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Summer Homeschool Milestones

Posted on September 5, 2018 by Lisa

Summer homeschool updates!

In my opinion, summer is a GREAT time to homeschool, for the following reasons:

  1. Everything we accomplish feels like a bonus because most people are on “summer break”.
  2. Outdoor activities are more available. For example, our building pool opens Memorial Day and closes Labor Day.
  3. Many museums and other cultural institutions run special events in the summer, including camps for kids. I happen to teach in a museum summer camp program, so I’m a big fan!
  4. My son has a summer birthday, so he gets lots of new books and toys just as the season gets going.

What our summer looked like

My son attended day camp, mostly during the weeks when I was working full days. He loved it! His camp is about as close as he’ll probably get to a traditional school environment. It’s run at a private school by the regular teachers, and they do many of the same activities and routines that they follow during the school year.

I, meanwhile, spent four weeks teaching museum camp. Topics included human evolution, dinosaurs, and geology. I blew out my vocal cords shouting over the museum crowds, but other than that,  it wassuper fun! I’m going to be writing a series of articles this fall about learning at museums, so stay tuned for that!

Because of my work schedule, I felt like my child and I had less quality time together in summer than we do during the “school year”. However, we did continue to homeschool, and we caught up with each other over dinners and on weekends. We also had a few weeks’ break when neither of us was at camp. It gave me a glimpse of what our schedule might feel like if he attended traditional school and I worked full time. Needless to say, I’m glad this was only temporary!

Milestones

First and foremost, my son learned to swim! It was almost as exciting as watching him take his first steps. As with so many skills he’s learned, he didn’t get formal lessons. He watched others do it, practiced some of the component skills, and finally just went for it. Surprisingly, he feels more comfortable putting his head in the water than holding it upright. As he likes to say, “I can swim underwater, but not on land!’

I consider learning to swim to be just as important as any “academic” skill my son might pick up. It’s huge in terms of water safety. And it’s also a full body skill that requires intense focus, especially for a beginner. It was a great illustration of how repeated practice and incremental improvements can make way for a big breakthrough!

Plus, it reminded me to trust my child. Everyone kept bugging me to get him formal lessons, and I kept saying “he’ll do it when he’s ready”. And he did!

I was never a PE teacher. But as a camp counselor, I helped many children my son’s age learn to swim. They didn’t need lots of formal instruction, either. Our culture is lesson-crazy, and we just don’t have to be.

Other milestones we had this summer:

  • giving up naptime (boo) BUT sneaking books during naptime (yay)
  • my child requesting to work on spelling – on a Saturday in August no less!
  • growing our first edible foods on the terrace, including a “space tomato” from our Tomatosphere citizen science project (check out this post for more on citizen science projects)
  • finishing all of the Magic Tree House series currently in print
  • having family events where the kids sit and play with each other, without needing adults to jump in. For parents of kids under 5, this is HUGE!
  • getting a vermicompost bin for our life science study this year

Guest posts at Pandia Press

I’ve written two guest posts recently for Pandia Press, a secular homeschool publishing company that provides history and science curriculum to families. The most recent is about buying a microscope for kids. During my time teaching middle school science, I had to order all of the school’s lab supplies, including an entire set of microscopes. So I share the most important factors to consider when purchasing a microscope, including affordability.

 

The other post was about homeschool styles. I am very comfortable being eclectic – stealing borrowing what works, ditching what doesn’t, and making up my own stuff as I go along. But then, my background is IN education. I was a teacher long before I had my son, and I was fully immersed in the education world and all of its different approaches. When I realized that I had the freedom, as a homeschooler, to do things my OWN way, the way I wanted to do them in my classroom but couldn’t, it was a revelation!

But many parents just starting out, who are overwhelmed with information, find it helpful to select a style. Identifying a homeschool style that aligns with your values allows you to focus in on the curriculum and resources that will work for you. Click the graphic to go to the article!

What have you been up to in your summer homeschool? Do you take a break during the summer months, or do you continue year round? Leave a note in the comments below!

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  • Ready for camp today! @the_renaissance_child #stemlearning #stemeducation #electronicsforkids #summerstemcamp
  • Check out my new article on the @pandia_press blog (<—link in their bio) . As a science educator, I believe in giving students the most complete, accurate, up to date information that we can, in a developmentally appropriate way. Deciding not to mention topics that are “controversial” is not an educational strategy I support. . I have taught in religious environments and gotten pushback on evolution - and I’ll tell you what I told the kids: . Science is science, and religion is religion. I am not here to tell you what to believe in or argue with your pastor, rabbi, priest, imam etc. . Science is not a belief. You don’t have to believe anything in order to understand it or learn the information. There is no ultimate conclusion that science “wants” you to reach, which is why there are scientists from every religion, country, language, etc who can study and communicate about it. It’s not the purview of a specific culture, government, ethnicity or gender. It’s a method for learning about the world - above all, asking questions and trying to make sense of what can be observed directly or indirectly. . Science is not a moral code and has nothing to say about living a good life, though its outcomes (like antibiotics and higher crop yields) can benefit millions. It’s not a substitute for character development or moral instruction. Many scientists continue to believe in the religions they were born into. . Feel free to ask me anything about evolution or any other science topic - I love to research and explain, and I’m teaching an evolution course right now with the museum so I have access to great material and experts. So ask away (-: . But first go to @pandia_press profile and check out the article (-: #scienceeducation #scienceeducator #homeschoolscience #evolution #teachingevolution #whyteachevolution #homeschoolcurriculum #secularhomeschool #secularhomeschooling #secularhomeschooler
  • Book club – After many years of teaching children to read, I’m enjoying raising my own reader 📙📘📗📕 Books we’re currently enjoying: the Frank Einstein series, James and the Giant Peach (have lost count how many times he’s read it), and the Nick and Tesla series. The book in the picture is Greetings from Somewhere which is a good beginning chapter book series or a gentle intro to studying places around the world. #raisingareader #homeschoolreading #homeschool #secularhomeschool #booksofinstagram
  • Perler bead science – plant cell . My son loves perler beads, so they’re a natural modeling tool! I made this with his help, looking at various diagrams for guidance. It’s a conceit we will revisit many times, esp once we get a good microscope! #handsonscience #secularhomeschool #homeschoolscience #perlerbeadscience #plantcellmodel
  • Follow trains are a great way to connect with other homeschool families, and this one is for the secular homeschoolers out there. ✨ It can be hard to find secular families in the homeschool world, so here’s what you do: ✨Follow @that_secular_mom ✨Ask for image and script ✨ Follow accounts using this image with the tag #secularmomfollowtrain ✨Like and comment on images. That’s it!! #secularhomeschool #secularlife #homeschooling #homeeducation #hsmom #secularmoms

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