Savoring Summer

Since many of our group-style activities were canceled last summer, my first instinct was to say yes to ‘all the things’ this summer. Camp, 4-H activities, American Heritage Girls and Trail Life, Violin camp, church activities, and on and on. I could easily have my children enrolled in something different all summer.

These activities are fun and wonderful in their own right. Many of them are educational or encourage spiritual growth. There is nothing wrong with participating in any of them and honestly, we are doing several over the course of the summer.

However, I realized pretty quickly that if I filled up our calendar with all of those structured activities I would be missing out on some of the best parts of summer.

When I started thinking about the memories that I wanted us to share this summer, my mind didn’t go to classes and structured activities.

Summer Memories

I thought about hours spent playing in the pool and splashing in the sprinkler.

I thought about picnics on the front porch complete with plenty of juicy watermelon.

Friends coming over to play and fellowship together.

Lazy days at the river with sand in my toes.

Time spent together working in the garden and enjoying the fruits (and vegetables) of our labor.

Evenings spent relaxing on the front porch while the children entertain us with their instruments.

Curling up on the couch (or outside in the hammock) and reading good books together.

Concluding Thoughts

There is nothing wrong with having some structured activities in the summer. I am grateful that we can offer so many opportunities to our children. We just need to be careful to leave time for summer fun, creative exploring, and relaxing family times.

I want my children to look back and remember the fun times we had together. To learn to enjoy just being with friends and family without the pressure to always be doing something specific.

I am grateful that the country is opening back up and opportunities are available, I just don’t want to forget the positive lessons learned during our time at home last year.

There is much to be gained from quiet days at home and busy is not always better.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library

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Deals and Freebies

If you have not tried SchoolhouseTeachers.com, you don’t want to miss this busy bee sale! A great price for summer enrichment or for next year!

Have you signed up for #LifeSkillsNOW? This is such a fun and beneficial program.

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Your kids and teens will build critical thinking and know deep down that they can do hard things.
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The #LifeSkillsNow Screentime Promise: We promise to give your kids the shortest amount of (productive) screentime possible, and then OFF into the real world.
Expose your kids to topics you’ve never thought about (and might not know yourself).
Bridges the gap in traditional education with practical life skills, critical thinking, tech savvy habits, and understanding money

If your feeling a bit overwhelmed with homeschooling and all the decisions and options, check out this boot camp with Kerry Beck that is live next week!