Simple Summer Learning Ideas

Each summer looks different in our family, but I always need a break from our school schedule. Our schedule with two teens is a bit busier than usual this year. My teens love church camp and are spending several weeks attending as campers and helping as junior counselors, my son is in the busy season of his farming business, and my daughter also has several weeks of day camp for her music.

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I didn’t want to overfill my plate, but I did want to make sure to spend some time focused on my two younger boys as well. We are making a conscious effort to include plenty of time for homemade popsicles, read-alouds, and water play in our days. (Check out our summer bucket list post for more ideas on this.)

However, I also wanted to include some educational activities for them without making it feel like we were “doing school .” I found a lot of great free or inexpensive options for fun summer learning. These are great for various ages and can keep children growing and engaged while having a great summer.

Science Courses

Journey Homeschool Academy (our go-to choice for high school science) is offering several online science camps that are fun for the whole family. They send an email with a video once a week, so it is a small time commitment but a great way to engage together as a family.

Art Camp

We have been using art lessons from Nana over at ChalkPastel.com for years, and we love them. They have some fantastic ideas for using the lessons to create your own summer art camp. In our area, the days can get really hot, so by lunchtime, I am looking for activities that my children can do inside to get a break from the heat. Art lessons are the perfect solution. We try to do art throughout the year, but it is much easier to make extra time for it during the summer and encourage my children’s creativity. Their summer camp ideas are all included with their membership.

Summer Reading Programs

There are some excellent summer reading programs available. First, I highly recommend checking with your local library. Ours has some great summer activities and reading logs, the kids can fill out to earn prizes for their reading. Books a Million, Barnes and Nobles, and Book It all also offer summer reading programs that are free.

Nature Study

While it does get hot here in the summer, and we often try to spend afternoons indoors, we enjoy spending lots of time outside exploring and playing together. Summer is a great time for nature study. There are so many plants blooming and fruiting, birds and animals are active and visible, and if you live close to water like we do, you can cool off at the river or lake while exploring. You can study nature simply by being outside, observing, and reading about what you see. However, if you’d like help or some fun ideas, my two favorite nature study resources are our Homeschool Nature Study membership and the Peterson First Guides.

Bowling

This one may not be educational in the traditional sense, but it is a great way to get in some physical activity in the air conditioning on those really hot or rainy days. This free summer bowling program is valid at hundreds of bowling alleys across the US. Our family loves it because it is so inexpensive (2 free games per day for the children, and adults can join at a very discounted rate to be able to bowl with them) and lots of fun.

Enjoy Your Summer

Finally, make sure to take time to relax and have fun. We love including educational activities throughout the summer, but there is value in downtime and play and fun. Do not feel you must plan and schedule every minute of the day or week. We include 2 or 3 things each week that are fun and educational and read most days. That allows for plenty of free time and creativity.

What fun and educational ideas do you have for this summer?

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Resource Library

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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!