Our Summer Rhythm & Routine
Spring weather has finally shown its bright smiling face in our neck of the woods. I can see green shoots pushing through the dirt and butterflies have begun to take flight above our heads. New life emerges all around us and I feel it all from within. The sun alone is replenishing my depleted energy stores from winter. With 7ish months of snow, I’m feeling very much like a baby chick nibbling on the egg that’s about to crack wide open.
With spring comes the end of school and over here we’re counting one more week till our last day. It’s definitely got me thinking forward to our summer routines. This year, we’ve made it a priority to stay put instead of traveling. There’s a saying around here winters may have brought you, but summers are the reason you stay. And that very much feels like us.
I have scheduled a few week-long camps for the boys that take place in the mornings, but afternoons will be for our own exploration. Preferring to be less on the go and giving the boys a bit more unstructured time, I hope summer can truly feel light. I know all of our homes are unique, with various goals and needs, so I am sharing this from our own perspective. This space, this blog, gives me the opportunity to record our life right now. Read through it with grace, gleaning what might be of value to you, and skipping the rest. Keep in mind, our children are 5 and 7 in age, meaning the concepts might look very different in homes with younger vs older children. Wherever you are, enjoy it! It will surely change.
Summer Mornings / Mornings are my favorite time of day around here. We make large breakfasts, wake up quite early, and linger at the table with a read aloud for upwards of an hour in our pajamas. I know some may read that and yawn, or wonder how a morning could sound so serene. Below, I developed this particular list of things, based on needs and desires I noticed in my children and the conversations within our home and a lack of time during the school year to incorporate bible reading.
30 Minutes of Scripture Devotion / We’re using Louie Giglio’s book Indescribable skipping around to read sections based off of what topic we’re learning that week in our nature study.
Read Aloud / Although reading is always a part of our routine, a large chunk of reading aloud occurs at the breakfast table. This year we’ve been working our way through the illustrated editions of Harry Potter. We are all hooked and though I would caveat this with monitoring your child’s sensitivities to content, we have greatly enjoyed this series.
Nature Study / Three times per week our reading aloud will be centered around a nature topic. Afterwards we’ll head outside to explore it. Most days getting out mid-morning works best for us with all the energy buzzing below the surface. We save book work for the afternoon, when the heat of the day is upon us. Topics may be as simple as going on a listening walk and journal about what we heard when we get home. Or more extensive - learn to read a compass - and chart a course for a scavenger hunt. It always ends with an entry in our nature journals.
Summer Intensive / I believe that life is school and school is life. My family does better with a little structure and a continued focus on math and reading throughout the summer months. I’m hoping to flush out our school year by using the summer to evaluate their learning needs. This is the most structured part of our week, 1-2 hours per day / 4 days a week. It includes:
Math / We’re working through the curriculum Math-u-See. Both boys love math which is actually making me love and re-learn it as well. They watch a quick 2-5 minute video about the lesson, then use the manipulatives to complete the problems in their book. My older son does this independently while I spend time teaching the lesson to my younger son. This is only 15 minutes or so each day.
Reading / I’ve noticed a slippery slope with reading in each of my children. Every day we make it a habit for my 7 year-old to read on his own and my 5 year-old to practice reading with me. Intentionality is my focus. Add a smoothie or special afternoon snack (iced latte for me and a baked good for the boys) and this becomes possible. My 7 year-old has a list of chapter books and will keep track of 30 minutes per day with a summer library reading program. My 5 year-old is working with me through Teach Your Child to read in 100 Easy Lessons and readers called Dash into Learning.
Nature Hikes / I am currently compiling a list of hikes for this summer that are within one hour of our home. A nature hike for us might be a bike ride to a trailhead, a bike ride to a paved path and a creek, a trip to a nearby state park, or a car ride to a destination hike. We’re hoping to make this a weekly adventure with friends on Mondays or Fridays. This will be the fuel for our nature notebooking.
Nature Notebooking / My favorite educational practice, notebooking, combines art, handwriting, comprehension and narration. This summer we’re using nature to practice the art of notebooking. For our nature outings the boys fill their packs w/field guides, snacks, binoculars, nets, magnifying glasses, bug containers etc. They pick one interest area to document and I snap a picture or video for their reference later. When we get home and for the rest of the week they illustrate their specimen of interest and then narrate and record a few sentences about their observation. All in all this takes about 3 days. Day 1 - pencil drawing, add in color. Day 2 - narrate and create a rough draft of a paragraph detailing facts. Day 3 - Black pen, final touches, watercolor.
Free Time / Even with a few structured hours there are plenty of unstructured hours in our day. Watching my boys take off with an idea is quite magical. If at any time during the day this occurs I let go of our schedule and become quite hands off. But there are also those days where they are all too quick to ask for a show or some ipad time. For this, I created a list of potential activities for them when they feel stuck. Reading, drawing, crafting, or the less intuitive - build a fort, make a scavenger hunt, write a letter to a friend or family member, design an outdoor obstacle course etc. I plan to have a list of activities nearby so they can choose what they’d like to do when they are finished with their scheduled work.
Summer Reading / Reading is always a part of our routine, but summer reading in particular seems so rewarding. The boys and I will participate in our local library’s summer reading program. We’ve also printed off a life size “road map” from this wonderful blogger I’ve followed for years. When they finish a book they color a section of the poster. Nicolas & I are working through the Grade 1 reading list on the Ambleside site and on his own he’s started the Boxcar Children series. Luca’s goal is to read through seasonal picture books with me somewhere around 5 books per day. We will continue our Harry Potter Marathon in the mornings. As for me, I’ve become fixated on reading banned classic books - I have a list I’m excited to work through.
Fun Fridays / Since we aren’t traveling much this summer, I’m trying to be more intentional about day-trips and simplified excursions. The boys and I created a list of fun things we’d like to do this summer - hosting a soccer tournament to flashlight tag to fishing to seeing a few outdoor amphitheater plays and visiting neighboring state parks and reservoirs. I know the summer will fly bye but hoping these opportunities create sweet memories or new traditions.
If you’re still reading, thank you. You may also be thinking that all this structure and scheduling feels boxy and lacking in creativity, but I have found quite the opposite to occur. Structure and planning allow me to make the most of our days together. They provide a lovely lattice from which to climb, and if at any point we want to let go, we just pick up where we left off the next day or the next.
