Today, I am discussing how to take a structured summer break, but first, the backstory…
We are year-round homeschoolers, sort of.
I didn’t set out to homeschool year-round. I wanted our summer days to be filled with all-you-can-eat-watermelon and rootbeer popsicles, sandy toes and cannonballs, shooting stars, and fireflies.
But my kids crave structure.
Whenever we veer a smidge too far from our normal routine, I notice an increase in power struggles, sibling squabbles, and tears.
I find that September is a smoother, more peaceful affair when I’ve maintained a smidge of homeschooling.
This doesn’t mean that we go full throttle. We do not. But we work on a little bit of math most days and we sprinkle in some fun, interest-led learning.
This year especially, I feel it is imperative to provide the kids with a predictable structure. After all, consistency and structure help children to feel safe and secure.
And, let’s face it- lately I don’t know what day it is! This structured summer routine will help anchor my days as well!
When it feels like you’re stuck at home, battling monotony, a simple summer homeschool plan can help. Today I am sharing our plans for a super simple summer learning.
How to Take a Structured Summer Break this Year
Before we dive in, here are two super simple ways to add some structure- and some fun- to your summer routine…
1. Join the 7-Day Gameschool Kickstart Challenge
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been gaming since 1982 or if you just learned about gameschooling today. The 7-Day Gameschool Kickstart going to be a blast and all you need is a deck of cards!
Gameschooling doesn’t develop overnight just because you want it to. I had to grow these gameschoolers, slowly over time with lots of love and heaps of patience. Our early gameschooling was riddled with challenges. Sibling squabbles. Tantrums. Cheating. Tears. Board flipping.
But slowly, with time and practice and patience, my kiddos became gamers. Just as we need to be patient with our children’s reading development, so too do we need to be patient with their gaming development.
Our 7-Day Gameschool Kickstart will help you to develop a play habit, and trust me when I tell you that play has the power to transform your homeschool and family life!
2. Join our 10-Day “Coffee and Books” Challenge
Your daily read-aloud is the most important part of your *entire* homeschool day. It almost sounds too simple, but it’s true. The best ideas are often the simplest ones!
Homeschooling shouldn’t feel super hard or complicated. You can cultivate a family culture of curiosity and joyful, lifelong learning… and it doesn’t need to look anything like the public school of your past!
Join the 10-Day “Coffee and Books” Read-Aloud Challenge today and rock your read-aloud tomorrow!
Past summers
We have always had a simple summer routine. This simple summer routine includes the parts of our homeschool that we either feel is necessary (ahem: math) or easy to sustain (read alouds, music, interest-based learning).
This year, I’ve added a bit more structure than in past summers. I did this because this year is an atypical one. Structure and predictable routines can help children to feel safe. And of course we’ll continue to work on our daily mental health must-dos because they have helped all of us!
The additional structure added this year is in the form of “post-lunch learning” and you’ll read more about that below.
The trick to a structured summer break
The trick to a structured summer break is to choose educational activities that your children love and then find a summer rhythm.
And then you call it homeschooling, even if it feels like you’re cheating a little. Because that normalcy makes reentry in September so much easier!
Some days, this means nothing more than calling a trip to the beach a science field trip. Other days, it means following a more relaxed version of what you do during the school year.
You could call these GIANT bubbles science! Summer learning at its best!
We are a family of morning people and so we tackle most of these items in the morning, with a long play break, and then usually some stealth learning after lunch. Then: more fun!
And this leaves us with plenty of time for all those summer favorites, cannonballs included.
First, if you’re feeling stressed by all the day-to-day stuff…
…I have some stupid-simple hacks that might help…
Read more here:
Looking for a simple way to add more fun this summer?
Summer Idea List, an alternative to the traditional bucket list that worked so well for us last year!
I created this idea list with the kids. They did most of the work. Unlike traditional bucket lists, the goal is not to cross off every idea. Instead, the list serves as a boredom buster for this atypical summer. I posted it on Instagram and had oodles of requests to make a printable. It took me some time, but I did it!
Read more about summer resources here:
- A Summer Idea List
- Summer Idea List & Summer-Themed Book BINGO
- Summer Idea List
- Summer-Themed Book BINGO
Now that we’ve covered some fun, let’s chat about the structure.
This year, our structured summer routine will have a geography focus!
At 12, 10, and 8-years-old, my children are at a fun age. I can ask them what they’d like to learn about and they are pretty good about whittling it down to something they are all interested in. Years ago, I used to ask them and I’d end up with a list a mile long of random subjects. That was fun, too, but this is an easier season!
All three kiddos agreed that they would like to learn more about geography. This interest was sparked by a new-to-us game called The World Game.
This little game packs quite the academic punch! We have all learned from it and we’ve realized that geography isn’t our finest academic area at the moment. We’d like to take a geography deep dive this summer!
We plan to use the following resources to dabble in geography:
- Geography games
- Geography picture books
- This fantastic double-sided geography placemats:
- Draw the World – this is a fun way to learn geography if your kids are interested in art!
- SQUILT Live –
SQUILT is celebrating world music all summer! We love SQUILT Live classes and we also adore the daily listening calendar. It’s such a simple way to work music appreciation into your morning routine. - Around the World Stories –
We’ve loved this resource for years, but haven’t listened much lately. We plan to do some catch-up over lunch with our placements. Boom! Lunchtime learning! - Story of the World –
We have used this series off and on for years and my kids find the audio by Jim Weiss so comforting. We are revisiting SOTW when in the car and during lunch. - Universal Yums–
This is my kids’ favorite homeschool subscription and is a delicious way to learn geography.
Read our full review here.
The most delicious way to learn geography!
Simple daily structure:
The trick to a simple summer structure is to have short bursts of work at certain times of the day that work for your unique family. We do some work first thing in the morning, then we play. Then, we do a little bit of learning over lunch. And then we plan to do an afternoon class. Then, more play. Then dinner. We might add a show at the end of the day, but that’s about it!
This simple routine and structure will provide an anchor to our days. Right now, life feels confusing and all the days blur. This will help!
Summer living has me all confused as to what day it is, and a simple structure will help!
In a nutshell, it will look like this:
- Coffee and Books
- Math
- Play/outdoor time
- Lunchtime learning
- Play/outdoor time
- NEW: Afternoon learning (approximately 45-60 minutes)
- Play/outdoor time
- Dinner with Universal Yums
Want to learn more about the above? Keep reading!
This book is geography GOLD.
We will continue to start our mornings with Coffee and Books. This super simple homeschool routine has become a morning staple over here.
Next, we will do a little math. My children are morning people (like me!) and they prefer to do math first thing in the morning before the day gets away from them. Currently, my children are using the following math programs:
- 12-year-old: Introduction to Number Theory through Art of Problem Solving
- 10-year-old: Saxon with Nicole the Math Lady
- 8-year-old: Beast Academy Online
After we finish math, it will be time for all of those fun outdoor activities and Summer Idea List items.
At lunch, we will enjoy what we call Lunchtime Learning. We will listen to Story of the World or Around the World Stories and use our placemats.
Then, it’s time for more outdoor play and Summer Idea List items.
At 2 pm-ish, we will watch a live class (either live or a recording of a live class) or do some fun learning.
I say 2 pm “ish” because if it’s a super nice day, we might forgo the live class and watch a previously recorded class later in the afternoon.
- Monday:
SQUILT Live – This summer, SQUILT Live is covering world music!
Read our SQUILT review here. - Tuesday:
No Sweat Nature Study – (this course covers lots of academic bases and the art is a stress reducer!) - Wednesday:
Read Aloud Revival Live Author Event (We love these and have also been enjoying the WOW writing workshops, too!) - Thursday:
Art History Kids – (this isn’t a live class, but we love to pore over the materials together and it also covers TONS of academic bases!)
Read our Art History Kids review here. - Friday:
Draw the World (we love this resource!)
Then, it’s back outside for more fun in the sun and Summer Idea List items.
The kids will stay outdoors until dinner. After dinner, we will enjoy our Universal Yums and then we might watch a show. Our favorite source for interest-based learning is CuriosityStream. At less than $3 a month, it’s an incredible resource. I have used CuriosityStream for years and for every academic subject. Check out the winter science unit we enjoyed one year or look at our CuriosityStream recommendations.
Then, it’s time for a bedtime story or audiobook and bed!
This summer, my kids have been camping out in the backyard or in their bedroom! How cute is this?!
Summer should feel fun and carefree, but a little structure can help kids who need it
You need to figure out what feeds your family’s soul and do more of that during the summer months so that you can greet September with a smile.
Fingerpainting our rock wall! Fingerpainting was one of our Summer Idea List items!
We homeschool our children year-round because they crave routine. The trick to taking a structured summer break is to find a rhythm, sprinkle in a few favorite educational activities, and have fun.
Looking for more summer-themed homeschool ideas?
I’ve got you covered!
- A Summer Idea List
- Summer Idea List & Summer-Themed Book BINGO Bundle
- 3 Stupid-Simple Summer Sanity Savers
- CuriosityStream will Boost Summer Learning
- Simple Summer Learning Ideas: A Series
- 10 Waterproof Games for the Beach or Pool
- The Best 4th of July Games {Holiday Gameschooling}
- GIANT Bubbles for GIANT Smiles
- 5 Simple Homeschool Projects
Thank you for this inspiration! I have never tried to do a school structure during the summers, but this year I am feeling the need to give my kids a little
More structure. My kids are 14, 13, 12 and 9. I have a feeling my kids are going to be appalled at the thought of doing school during summer.
How do I sneakily give them a schedule when they reject my “suggestions?”
Thank you!
Hi, Sarah!
You could start a new morning tradition and play a game or read a book while they eat breakfast (this could happen at lunch or dinner if it works better). Don’t call it work. Or, you could create a challenge (or use one of our free ones on the site) and follow it playfully. Another idea is a fun class based on their interests (we love Outschool). My boys have taken several DnD courses this year and they all involved writing but it was complete fun for them. My daughter took a Hamilton poetry class and loved it. I would just keep it super simple and short- you can always build on it over time.
This is great, thank you for writing such a comprehensive post about this! I feel like in the last four weeks my kids and I have (finally!!) hit our stride and I’m loathe to stop when things feel so good. We have VERY busy mornings planned in July but I think that your after lunch learning is brilliant to break up the hot afternoons when siblings can begin to bicker… love your resource suggestions too! Just curious, about how long are each of the Beast Academy online lessons that your youngest does?
Hi, Laura!
His Beast lessons vary by the day, as some can be super tricky. I would say he works on them anywhere from 15 minutes- 45 minutes most days. (He really likes math, though, so he could just keep going and going!)
Hi Cait,
We typically do not have a summer structure even though I think it would be a good thing to do. Usually by summer break time I am craving the carefree unstructured days. That being said we do usually have a audiobook on the go and do lots of stealth learning but its not really planned. I love your summer list idea, I may make one with my son for this year. Alltho it’s hard to plan when we never know if we will be in a lockdown of some degree.
I am hoping you will do a post on your summer reading listm I missed hearing a Poolside Profesional Podcast. I know with the pandemic and Cara not being well it is different but I’d sure love to hear what you are reading this summer. 🙂
That is a great idea, Amy! I will try to curate a stack for summer reading. I am way behind over here, as summer took a bit to arrive in NH!
Curious about when you squeeze in chores? I prefer reading, fun projects/activities, a little splash of math facts, and plenty of free play but sometimes I struggle with squishing the chores on top of the rest of it and I don’t want to take away from the rhythm of the rest of our day.
We have a chore chart. It’s changed over the years and I just updated it last month. I talked about it in our last live Q+A for NBL, but you can also check out this episode of Sisters where we talk about chores: https://thehomeschoolsisters.com/meal-planning-chores/ Hope this helps!