Homeschool Review During Summer and Holiday Vacations

I have never known anyone who was required to complete additional homeschool courses during summers when other children and parent-teachers typically enjoy a summer vacation.

Making the Decision

From my experience, it seems that many of us continue to teach for a portion of the summer vacation for various reasons, such as the following:

Homeschool Review

- we can make use of the extra time to review subjects and improve skills that were not mastered during the formal school year, such as handwriting, composition or math speed drills

Enrichment

- we can use the break time to pursue more challenging subjects or learn a foreign language without having to complete the core subjects at the same time

Exploration

- we can investigate supplemental topics like photography, journalism or auto mechanics that may not be easily covered during the traditional school year

Best Interest for All

- sometimes, it may be that continuing to teach rather than have idle children is the best idea for everyone

If you use the summer months for homeschool review, please share with us how you do it and why. We would love to hear from you.

***

Scheduling

Most often, though, summer home school review is done on a lighter schedule than what is done during the formal school year.

Our home school day starts a little later than usual and ends earlier than during regular times. We have found it best to do our studies during the hotter part of the day when outdoor activities are limited.

There are fewer exams and more creative, independent expression. Also, homeschooling may occur outdoors or even at the park, followed by a picnic lunch.

Bible, reading, and math are always a part of our lessons, though. Even if they come in the form of DVDs or computer games, we include those subjects each day.

A Fave of Ours

I asked my daughters aged 19, 17, and 16, to share their thoughts on this topic. Immediately and unanimously, they came back with…"those big workbooks!" They were referring to the comprehensive workbooks such as Summer Bridges by Carson Dellosa Publishing.

These books are graded and allow children to review and practice the skills already learned and prepare them for the next year’s work. They also include fun activities in addition to the daily work.

You can also very easily use these for shorter periods of time.

But, if the Summer Bridges books are not what you are looking for, there are many other types of books that would be ideal for use during summers or other holiday vacation times.

Remember, that if you still have unused pages in current workbooks, those will do just as well for reviewing work with your children. In the past I have even ripped those pages from the workbook, inserted into folders, and allowed our children to create their own personal covers!