Do you give your children a summer vacation, someone once asked when I told them I homeschooled. No, their life is a summer vacation, I replied half-jokingly. Summer is a time when we slow down, but learning should never end. Summer is the perfect time to catch up or to focus on one particular subject. If a child learns early on that there is no point in life where learning ends, then every opportunity can be viewed as a "learning experience." LionHeart is captured here listening to a book on tape while I get his Montessori math lesson ready.
Last night at our annual Homeschool Showcase, one of my son's best friend, did an impromptu speech on education. He talked about how school forced him to learn things that were of absolutely no interest to him. He started homeschooling in his high school years and now he says he as the opportunity to study things of interest to him, like psychology, marketing, and law! Summer is the perfect opportunity to find ways to explore these interests through internships, summer camps or apprentice programs.
Another benefit to year-round homeschooling is that lazy days can happen. This morning I snapped a few pictures of KingMan, LionHeart and AP. They were all still in various states of "not quite up yet." When days like this are allowed to happen, there is less push back about learning throughout the summer. After all, they get a little "summer vacation" all year long! I did use this as an opportunity to read them an article about MIT Open Courseware. AP can study more about law, technology and marketing. KingMan, who has an interest in Engineering, can explore topics in that area. LionHeart asks if he could take courses too if he told them he was 11 years old. Well, now that's the beauty of OCW no one has to know.
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