Learning & Fun | Summer Homeschooling Ideas

Hey Folks!

I am all for scouring Pinterest for ideas (especially if they are free)! After all we are on a serious budget, and my five year old has so much energy! We spend so much time together, so I have to be an idea bank! So after going through our Summer Schedule {which is going soooooo well} we have some time left in the day (unless there is a scheduled outing, or church)…and I have to say that it gets overwhelming when your five-year is constantly asking you to do things with her. HELP!!!

So I have been brainstorming and with the help of Prayer and Pinterest, I’ve come up with five (free, or very cheap) activities where Ryleigh is still learning, and having fun!

Word Recognition Balloon Toss! I don’t think that’s the right phrase for it, but I found this on Pinterest…and I was in love. You write down a set of words on the pavement that you’ve been going over; as you call out the word your kiddo hits the word with a balloon. It’s sounds so easy, because it is...and Ryleigh really likes this game!

For this next one all you need is the internet, lots of paper and pencils/crayons/markers etc. There are a TON of pictures online that show step by step drawings of animals, people, cars, flowers etc. Ryleigh has sat and drawn dogs, sheep, flamingos, poodles, and people just from following the step by step instructions online. This is independent work, so that’s lovely. 🙂

Speaking of Art...for further learning…Ryleigh writes the words down on paper, and also draws a story or picture to represent that picture (she came up with this on her own)

In the top left quadrant she drew a picture about “Summer”. In the top right quadrant she drew a picture of “water” and “friend”. The lower left quadrant is a picture about a “flower”, and the last picture is currently a picture about the word “hot”. She says that the people in the picture are “sweating” 🙂

For this one all you need to do is to hit up your nearest dollar store for some puzzles, and also a pack of cards! Ryleigh LOVES puzzles. She can go through them quite quickly! She also just learned the game “Go Fish”! This has really reinforced number recognition and she has a lot of fun playing with mommy and daddy.

I am blessed to be able to live near a ton of farms, and near lots of nature. We can literally walk outside and be in the middle of a huge field. Ryleigh ALWAYS wants to go outside, and when I do accommodate her we take walks and talk about what’s going on outside. We see a ton of trees, and birds. We even saw a deer running past our front lawn one time. That was pretty cool.

This makes me smile as I write this…but I really have a mini music class with Ryleigh almost everyday. Of course she is a sponge, so she remembers words to several songs that I play on Pandora, and she also remember lyrics to songs that we have sang in church as well. She knows the beat and the key the song is sung in as well. We do musical warm ups, scales, and key changes throughout the day. This is free, and fun.

What are some things that you do with your kiddos during the Summer?