This year I decided to try year-round schooling and it has worked beautifully for our homeschool. We started the 2015-2016 school year on July 13th. We took breaks here and there throughout the school year and we will finish this year on May 25th. After a few days of break, I will begin our Summer 2016 plans on Monday, May 30th!

My goals for Summer are:

1. Organize and plan for the 2016-2017 school year during the month of June.
2. Continue with very light schooling through the month of June.
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I don’t want to ever give up our block of school time in our routine for an extended period of time. My children thrive on routine and structure. To take that away for a long period of time (i.e. a 3 month summer break) would be disastrous! While I plan for next school and get things re-organized, we will have some light schooling activities throughout the month of June.

Here’s my Summer-Schooling Plans:

Little Bug

Phonics & Math – We will continue All About Reading Level 2 but will only do lessons 2-3 times a week. She will also practice her math facts and do pages from some math booklets I picked up at the Dollar Store so she keeps up her K and 1st Grade math skills through the summer.

 

Together

I am going to use Sweet Pea’s preschool time to do Summer school with the girls together! We won’t do any of this every day (except read a Bible story) and we will spend roughly an hour or so 3-4 days a week doing structured learning during the month of June.

Bible (5 days) – We always start our day with a Bible story. We are currently reading a Bible story on the Bible for Kids app. I recently discovered the You Version Bible app and I absolutely love it because it will read the Bible out loud to me! I can be folding laundry, cleaning the kitchen or sitting with the kids outside while they play and listen to the Word! The Bible for Kids app is the kid version of the You Version Bible app.

CC Review (2-3 days) – We will review our Memory Work from Cycle 1 by playing fun games for about 15-30 minutes and reading books about the topics we learned about this year.

Blob Mapping (1 day) – My goal was to have Little Bug drawing a Blob Map free hand by the end of this school year. We are watching this little girl draw a free hand Blob Map and hopefully by the end of June Little Bug will be well on her way to being able to do this by herself! (This skill is too advanced for Sweet Pea right now, but she does join in on the lessons.)

Little Bug’s first free-hand blob map:



Handwriting Without Tears Kindergarten (4 days) – We need handwriting help around here! Sweet Pea is learning to write letters and I want her to learn to form them the correct way from the start. Little Bug can write neatly when she wants to, but I feel like she needs more instruction on correct letter formation. I have HWOT so I figured the month of June would be the perfect time for some intentional handwriting instruction for both girls. We will practice forming letters using the HWOT manipulatives (wood pieces, capitol letter cards, chalkboard and little tools for little hands) as well as work through Letters and Numbers for Me.



History for Little Pilgrims (2 days) – I bought this at the first homeschool convention I attended. I am interested in reading it myself and I figured my girls would enjoy it too! When we travel, this is something I can easily take along with us on the road. I also have the coloring book that they can color in while I read.



God’s Creation Series: The World God Made and Our Father’s World (2 days) – This was another purchase at the first homeschool convention I attended. Science is a favorite topic to read about in our house and these books can easily travel with us.



Read Aloud (5 days) – We will spend the half hour before nap/rest time reading a chapter book like we always do. We started the Laura Ingalls series and are currently on Little House in the Prairie. We are reading from the very books I owned and read as a child. I kept them to one day read to my children. We are thoroughly enjoying this series.



 

A typical June school day might look something like this:

Bible Story & CC Review (30-45 mins)

Handwriting Without Tears (10-15 mins)

Read History for Little Pilgrims (20 mins)

 

Then the next day might look like this:

Bible Story & Blob Mapping (30-45 mins)

Handwriting Without Tears (10-15 mins) – This is my academic focus for Summer!

Read Science (20 mins)

 

I’m sure we will have some days in June where we are outside all morning enjoying the sunshine and water play! I know I cannot let these kids have a free-for-all in the month of June, so these light academic plans will keep us anchored to our normal routine yet still give us the sense of a short break time before we begin a fresh new school year after July 4th!

- Elaine