I am positive I am not the only one who counts down the days to Summer vacation. Last week threw away all the used work books and celebrates the end of the school year. I am not sure who was more excited, me or the kids! We sort of limped across the finish line to be honest. A good Summer break is exactly what we need. We generally school year round, so our Summer break isn’t going to be too long. I plan on taking 6 weeks off and we will go back after New Years (we live in Australia). I love that our Summer break coincides with Christmas and New Years. It just makes that time of year much less chaotic. The public schools here finish a couple of days before Christmas and go back at the end of January.
Do Homeschoolers Have Summer Break?
To be honest it is up to each family. I would say that 99% of families have some kind of Summer break. The benefit of homeschooling is that you can pick your on schedule. For our family we finish our school year mid November. The reason for this is so that we can enjoy the nice weather and take family vacations when everyone else is still in school. It is a lot cheaper to fly/cruise/stay/visit when it isn’t peak travel time. The Summer can be brutal here so we don’t actually like being out in the heat of the middle of Summer. We start vacation early and then get back to work early too.
Some homeschoolers are full on year round homeschoolers. This means they don’t take big breaks at all. They may take a week or two every few months but in general they keep a pretty regular schedule. We fall into this category for most of the year but we do like a good month or so over Summer to reset.
Unschoolers don’t take Summer breaks because their education philosophy is that education happens everyday. They may take a lighter approach to school over the Summer though.
Should I Homeschool Over Summer?
There are both pro’s and con’s towards homeschooling over Summer. You really need to weigh up what is right for your own children and family. You may decide you need a complete break from school and do nothing all Summer, you may decide that you should just work all the way through or perhaps the best choice is to meet somewhere in the middle.
Why Homeschooling Over Summer is a Good Idea
- Many children, mine definitely included thrive on schedules. This can be particularly true for children with special needs such and Autism or ADHD etc. I have found that when we deter too far from the schedule, bedtimes get pushed back, or there is far too much screen time or freedom that is when unwanted behaviours start to emerge. Tantrums are more epic, fighting with siblings becomes a constant background noise and bad attitudes are common.
Children like to know what is happening next. Every morning my kids want to know what we are doing, when we are doing it, how long it will take and who is going. They are not kids who thrive on the spontaneity, although they do enjoy it sometimes especially if it involves ice cream.
If your kids are kids who love routine but you feel like you need a break too, you could create a Summer schedule, or talk to the kids the night before about what to expect the day to be like tomorrow. Each morning I write our plan for the day on the whiteboard, it keeps us focused and on track and gives everyone a clear idea of what is going on. - One other reason you may choose to homeschool over the Summer break is to catch up. This is quite often what parents will do. They will use the Summer to fill in any gaps in their learning so that they are prepared to start the school year well prepared instead of already behind. I like this approach because it doesn’t mean you need to do every subject, just the area that needs some attention. This Summer I will be having my oldest two working on their spelling. They are not where they should be but I don’t think it will take much for them to catch up. Math seems to be a big area that kids find they need to work on over the Summer.
- Continuing with some form of education over the Summer break is a good idea if only to keep that brain fresh. The traditional three month break is plenty of time for children to forgot a lot of what they learnt the previous year. I know when I was working in a public school the first 2-3 months of the year was simply refreshing everyones memory and relearning things that were forgotten over the Summer. This is particularly applicable to reading and math skills.
Reasons not to Homeschool Over Summer
- Kids need a break. Parents need a break. Everyone needs some time to be able to be a vegetable and just not have to worry about learning new topics or filling their brain. I honestly just want to sleep in every day for a couple of weeks and have no obligations!
- Burnout. If you push to hard and to far you will suffer from homeschool burnout, and it is not nice.
- The weather is perfect over Summer to get out and about with friends from public schools. This is the time for kids to be kids and enjoy trips to the movies, riding bikes around the neighbourhood and eating so many ice creams they may turn into an ice cream. Summer is when some of those most magical childhood memories are made
- Boredom. Boredom inspires creativity. Children become used to always having something to do, something planned for them and always being busy. They need to opportunity to be bored. They may use that boredom to fight with their siblings or make a ton of mess but eventually they will start to become productive, use their ingenuity and imagination. It is actually a wonderful process to behold…if you can make it past the mess and arguing stage. I always offer my kids a list of chores that they can do if they a really so bored. It’s amazing how fast they manage to find something to do.
Summer Homeschool Ideas
There are lots of ways you can incorporate learning and education into your Summer break without actually having a proper schedule.
- Life school. Use the Summer break to teach your kids different life skills. This can be things like cooking, gardening, car maintenance and repair.
- Project Work. The Summer is the perfect chance to knuckle down and work on a project. There is so much more freedom that you can work until your heart is content.
- Make a Summer bucket list. Hold a family meeting where everyone gets the chance to come up with fun activities they want to do over the Summer. It is best if you give everyone a few days notice so they can come up with some good ideas.
- A reading challenge. This is a great way to keep those reading skills fresh. A lot of libraries run programs over the Summer for reading programs and challenges as well as a lot of other fun activities you may want to check out. If they aren’t holding anything at you local library you could easily create your own. I find that this nurtures their love of reading because there is no pressure to dissect the text once they are finished. They can just read for the fun and love of it.
- Roadschool. Take a road trip as a family and visit historical sites, national parks, and museums a long the way. National parks have an awesome junior ranger program that is exceptionally fun for the children.
- Worldschool. Take the road schooling concept one step further and head overseas for a touch of cultural experience.
Summer Homeschool Schedules
There are many different ways to set your schedule for homeschooling over the Summer. I like to get all the work done first thing in the morning so that it frees up the rest of the day for whatever fun we may have planned. Since I don’t do a full workload over Summer this means that it will only take an hour or less to get through.
Another way that you could work it is by handing over some responsibility to your children. Write them a list of what needs to be accomplished each day and let them decide when to do it. If they didn’t complete the previous day’s work they will just have to miss out on something that was planned for the following day until it is completed along with the current days work. I like this idea because it teaches time management and responsibility. Children always seem to work harder and more proactively when they have some say in the matter.
You may decide that you will take a certain amount of time off where there is no homeschooling work done at all. Then reintroduce some formal work before Summer ends. This will undoubtably help the transition back into the school mentality when they time comes.
The Summer Schedule where you don’t do any formal work and just take a break. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this if this is what you and your kids need. They will of course learn from every day life. It’s not like they are going to be stuck in a cardboard box all Summer long! Don’t feel guilty at all if this is the path you choose.
As you can see there are lots and lots of ideas surrounding homeschooling over Summer break. As for my family, well we spent yesterday at the beach and a chocolate factory and it was amazing. You know what though, we actually went to a chocolate tasting where we learnt all about chocolate and how it’s made. So there you go, we totally learnt something.
