Are your kids like mine and can’t wait for the end of the school year? Or maybe it’s you that can’t wait, or a combination of the two. Depending on your schedule, you might take time off during the summer to plan for the next school year. This does not mean, however, that learning has to be put on pause. You can always fit in a little sneaky summer school.
What is sneaky summer “school?”
I put school in quotes because what I’m proposing isn’t really school at all. It’s just some ways to keep the education train rolling without formal instruction.
Sneaky summer school can help avoid the “summer slide”
Have you ever heard of “summer slide?” According to World Reader, a study among “some 18 million primary school-aged children, found that 52% of children exhibit summer learning loss in English Language Arts across all five years that the researchers analyzed.”
As a former classroom teacher, I can testify that summer slide is a real phenomenon. At the beginning of a school year I would be reviewing a concept only to be met by blank looks. I knew their teacher had gone over the material with them, but it was apparently covered in rust.
What are some examples of sneaky summer school?
Glad you asked! I’ve rounded up some great ideas for different subjects. I tried to only include ones which are free. Some sites may have paid options, but you can still access resources for free. Before we get into those, however, check out this fun “Year in Review” free printable from Skip to My Lou. It’s a great way to wrap up your school year.
Of course you could also use my “All About Me” printable (free in my resource library), or save that for the beginning of the school year.
Sneaky Literature Arts
In my opinion, one of the best ways to sneak in learning is by reading aloud. Right now I’m reading through the Life of Fred books to my kids and we are loving them. Even though some of my kids are older than the target age of the books, the author, Professor Schmidt, adds in interesting tidbits that keep all of us entertained. I had purchased the books years ago and could never figure out how to implement them in our school schedule. Now I have!
Read aloud suggestions
If you need some ideas for read alouds, here are some resources:
Intentional Homeschooling has a post called, “20 of the Best Classic Read Aloud Novels for Elementary Kids.” She has a number of my favorites on her list, including The Chronicles of Narnia and Charlotte’s Web
123Homeschool4Me also has a plethora of book lists, some of which are printable. She has book recommendations listed by grade level (K-5th grade), but then keep scrolling down to see many more categories. If you have some time, explore this website as Beth Gordon has thousands of free printables on many different subjects.
Beth also offers free printable Stories and Activity Calendar. Here she combines books with activities, one for each day of the month. Even if you don’t do all the activities, you can use it as a book list.
Try some sneaky Shakespeare
Need something to include the older kids? How about introducing them to a little Shakespeare? Playground is a website designed to introduce primary students to Shakespeare, but the site mentions that it is suitable for all ages, particularly for those new to Shakespeare. Here your student can read and watch animated synopses of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. You can also find fun facts and watch backstage videos of how props and costumes are made for The Globe Theatre in England. For an extra treat, take a virtual tour of the theater.
Sneaky science and STEM
To be honest, I don’t think science needs to be all that sneaky. Kids tend to love experiments, especially if they’re hands-on.
We are Teachers provides 60 easy science experiments using everyday materials. At least a few involve fire, so I think you can rope big kids in as well.
Milwaukee with Kids posts their own 75 fun and easy science experiments.
The Homeschool Scientist has activity calendars with clickable links. Some examples for June are: make a straw rocket; download a 42 page lesson on bees and insects; watch a video about lightning, and much more.
I have a free printable for 32 LEGO STEM challenges. These include building: a zip line, a volcano, the smallest candy vending machine, and more. The post includes links to tutorials for the LEGO builds. In addition, I have five more LEGO challenges that you can download for free from my resource library.
Sneaky math
On Math-Drills.com older kids can practice their math facts with flash cards. They have their choice of working with whole numbers, integers, fractions, or decimals. They can compare their scores with the high scores for the day. Competition may provide a little incentive.
Sneaky speed math and othre games
Kids can play an impressive number of math games that not only work at math facts, but also fractions, probability, rounding, and more at Mr. Nussbaum.com . I tried a game called Speed Math. . Players can select the skill they’d like to work on, the numbers they would like to work with, and then whether they want to use a timer or choose a goal for their game. I thought it was a lot of fun and just maybe slightly nerve wracking. The age group for this site is listed as K-6th grade, but I’m sure older ones would enjoy it as well.
If you have younger learners, pre-K to 3rd graders can work on various math skills at Starfall. Not all content is free, but there is still plenty available. If you are not familiar with Starfall, definitely spend some time exploring this site. My kids loved this site when they were learning how to read. Back in the day everything was free, so I’m not sure what is still available. I did check out their “ABCs” section (my kids’ favorite) and it’s still free.
Some more sneaky ideas
Go on a virtual field trip. I have four different posts devoted to virtual field trips which I had researched in 2020 (which I refer to as “the year that wasn’t”). You can go on:
360° Must-See Virtual Field Trips
The 360° element makes these tours really interactive. Here is a description from my post regarding the technology, “360° videos are also called immersive or spherical videos. When filming the videos, the creator holds a special camera so he can record all views of a location at the same time. This enables us as the viewer to also look around and see all the different views.”
Super fun 360° Virtual Factory Tours
You can find links to 15 different tours here. My personal favorites are the food tours, but it is pretty fun to do the Amazon warehouse tour.
10 Unique Virtual Tours
What makes these tours unique? Well you might not think of virtually skydiving as a normal tour. You can also explore castles and caves. I also included 2 links to some must-see drone videos.
Must See Virtual Field Trips
This is a huge list broken down by category such as: National Parks, Wonders of the World, aquariums, zoos, etc.
Super fun 360° Virtual Factory Tours
You can find links to 15 different tours here. My personal favorites are the food tours, but it is pretty fun to do the Amazon warehouse tour.
If you don’t have a local Vacation Bible School (VBS) to attend, you can have your own at home! Check out my post on VBS at home. As usual, I included free options. I checked out the Kamp Kiwi Company site, and it doesn’t look like it is the same set up as in 2020. In other words, it involves paid portions now.
Lastly, I have my own “Fun Summer Activities” free printable and post. You can find 30 different ideas that are cheap or free for your kids to do over the summer.
What do you do to prevent summer slide? I’d love to hear your ideas too! Make sure to sign up below to access my free resource library.