10 Years of Homeschooling

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Our summer break starts today. This concludes our tenth year of homeschooling. Our son finished 9th grade. According to the law, he started out with Kindergarten (or Year 0 as it is known in some countries). Hence, 10 years of homeschooling.

Girl playing violin

I am holding her book as she warms up before her violin recital.

Words do not come easy to describe the last decade. My husband and I are happy we went this route – let us start there. Then, we can say that we plan to continue on this road until high school graduation for both. Continue reading »


Summer Break Goals

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Our summer break goes on for 12 weeks or exactly three months: from mid-May through mid-August. We will take it easy, but we don’t just idle around. Besides camps and camping, we have some academic goals to accomplish. Rule number 1: write your goals down. If it is not in writing, it doesn’t exist. Or, as the Romans used to say, “Verba volant, scripta manent.”

Rollerblading

One of her goals is to learn rollerblading.

Here are some things on our list of goals: Continue reading »


The Last Week of School

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It’s here, folks! The last week of school has finally arrived. As usual, I have mixed feelings. Homeschooling is my passion, so the end of the school year leaves me thinking, “What am I going to do with myself for the next three months?” On the other hand, I have been at this for nine years, so I know summer schedules can be even busier than the school year.

Mom and daughter holding hands

My daughter still wants to hold my hand while we hike. It’s sweet.

We have not finished all our textbooks, either. So this leaves us with a few things to wrap up here and there throughout the next 12 weeks. Actually, it is more like nine weeks, because three weeks will be spent in summer camps at different times. Continue reading »


Summer Break

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We have been on summer break for a month now. Every day, we do what we want to do, but we also have certain goals to reach this summer. Many homeschoolers use their summer break to finish up a history book that they did not finish, for instance. We are doing the same thing.

Andrews Bald

Andrews Bald picnic with friends

Do you have academic goals for the summer, in order to avoid the summer slide? You probably should. Many libraries have a Summer Reading Program going, with workshops and activities, prizes and craft projects. I am finding out quickly that tweens and teens are not interested in those programs though. Continue reading »


Indoor and Outdoor Summer Games to Keep the Learning Going

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(This is a guest blog post by Corinne Jacob, just in time for the summer vacation.)

Balloons

Photo by frankieleon is licensed under CC BY 2.0

When your kids are being homeschooled, there’s no pressure to follow a yearly schedule. This also means that there’s no scheduled summer vacation. With no ‘summer slide’ and the freedom to take vacations whenever they please, many homeschooling families favor year-long learning. However, it may sometimes feel unfair that your kids have to sit down with their books when all the other kids in the neighborhood are soaking up the sun. You can strike a balance between the two options by dedicating a portion of the summer months to playing fun games that will keep the learning going.

Here are five indoor and outdoor summer learning games for kids.

 

  1. Nature scavenger hunt

Prepare for this game by making a list of things your kids must find during the scavenger hunt. Keep in mind the kids’ ages, their interests and the kind of flora and fauna found in your neighbourhood. You can either have all of the kids work together on a single list, or create customized lists for each child. You can create the lists around a single theme, such as ‘creepy crawlies’, ‘leaves’, ‘birds’, ‘flowers’, etc. Then gather the brood, hand them their lists and take them for a walk around the neighbourhood to find their items.

  1. Sidewalk chalk reading game

Using sidewalk chalk, write five consonants one below the other on the sidewalk. Next to it, write the five vowels. Make a third column with five more consonants. You should have the letters in a 5×3 rectangle. Have your children make three letter words by hopping on one letter from the first column, one from the second column and one from the third column. See who can find the most words.  Continue reading »