Summertime is a great excuse for celebrating. Sure, you can celebrate the end of the school year with a party, vacation, or movie night, but there are so many more ways to celebrate summer.
In an episode of our Everyday Educator Podcast, mother and daughter Chelly Bernard and Delise Germond discuss ways they celebrated summer as a family. Among the activities they recall lies a common thread—they were all done together with either friends or family.
You can listen to the full episode below or on the Everyday Educator website.
Celebration Occurs in Community
When Delise was on summer break during her homeschooled years, she would often have friends or cousins over to celebrate summer with. Chelly and Delise point out this about celebration—it often occurs in community.
For example, one summer Chelly and her family pretended as if they were on the reality TV show Extreme Home Makeover. The thing was, Chelly and her husband really needed the kitchen remodeled. But by involving the whole family and turning the project into something fun, Chelly and Delise’s family had a blast renovating their kitchen.
If you have projects around the house that need getting done, things like remodeling, cleaning, painting, or even cooking dinner, do them together as a family. This will not only speed up the project, but it will also turn work into play as your family enjoys time together.
Celebration Involves Freedom
One of Delise’s favorite parts about summertime were its freedoms. Though her family was always quite routine, their schedule relaxed a bit in the summer compared to the school year.
For example, Delise could sleep in later and spend more time outside. Another freedom Delise enjoyed was her family’s reading time every day. While this may seem like a chore, during this daily reading time Delise could choose whatever she wanted to read. She enjoyed this freedom immensely during summer breaks!
If you’re struggling to come up with book ideas for this summer, check out our recommended summer reading list with both fiction and nonfiction books. Your children can read the books on this list individually or you can read them together as a family.
Celebrate Summer by Learning Together
Just because it’s summer break doesn’t mean it has to be a brain break too! In the podcast, Chelly recommends using the summer to teach your children life skills like cooking, budgeting, and home repair.
Summer is also a great time to tour local areas like museums, zoos, science centers, and parks. There’s so much to learn outside the schoolroom! Take advantage of these free days to enjoy and learn about the world around you together as a family.
If the pandemic has caused places like these in your area to close, consider our Explorers Digital Camp! It’s an entirely online summer camp. It includes engaging videos (hosted by Delise Germond) and activities for family members of all ages. It’s a great way to learn and celebrate summer together!
Click here to discover more episodes of the Everyday Educator Podcast. Our host Lisa Bailey interviews homeschool parents, students, and members of the Classical Conversations family weekly.
