Our 2025 Summer Rhythm
When I started to map out our summer plans I thought it would be so fun to do six week-long mini unit summer camps, but after I started planning, I was like, I definitely need to simplify. So, I landed on a much simpler schedule with just a few unit studies that we can be working on when we have time and the summer reading list that I shared last week. In addition, we’ll be doing just a little reading and math practice to help avoid the summer slide.
Summer Schedule & Bucket List
This year our mornings are going to be pretty busy because we have a handful of sport summer camps and extra-curricular classes that are all scheduled during the morning hours. My three oldest kids will be going in different directions on different days so I just told the kids that each morning between the hours for 8-12 their responsibilities include: getting ready, a few simple chores like unloading the dishes and tidying their rooms, our family devotional & read-aloud, and they need to touch on their math and reading. Sometimes we do scripture study in the mornings and sometimes it’s in the evenings —it just depends on the day right now. Also, some days our mornings are more relaxed and on those days we’ll also spend a little time working on our unit studies (see below).
Then, I left our afternoons wide open for flexibility on some of things, but also for our summer bucket list! We used this same calendar/bucket list two years ago and last year the kids were so sad when I didn’t include it in our plans so we brought it back this year! The calendar is a customizable digital print so we changed up some of the things we want to do and got it printed off again! I got ours printed off under the Blueprints Projects on Staples.com and picked it up in store for under $5.
I like to keep a visual schedule posted in our school room so the kids know what to expect as different seasons usually bring different schedules. I use this customizable seasonal template.
Math & Reading
In years passed many of you will know we love using the Summer Bridge books. If you’re looking for a good thorough workbook I LOVE these workbooks. We’ve tried lots and they’re definitely my favorite.
Right now we are all burnt out on workbooks though so to keep it simple and independent for all the kids —they will do about 20-30 minutes of the Prodigy Math Game each morning. We used this a lot when my girls were younger, but we haven’t used it much in the last year or so. I actually looked into a handful of gamified options for my 6th-7th grade girls, but there wasn’t much out there. When I came back to Prodigy though I was happy with what they were practicing so I think it’ll be a good fit just for over the summer and everyone really likes it. You can totally use their free version and it’s great, but I decided to go ahead a renew our subscription.
For reading, my older girls read a ton. I have them read aloud to me at least a couple times a week —usually during scripture study but, also sometimes I’ll have them read a little bit to me from whatever their current read is. And, like I mentioned, I have a great summer reading list available for them.
For my two younger boys I try to have them read aloud to me twice a day —morning and evening. We practice with leveled readers from The Good and The Beautiful and they’re perfect to help build confidence and fluency. My boys are also both enrolled with Savvy Learning and have daily 25 minute reading classes. We started these in January with my older son and have been very impressed with them so I just added my younger son to our subscription and, so far, he’s loved it. If you also decide to try Savvy classes, I do have a referral code: 1UA8WO. It’ll give you a $25 discount when you enroll.
Unit Studies
Ah! I am SO excited for the little unit studies we’ll have going on in the background over the summer!
Stars & Constellations: We have studied space SO many times. I blogged about one of our favorite and more formal studies we did: Solar System Study. But, this summer I just wanted to narrow in and focus on stars and constellations. I am not using a study guide for this. Instead, if you are a member of the Mother’s of Influence Mighty Network there is a video on the MN called Christ and the Stars that I am using as my guide. I also got one of the books recommended off that video, The Stars and also the book Constellations that we will be referencing. We’ll also be reading some Greek Mythology during our morning time routine.
Chicken & Egg Life Cycle: Each Spring I love to try to do a life cycle unit with the kids. I blogged about our experience a few years ago growing butterflies and ladybugs. We had planned to do a chicken & egg life cycle study last year, but I just couldn’t fit it in with our travel schedule, but this year I made it a priority and moved it into the summer during a stretch of time I knew we’d be home to care for the eggs, see them hatch, and be able to take care of and raise the chicks. We’ve had chickens for years now, but we’ve never hatched them and the kids are SO excited. I wish I could tell you all the ins and outs or egg incubation, but I honestly have no idea yet. I have a good friend who will be helping us get started and we are borrowing everything we need from her. To go along with our study —I did grab this simple Chicken and Egg Life Cycle Unit. It includes an egg observation journal and some science experiments I’m also planning on doing with the kids. I’ll keep you guys posted and share how our study unfolds over on IG.
RAR Shakespeare Summer School: In addition to our other studies, my older girls will be going to a Shakespeare class taught by one of my friends. She is using the Read Aloud Revival Summer Shakespeare guide so they’ll be studying A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream. I think it looks so fun!
And, that’s it! I hope you all have a safe and fantastic summer!
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