Not us. I plan to continue to do what we normally do throughout the summer months.
We take a pretty relaxed approach to homeschooling, choosing to learn through life experiences rather than following a strict curriculum. That is not to say that we don't use curriculum - we do.
But I've been intentional about taking a life approach, if you will. For example....
We practice our handwriting by writing letters to our cousins, grandparents, sponsored children and friends. Should we stop writing letters because it's summer?
For Bible we read stories from the Bible after breakfast, pray for our Compassion children and memorize verses from Sunday school. Should we stop learning about God or praying because it's summer?
Both girls love to read and we spend quite a bit of time each day reading. My oldest is 6 and reads at a 4th grade level. My youngest is 4 and has recently made a breakthrough, easily reading easy sentences. Should we stop reading books because it's summer?
My oldest absolutely loves science and would do science experiments and read science books all day if we let her (sometimes we do). Summer seems like the perfect time to take some of those messier experiments outside! It's also the perfect time to be more "hands on" with critters.
We explore music through learning to play violin and actively listening to a "composer of the month". Should we stop playing violin and sharing our music with others just because it's summer?
Our family is attempting to learn a second language (Spanish) in hopes that we will someday be able to use it on a regular basis (maybe living in another country). Should we stop listening to, reading and using our new vocabulary words because it's summer?
There is more, but I think you get the idea. This is what I mean by a life approach. We probably won't crack open our math books quite as often as we did in the winter months, but that is the exception. I'm sure we'll still find ways to count, add and subtract!
I think it sounds like we have a somewhat similar approach to homeschooling! We do use workbooks and textbooks, but we also have a relaxed approach to it all.
ReplyDeleteI see what you mean by life approach. As of now I don't plan on doing our curriculum this summer unless of course the kids really want to get into science or history. But I will be doing manuscript writing with my girls...they can both write cursive but need to work on their manuscript writing. We also still read during the summer, still do our daily bible reading, and we still have our piano lessons. So in a small way we will still continue our homeschooling as well just not the full curriuculm approach like the school months.
ReplyDeleteI love your idea of a life approach! Your schooling seems like it's simply part of life!
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