When our kids were little our Homeschooling didn’t end in the summer months. Homeschooling gave us the freedom to vacation any time of the year. We took our breaks different times in the year. Summer months were still days of continued education, but always in fun ways.

We went to the sea during the Fall, and had mini road trip adventures that we worked in our curriculum as home school field trips. When my husband had time off between editing sessions, from his travels back and forth from LA back to Phoenix, we would plan all kinds of fun adventures together when dad was home.

One of my favorite places to have school lessons was out in the woods when we were up north rebuilding Our Little Red House.

We would find a nice picnic table and bring our books and papers to work on math and reading, the basics. Our kids were very young and the lessons weren’t too complicated. Sometimes a phonics game or counting puzzles was the math lesson for the day and science was what ever we discovered walking around the creeks, studying plants and critters we would come across. Little bugs, frogs and tadpoles. It was all worked into moments to teach.

We would do art in parks, under trees and by lakes and creeks. Home school lessons outside in natural environments are great places to teach.

I wouldn’t learn until years later that this is a Scandinavian thing, teaching out in nature. I believe it is all part of my DNA memory because I always felt children learn through play and what better place to play then out in nature, in the woods and around lakes and creeks.

Being out in nature brings you closes to all creations from God, what a beautiful place he made for his children. My dad used to have long talks about God when I was a kid growing up, I guess those were my home school lessons, but I was public school all the way growing up.

Here are some fun activities to do in your own homeschooling over the summer with your children….

Make crayon art around a campfire. Lay smooth river rocks around the outside of the fire pit to warm up, not directly in fire, just far enough away to warm rocks up. Draw crayon art on rocks before you do that. The wax will melt together and create very pretty patterns.

Collect twigs to create art with. You can also collect twigs for math lessons and counting skills. Maybe use twigs like a pick up sticks game. Whatever you create with your twigs try to work in a history lesson as well. Pioneer days, historical events, different time periods and what they were like. Create a lesson plan around the subject of history. One of the funniest parts to homeschooling is designing your child’s own curriculum that suits their style of learning.

Check out books from your local libraries on what plants are edible , spend some time foraging and looking for plants that are edible or can be dried and used for teas. Teach your children how to dry and prepare foraged edible plants.

Collect leaves to create art with. Use your leaves to shape into animals, people, buildings, and anything your child’s imagination comes up with. Bring a bottle of glue, a tin of watercolors, paper and spend the afternoon by the creak making all kinds of art with your collected leaves.

Create little terrariums. Collect moss and plants to design and make your own miniature versions of nature.

Happy homeschooling everyone. Stay safe out there, and may God bless and protect you all.

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