It’s hard to believe that summer comes so quickly every year. This year is bittersweet for me because my oldest daughter finished up preschool and is headed to kindergarten next year. I remember when she was a baby thinking about all the time I had with her before she starts school. And now it’s here. Sheesh.
I look forward to summer because it’s a break from the day-in-and-day-out routine of the school year. I am a routine type of person, but I’m not a schedule type of person. A schedule sometimes makes me crazy. It’s nice to have a break from that, but I still want summer to be productive.
There are so many things I want to do with my girls or teach them during the school year, but with the craziness of life, it’s hard to do. Summer is the perfect time to do them. Remember, I am a former reading teacher, so teaching is in my DNA. Fortunately, my girls are at the age where they love to learn. In fact, EG’s exact words were, “Mama, will you homeschool me this summer and teach me things? But then I want to go to school after that. So will you just homeschool me for the summer?” Say no more, my girl! You’ll probably wish you never made that request!
My girls are little and eager. They want to learn anything and everything. If you’ve been around early learners you know this makes it fun. But fun is a keyword. There comes a time when learning has to be done regardless of it being fun, but in the early years what’s most important is keeping them wanting more! If they lose motivation early, it’s hard to get it back. So almost everything I do right now is student led. If there’s a day she doesn’t feel like doing something, we don’t do it. I say almost because reading is non-negotiable. We have to read every day.
As I started to think about the summer, I brainstormed what I wanted to incorporate into our days. The girls will be involved in a few camps, Vacation Bible School, and our family vacation, but I wanted to use our time at home together well. This is a very loose list. It’s more of a framework than a checklist. Here’s what I came up with:
- Reading Goals
- Learning Fun
- Habits to Practice
- Bible Memory
- Extra Activities, Friends, and a Service Project
Reading Goals
If you know me, you know that reading is a top priority for the summer. I can tell you that there’s probably nothing more important to do with your kids over the summer than read to them.
My favorite resource if you’re just getting started with reading aloud is Sarah MacKenzie’s Read Aloud Revival. She has a website full of resources including book lists, a podcast, and even books you can purchase. I also recently found this book list which I like a lot because it has a wide selection of books.
My reading goal for my girls this summer is to read five to seven books a day to each of them. If you haven’t been reading aloud to your kids regularly, this number may seem daunting. However, it’s easier than you think.
One way to do this is to create anchor times when reading is attached to another, a regular part of your daily routine. For example, every day we eat our three meals together, so I can read a book to the girls while they’re eating. Another anchor time in our day is nap time and bedtime. My youngest still takes naps, so before I put her down I read to her. The same is true for bedtime.
My older daughter will also have “reading time” in the afternoon when her little sister is napping. This is when we will review her sight words, and she’ll read to me from her decodable books.
This summer we’ll also go to the library often. Most libraries have wonderful programs for children in the summer! Our library has a weekly storytime. I also plan to take them one other time in the late afternoon to check out books on their own. EG is so excited to get her own library card this summer!
Learning Fun
Every day we will read, but we’ll also work on some other learning activities. I’ll probably alternate these depending on EG’s interest. And again, if she’s not into it one day, we won’t do it.
Calico Spanish
We just started using Calico Spanish to introduce EG to the Spanish language, and she loves it! It’s an online Spanish curriculum for young learners.
Handwriting
We’ll practice handwriting throughout the summer. I like Handwriting Without Tears. I also use these handwriting sheets from The Measured Mom.
Sight Words
We’ve been working on sight words all year, and I’ve been using a Dolch word list. This post from This Reading Mama has a great list that combines Dolch and Fry words. (For information on the difference between these word lists, read this post.)
When I’m practicing sight words with EG, we use about 5-10 words at a time. She has to read the word in about 2-3 seconds. Otherwise, she’s not yet fluent with that word. As she masters a word in that time, I retire the word to a separate stack so we’re only working on the words not mastered yet.
Reading
I could write a series of posts about resources for teaching kids to read. There’s so much good stuff! Right now I’m using Bob Books with EG. We also have some of the Explode the Code books.
Habits to Practice
Oh, it’s so hard for me to incorporate these regularly into our day during the school year! I hope to be more intentional and diligent in doing them this summer.
Some habits I want my girls to practice, mainly my older girl, is making her bed, setting the table, picking up toys (without complaining), and picking up clothes.
I found a variation of this chart that I’m going to use with her. Before she watches a show she has to complete each of these activities daily. I laminated it, so she just checks off each item with a dry erase marker.
Bible Memory
Every week we learn a new Bible verse, so I’ll just continue this through the summer. I have a system for how I do this, but I need to write a post to explain it!
Extra Activities, Friends to Invite Over, and a Service Project
I made of list of other activities we want to do this summer – camps, VBS, and things to do around town – and friends we want to invite over. I also had this idea for a service project of some sort like visiting a nursing home or something like that, but I’m not going to get to it this summer. I needed more time to plan it!
This post may seem super overwhelming, but it’s really not as big of a deal as it looks. You have to remember having been a teacher, I already have most of the supplies I need to do these activities. Plus, it comes easily for me and I enjoy it. If this isn’t your thing, then good! Just read, and read as much as you can all summer. That’s most important!
Happy summer everyone!!
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