7 Tips for a Super Summer

Posted by Robyn | 0 comments

We are closing out our first year of homeschooling and our family is ready for a super summer.

Tip 1. Take a break. Our family schools year-round, even in the summer. However, we plan for a bit of a longer break during the beginning and ending of the summer. During these breaks, our only educational requirement is for our son to read.

This break allows us to take time as a family and focus our attention on one another. When the break has ended, we feel rejuvenated and ready to go again.

Tip 2. Plan to play. Remember the fun of slip-n-slides and afternoons at the pool? How about just riding bikes and playing outside? These are some of my fondest memories from my childhood and most definitely are memories I plan to help create for my own child.

As a busy Mom, it is easy to get sidetracked with cleaning and other activities and realize too late that the day is coming to a close. I have learned the hard way to just plan to play. If I write it down in my calendar or on my to do list, it gets done. I am conscious of prioritizing an afternoon at the pool over something that can easily be done after my son goes to bed.

Tip 3. Visit with friends. Just like you plan to play, plan a play-date or lunch with friends. Schedule a date with friends to have a picnic at the park or even go to a movie. You will enjoy the adult conversation as much as your child enjoys seeing his friends for the day.

Another idea that I have enjoyed is if your child’s friend’s parents work outside the home; offer to pick the children up for a day to play with your child. Not only will your child have a terrific day of playing with friends, you will be paying it forward to his friend’s parents. I remember when I worked in an office environment, I felt especially guilty during the summer months when my son was home. Undoubtedly, his friend’s parents are feeling the same.

Tip 4. Try something new. Summer months make an excellent time to learn something new. Most Cultural Arts and Recreation Departments offer summer day camps for children geared toward sports, arts, music, drama, and computers. Discuss options with your child and enroll her for a lesson in an area of interest.

Tip 5. Lighten the load. It is easy to over schedule yourself and your child year-round, but especially during the summer. Go ahead and mark your calendar for “must-do” activities like family trips, any camps for which you have registered your child, and special events. If you school year-round like we do, be sure to include school activities in your listings.

Now, make a separate listing of “might-do” activities, along with any associated dates for them. Compare your listing to your calendar and see how full it looks. If it is too crowded, start eliminating activities. Get your list down to your priority items.  Then when you are looking for activities to participate in during the summer, you will have already narrowed your list based on your schedule and priorities.

Tip 6. Plan a project. The long days of summer make an excellent time to start and complete projects. Painting the house, planting and tending a garden and building a tree house are some of the summer projects I remember doing with my family from my childhood. For more advanced projects, plan a project for the entire family and assign your child a role and activities within the project. On a smaller scale, pick an area of interest and allow your child to create his own project. For example, our son loves animals. His summer project is to study the animals we have living on our farm and create a journal about them.

Tip 7. Start refreshed. This tip really lends more to a super back to school, but I thought it was important to include. Plan a few days to go through and organize the previous year’s schoolwork and get ready for the upcoming school year. Go ahead and scan reports, create backups, file any necessary reports with your school district, sell any used curriculum that you will not be needing, and clear out space for the new school year. It may not be your favorite beginning of summer activity, but you will be able to enjoy your summer knowing you can start with a clean, organized school space when you begin school again. And to me, that is definitely refreshing.

These are my seven tips, what are you going to do to make sure you have a super summer?

Robyn Stone is a wife, entrepreneur and homeschooling Mom to one very energetic little boy who is not quiet so little any more. She shares about her journey in life on her blog Our Homeschool Home. She loves a good cup of coffee, photography, and a great conversation.