to create new habits and routines for children. You could start a new chore routine using these chore charts or choose a few areas you want your family to improve on. Use the chore chart to set attainable goals and track your progress each week.
You could also write a list of practical life skills such as cooking tasks or home care you would like your children to work on and focus on teaching them over the summer. Here’s a free list of 100 Life Skills to give you ideas.
Related: 100 Life Skills to Intentionally Teach your Children
Handmade Happiness: Summer Crafting Ideas for All Ages
When the heat is just too much to be outdoors, summer afternoons are the perfect time to break out the craft materials and work on skills like crocheting, sewing, and paper modeling. Try a lot of small projects or work on one large project throughout the summer. Here is a round-up of 12 handcrafts for children, with links to materials and tips for getting started.
Related: The Best Handcrafts for Children (+ Tips to Teach Them)
Fun Summer Read-Alouds: Engaging Stories for Families
Even if you aren’t doing your full load of homeschooling, don’t stop offering the best books to your children. Choose a specific time of the day for your children to read independently or for you to read aloud. The summer is also a great time to listen to audiobooks and podcasts. I recommend sourcing books from book lists you trust. We love reading with the seasons, and summer is no different! To fill our baskets, I refer to the book list each week in Treehouse Nature Study: Summer to gather books related to the summer nature theme we are studying. Each week focuses on one nature theme such as the sun, seashells, or reptiles, and includes a book list of fiction, non-fiction, and reference selections about the theme.
Along with the nature study books, I have discovered many wonderful summer picture books that I pull out at this time of year.
Download the 20 Sunny Summer Picture Books List for free!
Related: My Favorite Preschool and Early Elementary Book Lists
Favorite summer curriculum from Treehouse Schoolhouse
Here are more ways to intentionally learn with your children this summer.
Treehouse Nature Study, Primary Years
Treehouse Nature Study, Primary Years is a seasonal nature study curriculum designed with family-style learning in mind. It is a gentle guide meant to invite various ages to connect with each other and the world around them through living books, nature notebooking, hands-on projects, and beauty subjects such as poetry, picture study, and folk songs.
From preschool through upper middle school, it appeals to every age and is easily used with multiple ages at the same time.
It would be a great fit for your preschool or kindergartener’s core curriculum or your whole family’s home education Morning Time and Nature Study. It also provides supplemental work for your children’s language arts through poetry memorization, recitation, copywork, and notebooking.
Related: Tips for Nature Study for Multiple Ages
Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years
Introducing Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years geared towards grades 4th-8th. Experience a seasonal study that invites your older children to connect with each other and the world around them through living books, nature notebooking, hands-on projects, poetry, and picture study. Deepen your child’s learning through advanced language arts and scientific experiments.
It would be a great fit for your upper elementary or middle schooler’s science curriculum or your whole family’s home education Morning Time and Nature Study. It also provides supplemental work for your children’s language arts through poetry copywork, creating an Illustrated Science Dictionary, creative writing prompts, notebooking, and internet research.
Related: Overview: Treehouse Nature Study, Intermediate Years
Ready to join us this summer? Let us know your plans for summer in the comments below.
