Why You Should Consider Homeschooling Through Summer

It’s the question that comes up every year as schools are letting out: “Do you stop homeschooling in the summer?”

While this really comes down to personal preferences, there are several reasons you might want to consider continuing with home education through the summer months.

When we first started homeschooling, I had a lot of little kiddos. The year my oldest was in Kinder I was pregnant with number 4, and quite tired. Chasing my rambunctious 2 year old all day was no easy feat. Add on top of that the regular keeping of the home, like cleaning, cooking and laundry, and there really wasn’t a whole lot of time or energy left for official school work. Since our days were kept very short, I felt that it was a good idea to continue working through our lessons in the summer because we really hadn’t put in enough time over the course of the year anyway. 

Looking back, we homeschool far differently and with a very unique approach to what home education means, but our decision to homeschool through the summer remains the same.

Here are a few reasons you might want to consider homeschooling year-round, too.

Homeschool is a Lifestyle

Homeschool isn’t just an education, it’s a lifestyle. Learning doesn’t stop when the lessons end: children are always learning. Looking at your summer education as just an extension of what you’re already doing in your “off” time will help shed light on all the wonderful ways that life is education.

Less Pressure

Year-round homeschool takes some of the pressure off of completing the curriculum by a certain date. Of course you could drop it and pick back up in the fall, but this lull tends to lead to less enthusiastic family members when it comes time to start back up. Plus it adds in unnecessary review time to recall what was learned a few months ago. If you’re enjoying what you’re learning, why stop?

No First Day of School

The flip side of not stopping for summer is not having to start back up again in the fall. Choosing a start date can lead to stress for the whole family as the dreaded end of summer (and first day of school) nears. But when homeschool is just part of the normal flow of the week, there’s nothing to dread and no extreme prepping to do to get ready for the new school year. There’s no mad rush to get all the curriculum ordered and prepared, and no mourning the end of summer (because we all know that a homeschooler’s best month is September when everyone else goes back to school, and we get the beach to ourselves!).

Summer Structure

Keeping to a schedule (but perhaps a more loose schedule) helps keep some structure to summer. Often summertime can feel all loosey-goosey as kids run wild and parents have to deal with a schedule (or lack there of) that is completely different from the usual family rhythm. Schooling through summer eases that transition by giving children stability. 

Lifelong Love of Learning

Showing your children that learning is a joy, and not something that stops when school ends, helps them learn to love learning. Homeschool done well raises children who enjoy learning new things and know how to teach themselves. Modeling the idea that education is something we’re always doing helps foster an appreciation of gaining knowledge. Because the truth is, we are always learning. As new parents, we learned a TON! As fresh homeschool parents we had to find out how to legally homeschool, what curriculum to use, what field trips to take and where to sign up for homeschool classes or co-ops. I would guess you’ve also spent time researching other topics that you personally find interesting or helpful. See? We’re always learning. And summer is no exception.

For our family, year-round homeschool has been a huge blessing. It’s helped the kids remember that they still have to help around the house. The dog still needs to be walked. Daily devotions still happen daily. We still find reading important… but because it’s more relaxed it gives us room to learn in other ways that maybe we couldn’t find time for during the rest of the year. Things like extra baking projects. Harvesting the summer garden and prepping for fall. Practicing water safety, and how to appropriately enjoy the health benefits of the sun. Setting up lemonade stands, and learning how to NOT turn the inside of the car into a small beach.

If you were questioning whether to homeschool year-round, why not give it a try? You just might find that it’s a beautiful way to enjoy your summer.