For most of us, homeschooling is much more than presenting educational material in a text book during “school hours.” Homeschooling is a lifestyle in which we surround our children with opportunities to learn and find “teachable moments” in everyday activities.

Some of us continue to use our textbooks and curriculum throughout the summer and some of us choose to take the time off from formal, structured learning activities. Whatever your scheduling preference is, there are still plenty of opportunities for informal education during summer.

Vacation Planning

Let your children help plan your vacation! No, this doesn’t mean you need to succumb to every theme park in your travels. Once you have decided on your destination, pull out a map to show your child where is it and what route you will take to get there. Encourage him to find out more about the geography and climate of your destination. You can take it a step further to find out more about the local history and attractions.

If you are driving to your vacation destination, there are even more opportunities to incorporate learning into your trip, since you will be driving through more cities and towns. One year, we drove from Detroit to the west coast of Florida. Armed with a handy guide called Along the I-75, we were able to learn about the history of the places we passed and scout out some of the more obscure (and extremely interesting) places to stop.

Not Going On Vacation? Plan a Dream Vacation!

Planning is half the fun of vacations. Even if you’re not able to take a family trip this summer, have fun planning your dream vacation instead. You can still pull out the map and research the history. In addition, your children and explore the various methods of travel and create a budget too. To make it even more fun, create a travel brochure, promoting your vacation destination. (You can find an online template here.)

By taking advantage of these teachable moments, not only will you enrich your students childhood, you are also teaching them the valuable lesson that learning doesn’t end when the school books close.

Plant a Garden

Even if you don’t have the greenest thumb in the neighborhood, you can still have fun planting a garden.  It’s a great opportunity to learn about seeds and how plants grow or how plants make food, then enjoy the fruits (literally) of your labor.  You could even have a contest to see who can grow the biggest zucchini!  (or maybe even a pumpkin for the fall)

If planting vegetables isn’t your thing, try your hand at a butterfly garden.  You can still learn the same great lessons from a vegetable garden, plus wait and watch for the butterflies to come, opening the door to more exploration!

Hit the Beach!

…or river or creek.  Children seem fascinated by the water.  Not only is this a nice break for mom, since they find all sorts of ways to keep themselves occupied, but a perfect opportunity for “delight-led learning.”  Engage their natural curiosity by learning about plants and animals of the ocean, or how rivers are formed, or even the Great Lakes, if you live in that region.

And Then Some ….

Building a fort, putting on a play, jetting down a Slip ‘N Slide, roasting marshmallows and catching fireflies all present unique opportunities for informal learning (think “engineering, drama, language arts, physics and science”).  By taking advantage of these teachable moments, not only will you enrich your students childhood, you are also teaching them the valuable lesson that learning doesn’t end when the school books close.

What opportunities do you find for summer learning?

This post was written by Christina S.  She lives in Detroit with her husband and two daughters.  Her family started homeschooling 11 years ago and haven’t looked back since!

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