Summer Homeschooling Ideas: Simple Routines to Try

This post shares three different summer homeschooling ideas that we have used during different stages of homeschooling, as well as a FREE PDF download of the Summer Homeschooling Checklist that we’ll be using for our four oldest kids this year!

If you’re in the Midwest like we are, it doesn’t quite feel like summer yet. We’re still getting hard frosts overnight and the grass is only just starting to turn green, but I know that within the next month it will be a WHOLE NEW WORLD (I do hope that you’re a 90s kid like I am and that you just got a vision of a flying carpet and a blue genie).

With this invigorating hope in hand, I am starting to put together a new chore chart (which we usually rotate with the seasons) and also a Summer Homeschooling Checklist. We’ve used this checklist method for the past couple of summers and it has served us well, so today I will give you a peek into what that looks like and also a free download in case you’d like to try it too!

The Premise: Keep it Simple

To be honest, this is my premise for nearly everything we do in our homeschool right now. Juggling the needs of five different children is complicated enough without adding in extra complication through our homeschool choices! Simplifying your homeschool is not always easy – and it will probably look different each year, depending on your children’s ages and stages – but for us it has always, always been worth the effort.

However, in summer we feel the need for simplicity even more. Summer in the Midwest feels fleeting enough that we want to spend as much time as possible soaking up the sun, hiking and adventuring outside, getting together with friends, and of course, giving the kids hours and hours of free time to play. Therefore, any summer “school” plans need to be simple and flexible enough to allow plenty of time for all of these other activities.

Of course, you could choose to take the summer completely off school, and simply lean into the break from routine! We have done this too at times and it’s been wonderful. However, through a whole lot of trial and error, I have found that our personal sweet spot (for this stage, anyways) seems to be a mix of both structure and free time. When we have too many days in a row without any structure, everyone starts to feel a little out of sorts and listless – but of course we all want a break, too.

Our solution: the Checklist.

Our Summer Plan for 2025

For the last couple of summers, I have created a simple summer checklist for each child, which I expect them to complete each weekday that we are at home. Of course if we are travelling, or if Grandma and Grandpa are staying with us, or some other special event is going on, the checklist won’t happen – but this is what we shoot for on the weeks when we are home.

The idea here is that each child needs to do these things sometime during the day (ideally right away in the morning), and once their checklist is complete, the rest of the day is open for them to play. I have some children who will wake up and bust through their list IMMEDIATELY, so that everything is done before breakfast, while others will slowly plod through items throughout the day as they happen to think of it. I don’t really care too much as long as it gets done sometime – and of course, the “no screen time until it’s done” rule helps to motivate some to move a little faster.

This year, our checklist items include morning chores and exercises (still TBD but will probably be chosen from a list of options) for the four older kids, as well as piano practice and math practice for the three older boys. I am still thinking about what else to add, but we will most likely begin this routine the first week of May.

Other options you could add:

• instrument practice
• individual reading time
• math drills or games
• playing a game with a sibling
• reading a book to a younger sibling
• cooking or baking
• geography review or map tracing
• handwriting practice
• anything else you can think of!

Why It Works

First of all, everything on the checklist is something the kids can do on their own. This means they can start working on it right away, if they want to, and finish it quickly so that they have most of the day to play! Secondly, it is simple and I keep the number of items to a minimum so that summer still feels like a break. Thirdly, it provides just enough momentum that we can still make progress on some areas that need attention (ahem, math book that we’re still only halfway through!).

You could either laminate this checklist or slip it into a plastic sleeve, and then use a dry erase marker for the kids to check off the boxes each day. We usually keep our checklists on the fridge where they are easily visible and accessible!

What Else We’ll Do This Summer

We usually continue some form of Morning Time throughout the summer. Honestly, this doesn’t even feel much like “school” – it’s just a fun time of reading together in the morning. I haven’t yet decided what we’ll read this summer but it will probably be a little less than what we usually read during the school year – perhaps just a classic literature book and some poetry or Bible stories.

There you have our plan for summer homeschooling this year! I truly believe that all of the free play time, the vacations and adventures and outdoor time and craft projects and bike rides and zoo visits are just as valuable as our book time, and summer is the perfect time to focus on these hands-on learning experiences.

However, if your children aren’t old enough for a checklist like this, or if you just want to think about some other options, here are two more ideas for you to consider.

Two Other Summer Homeschooling Ideas

1. In the summer of 2019 (right after Baby No. 4 was born!) I used a loop schedule, which is an excellent choice when you know that each day will look a little different. Take a peek at that post if you want to see what that looks like!

2. In the summer of 2021 I used a simple routine which featured Morning Time + a checklist of educational and/or fun activities to work through. This might be more your jam if you want to create a Bucket List of sorts to ensure you make time for all your favorite summer activities!

As a side note, I will often ask the kids (as we head into the summer season) what their favorite summer activities are, and then write down a day or week in which to do them – just so that we don’t get to the end of summer and realize we ran out of time to do someone’s favorite summer activity. A tiny bit of foresight and planning at the beginning of a new season goes a long way!

Conclusion

There are a million ways to homeschool (or not!) throughout the summer. Some families do a year-round homeschool schedule, and don’t change anything during the summer, while others will take the summer totally off. We choose to do something in the middle, but ultimately the best choice is the one that fits best for your particular family in this particular stage of life – and only you can make that choice!

Let me know in the comments – what else do you like to do in the summer? Are you more of a keep-the-routine sort of family, or an embrace-the-freedom sort of family? There are no wrong answers!