Our kids generally don’t participate in summer school, partly because we move to the cabin, and partly because it gives us an opportunity to revisit the stuff we loved most about our homeschool experiment. Although I’ll only expect a flexible few hours per week of sit down work, I think it will be enough to keep skills fresh and maintain interest at the same time. It also provides just enough schedule to keep us all on an even keel.
For the past few weeks I’ve been asking the kids what they’d like to study this summer and here’s what we’ve established so far.
Craig – fifth grade next fall
Cooking! I purchased a Rachel Ray cookbook for kids and that will be the mainstay of Craig’s cooking curriculum. Cooking is one of the few topics that covers just about every subject area — math (measurement), reading (recipes), science (duh) and social studies (ethnic foods).
Read aloud – probably continuing The 39 Clues series or the sequel to Chasing Vermeer.
Darla – seventh grade next fall
LOST – character and plot analysis with emphasis on foreshadowing, symbolism and writing techniques. I’m excited about this one. She was interested in watching with me last season, but LOST isn’t a show you can watch just an episode or two. So we purchased the first four seasons on DVD and we’re going to analyze the writing on the show. It’s a superb example of plot weaving and character development.
US State and Capitols - we figured out this past year that she missed this part of the curriculum during our move from one district to another. This will be a chance to fix this gap in the curriculum.
Darla reads like a fanatic, so she’ll dive into whatever books she wants. And she’ll volunteer all summer at the local library, to organize the weekly storytime.
Both kids
Learn to play Backgammon (critical symbol in LOST.)
We will also do math practice with brainteasers. And we’re joining the Science Museum of Minnesota again, so will attend the Titanic exhibit, as well as inundating Collector’s Corner with all of our Utah finds and the new discoveries we’ll surely make on biking field trips this summer!
Here I’ve listed some of the specific titles of the books we’ll use. I’ll periodically add to this list as we discover new lessons we’d like to learn. What are you doing for summer homeschooling?
Tags: curriculum, homeschool, summer school
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9:40 am
What a great idea to have a summer homeschool plan! We hope to continue some homeschooling this summer, but we’ll probably focus on one subject at a time. The kids both love to read mystery/adventure books and found a bunch in our church library. We’ll sign up for our library’s summer reading program, which gives the kids incentives to keep reading. The boys also have baseball and swimming this summer, plus bike riding and basketball at home. We plan to keep up our Bible reading and prayer journal throughout the summer too.
9:43 am
That’s a super idea! My son just *loves* Rachel Ray, and wanted to get her cookbook ‘cuz he loves to cook (he’s 13). We have to use alternate grains because I’m gluten intolerant and can’t have any regular flour in the house, but that’s also a super way for the kids to learn how to substitute ingredients.
We used to live really close to the library in IL, but here in EC we’re about seven miles away. It’s such a blessing to have bookworms, isn’t it?!
My kids always beg to do the summer reading programs through the library which absolutely thrills us. 
This is how I’ve kept the homeschooling up (soccer, field trips, etc), and I really like the cookbook idea that all three kids would just *love* to do!
Have fun @ the Science Museum! We just *love* that place! And if you’re a member and head on down to Chicago or to a bunch of other cities in the US, they honor your membership in a lot of other museums–including the Peggy Noterbaeurt (sp!!!) Nature Museum which has a *live* year round butterfly exhibit filled with native and tropical butterflies!
Have fun this summer!!!
9:27 pm
Cooking is a great way to learn and have fun at the same time. We have a Rachel Ray Kids Cookbook, but haven’t had too much success with the recipes. The Alton Brown book has worked out better for us, and my son likes the science connection. I just purchased inexpensive Alton Brown DVDs from Target, but we haven’t had a chance to look at them.
I want to thank you for the Mesa Verde recommendation. We’re doing a Read Across America Road Trip this summer, and I added Mesa Verde based on your blog post.
2:49 am
Great ideas! So far I have only cooked pancakes with my daughter but she loves it! I guess I better get hold of a recipe book so we can have more bonding moments together.
10:45 am
Thank you for those awesome tips! The book recommendations are especially helpful for me. I am searching for things for my kids as well this summer and your ideas are excellent!
3:14 am
Looks like a great—and fun—plan.
Mike
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[...] week I introduced our plan for summer homeschooling. Here are some of the books we’ll use. Many are from Mindware. I’ll continue to add to [...]