How to Homeschool Through the Summer with Unit Studies

Kids are always so excited for summer to finally arrive. Summer means swimming and ice-cream, playing outdoors and picnics. Sure the first couple of weeks, the kids thoroughly enjoy it but soon boredom sets in and kids are whining to you to give them some ideas of fun things to do. For many families, summer means a break from classes for a while. The starting of summer does not have to mean a break from learning, however.

There are lots of ways to entertain the kids for the summer and keep learning right on through the season. Summer unit studies are a great way to do this. Kids can do projects and take trips and never know that they are learning.

Nature Study Unit Studies

One of our favorite summer unit studies is nature study. While nature study encompasses many different learning avenues, it makes it difficult to ever cover them all. Even though you may touch one some of them in your school year, it seems like you can never go as in-depth as you would like. This is why summer is the perfect time for nature study. Kids can pick a very specific are to begin to explore and keep studying it as long and as in-depth as they want to without feeling rushed.

Another reason summer is a great time to do nature study units is that you can spend so much time outdoors actually in nature itself. To begin a unit study about nature, you have two choices. You can either pick a topic that you know interests your children or you can let them pick one. Nature study encompasses plants, animals, wildlife, space, water, earth, rocks, and weather.

Each of these topics is so broad that it is better to choose a particular area such as backyard plants in my area or woodland animals. Once you have chosen an area to begin studying the fun really begins. When your children get bored, give them ideas such as making collections, observing and taking pictures of things they find, and watching movies about the topic.

This approach is easy and fun and can also overflow into another unit study that I like for summer: science projects and experiments.

Science Projects And Experiments Unit Studies

Science projects and experiments are both things that often get left out of our regular school routine because they can be time-consuming and messy; two words that are perfect for summer. Many of the nature study units can become projects, as well. Building elaborate models, such as models of the solar system, are great summer activities. These can take several days or longer for each project and kids can really get into them. My kids like to work on clay models of animals, too.

Another summer science project that is fun is a butterfly garden. Then, as the butterflies grow, they can be safely released into the beautiful summer day.

Science experiments can be done outdoors in the summertime. This is great because they can be so messy. There are lots of great science experiment unit studies, or you can create your own by finding an experiment book that you like. It’s easiest to narrow it down to a specific area that you would like to study such as chemistry or biology. We refer to a couple of websites that provide great science experiment videos. These show the kids how the experiment works and then they can go try it.

Animal Unit Studies

Summer is the best time to do some hands-on animal unit studies without ever picking up a book. There are so many great zoos, petting zoos, and wildlife reserves that you can learn just about everything you want to know about animals just by observing. We have visited many that are even free.

Once kids see an animal up close, and especially if they get to touch it, it becomes real to them, and they can eat, sleep, and breath that animal for weeks after that. Most of the places we visit have the information about the animals posted near them. Take your time and read these. They are a great source of information that your kids will love. We even take pictures of the plaques of information to read later.

Geography Unit Studies Through Road Trips

Summer is a good time to sneak in a little geography. If you are like us, you will probably go on a road trip or two this summer. These trips provide a valuable resource to begin a geography unit study. Let the kids be a part of the planning, and you’ll be surprised how quickly they jump in and start learning.

We do this often by first mapping out the trip on a physical map. Next, we calculate distances and times and different routes to take. We look at what things there will be to see and places to visit along the way. This is when they start to get into it. We pick out what stops we want to make, and then they go research the places and make lists of what activities they would like to do at these places.

Family Unit Studies

One such trip is the trip to our family reunion. Long before the geography unit study is the family unit study. We begin catching up on where each family member lives now and what new people have joined the family. We look at pictures of them and locate on the map where they each live. My younger kids like to make family albums, and we all watch family slideshows. My husband and I tell stories of our family history as far back as we can remember. This is a great way for kids to really reflect on who they are who the people that love them are.

These are just ideas to get you started with a summer of learning through unit studies. I like using unit studies because there is really no end to the possibilities you can enjoy through them. I truly believe that children can learn every day if they are simply in an environment to do so. So make this summer one of fun and learning for your family.

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