Summer naturally lends itself to making memories, doesn't it? I love all things summer. Ice cream, swimming with friends, picnics, and the tanned faces of my children.

Summertime was also a great time to read our books s-l-o-w-l-y, with no agenda. We could meander through pages, keep a day book for insights, and if we wanted to, leave it neglected on the night table for days.

I've always sought to find gentle ways to school through the summer.

Let's take the time to slow down, inspire wonder, and make memories this summer.

(This post is from Homegrown Learners' contributing writer, Gina Glenn.

Using the lazy hazy days of summer allowed us to create memories that my kids still talk about to this day.

Our Own Memories

When school is out, your kids can become a bit lonesome for companionship. So we held a summer book club each year. I'd choose a literature guide and plan an easy lesson that we could pick up and put down at will. Our favorite was Little Women. When my youngest daughter went off to college, she packed her copy of Little Women, dogeared as it was. She read it when she was homesick.

And that's our goal, if we are to have a goal—to create a memory in our child's subconsciousness that they can turn to for comfort in difficult times. For those times when we can't be there.

Learning to Fall in Love with Literature

This seems a good starting point. If you have a child who isn't crazy about reading, you might think it impossible to teach them to fall in love with literature. But, it's completely possible with some mom ingenuity. Here are some ways you can begin to encourage your children to fall in love with literature.

1. Create a time in your summer schedule for stillness.

Think of everyone laying around in the family room seeking a respite from the heat. Rather than turning to video games or tolerating constant cries of, "I'm bored!" plan in advance to have audiobooks on hand. Then this time can begin with a listen aloud (and then they can do other things). Maybe your children can draw during that time, or even just rest. But, listening is paramount to appreciating story and falling in love with literature. Some listen alouds that our family has particularly enjoyed are: Where the Red Fern Grows, The Courage of Sarah Noble, An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving, Your Story Hour with Uncle Dan & Aunt Carol, and Jim Hodges Audiobooks. We also loved many of the Lamplighter series.

2. Honor your child's individuality.

I have one child who to this day loves to read Timothy Zahn's Star Wars series. I'd much prefer he read Lord of the Rings or The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. But, I've come to understand that the books we choose for ourselves are part of the reason they bring comfort. It's as Charlotte Mason has said, "Education is a science of relations." Our children are capable of making their own connections based on their own experiences. So often we are merely the guide.

3. Build a summer library.

Create reading lists of books you'd like your children to read and keep those on your own bookshelves.

4. Teach your children to engage with literature.

This can be a challenge in our tech-saturated society, but learning to do more than scan the text of any book is what makes a friend of the book we're reading. Challenge your children to think ahead while reading, ask questions of the text, and write in the margins of the book.

5. Model your own love of literature.

This makes teaching your children to love literature more a passing of the torch than another subject to be mastered.

Making Your Own Summer Memories with Literature

If you'd like to take a more hands-on approach to making memories with literature you can do really fun things. Here's a list of ideas for activities that involve literature.

Choose a theme to study, say bees. Find all the books you can about bees and put together some fun science activities. Examples might be learning why saving bees is important.
Pick a family favorite book based on a movie. Watch the movie, popcorn included, as a reward for finishing the book. If you can, try doing it outside. We had an outdoor projector and set up an outdoor movie theater.
Host a book club. There are so many ideas and directions you can take with this. Keep it fun! If you have boys, you'll have to sell this idea to them with lots of activities. It might need to include building a potato launcher or such, so be creative with your book choices. ;)
Participate in summer reading programs. Bookstores, Pizza Hut, and even your local library have programs that encourage your child to read.

It's Summer and They Are Your Memories

With all the options available for books to read and activities you could do, keep in mind —it's your summer and your memories. There's no right or wrong way. Just fun to be had and memories to be made.

A Family Program for Reading Aloud: P.1 and 2 How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines, Revised Edition Little Women (Puffin in Bloom)Where the Red Fern Grows The Courage of Sarah Noble The Sign of the Beaver Sarah, Plain and Tall The Bears on Hemlock Mountain Great Stories Audio CD Albums #1 - #12 - Stories include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Ernest Shackleton, Sojourner Truth, Robert E. Lee, Fanny Crosby, Johann Sebastian Bach, Henry Ford and So Many More Pinocchio Teacher Guide Teaching Guide for the Key Classic, Benjamin West and His Cat, Grimalkin (William Penn and the Colony of Religious Toleration)Deerslayer - Teacher's Guide How to Read Literature Like a Professor: For Kids A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on The Gentle Art of Learning(TM)A Philosophy of Education (The Home Education Series) (Volume 6)For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School The Unhurried Homeschooler: A Simple, Mercifully Short Book on Homeschooling 120 inch Indoor Outdoor Movie Projector Screen with Bag, GBTIGER 120 Wireless Wifi Video Projector,Weton Full HD 1080P LED Home Theater Movie Projector Portable Mini Projector for iphone With HDMI USB Headphone Jack TV Good for Home Cinema XBOX ONE 130'' Max Dispaly

Do you have a reading list for the summer? I'd love to know what's on it!

You might also like:

Gentle Ways to School Through the Summer

Summer Book List for Kids

If memories of last summer have you more worried than excited about what to do with your children this summer, you're not the only one.

Moms everywhere are asking the perennial question, "Should we homeschool over the summer?"

If you're one of the confused mamas out there, these gentle ways to school throughout the summer are the breath of fresh summer air you need.

As I read Consider This, by Karen Glass, I understood that Charlotte Mason was a Classical Educator. There are so many principles that Classical and Charlotte Mason education share; I believe I am now re-categorizing my homeschool method as Classically Charlotte Mason.

These gentle ways strike a beautiful balance this summer - no matter your homeschool method or style, they can benefit you and your children greatly!

First Things, First

You certainly don't need my anyone's permission, but in case you want it, I'll give you mine.

You can take a break this summer.

That's right. Put the books away. Forget about multiplication tables. Don't even bring up the word schedule. It's summer! Who needs 'em! There. Did that feel better?

Seriously, reward the year's work with an official break. This serves several purposes. First, grandma and grandpa won't think you're a stodgy parent for forcing schoolwork over the summer. Second, it gives your kids the answer everyone asks, "What did you do on your summer break?". And last, it's just plain necessary. Even God rested on the seventh day.

The real decision here isn't rather or not to take a break, but how long of a break to take. There are all kinds of statistics out there about how soon kids start forgetting what we want them to remember, so I'm not going to go down that path.

You're in the driver's seat. You know your kids. You get to make the call. You're welcome.

Deciding to School Throughout the Summer

Before you haul back out your planner and all the curriculum, I challenge you to think of summer schooling differently than your school year schooling. Rather than schedules and lesson plans, let's focus on rhythms.

Want to sleep in a little? Go for it.

Want to stay up catching lightning bugs? Delightful.

The break you've taken will have done its proper job of revealing to you a natural rhythm in your home. The challenge, if it is one, is to make the most of that natural rhythm. This will automatically require the art of gentleness in your efforts to educate.

You have to transform yourself into a living textbook. Or to put it in mom speak, you've got to be sneaky. Look for ways that learning that occurs naturally.

I'm not saying you must entertain your children all summer. No way.

What I AM saying is this: Make Memories!

Memory Making Learning

If quotes inspire you as much as they do me, let this be your guide for school throughout the summer, "Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” It's attributed to several people, so I can't confirm it's truly Albert Einstein. But, we'll go with that.

Further, Mr. Webster defines education as, "EDUCA'TION, noun [Latin educatio.] T

he bringing up, as of a child, instruction; formation of manners. education comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper, and form the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for usefulness in their future stations."

He MUST be talking about summer school! Why? Because our memory making focus will be on manners, temper correction, and all of the ways we lay down rails for learning.

That brings us to another quote, or two, "The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days".—Charlotte Mason

"Charlotte likened good habits to rails on which our children’s lives could run smoothly. It is the parent’s business to lay down those rails." — Sonya Shafer

Gentle Ways to School Throughout the Summer

Laying Down Rails

I want to preface this section by saying, if you've never laid down a single rail, you may not find this gentle at all. But, I can also promise you, if you take the time now, during the summer, to lay down rails, you'll be a happier mom when school begins.

Laying down rails is really a way of, as Mr. Websters says, forming the matters. We're not talking about what to do with the pinky finger when drinking tea. No, we're talking about those daily little things that when piled up wear us down. Things like:

inattention
forgetfulness
laziness
lack of diligence
lack of candor
stinginess
disobedience
untruthfulness
wastefulness

If you're wondering how this is going to go down, well, it can only happen little by little. Here a little, there a little. And that's why it requires gentleness. From you, dear mom, it will require the patience, goodness, gentleness, and self-control—all the fruits of the Spirit.

Here's a helpful little printable planner for you: LAID BACK SUMMER PLANNER

Laid Back Summer Planner - Free Download - Gentle Ways to School Throughout the Summer

Download The Laid Back Summer Planner

Creating Little Successes

"Success is a series of small wins."

Again, I don't know who said that (thank you, internet). But, you hopefully understand me. Our goal with gentle ways to school throughout the summer is simple: We want to use this time to create a strong foundation for next school year, make memories, and have fun.

In order to set that strong foundation, we need a little bit of direction. This involves intention more than scheduling. Insight more than curriculum. And a mother's heart more than any rod. I challenge you to open yourself up to your child's little rough spots and help them iron them out.

You can do this by making the goals close together and attainable. This is essential in the beginning. You can't go from inattention to full attention during one read-aloud. It takes practice. So, let's look at some specific gentle ways we can school throughout the summer.

Start with Math

Before summer begins make a list of the board games in your home that would be considered math enrichment. Something as simple as Yahtzee can work. Whatever you and your children enjoy. No pencil to paper. Just skills practice to keep the rust from settling in.

Need suggestions? Here are some fun math games for kids I recommend.

The skill: math. The rail: learning to get along, taking turns, stretching the attention span, and truthfulness.

Living Books

We used summer as the official time for any child who "came of age" to get their own library card. I didn't turn them loose in the library (not a good idea in today's culture), but it gave them a sense of ownership.

I did give them each a book list. On the book list, I would list five books appropriate for their age or designed to train them in a certain habit. If they were struggling with lying, the book focused on truthfulness. You get the idea. These books were for quiet reading, car reading, and before bed reading.

I continued to use living books for read alouds, highlighting a certain character trait. We also listened to audiobooks that served this same purpose. I can tell you, nothing reveals pride in a child faster than know that the book you're reading is meant for another child. This happens with older kids who have witnessed corrections of youngers. Be ready.

The skill: literature. The rail: correcting the temper (pride), attentiveness, generosity, and loving kindness.

Nature Study

Summer lends itself beautifully to the study of nature.

You can keep things super simple, too. Give each child a summer notebook expressly for nature study. Use the Handbook of Nature Study as a guide, if that gives you confidence. But, just try to have fun. Look for ways to capture the moments. Some fun things we've done:

collect lightning bugs in jars
study praying mantis
collect leaves and make rubbings
gather around a large piece of poster board and all draw together an outdoor memory from play time
follow the ants
name the types of clouds that we can remember
collect rain
compost
go fishing and identify types of fish

The skills: science and nature study. The rail: perseverance, observation, truthfulness.

Journaling

A dollar store journal just meant for summer with some simple instruction is enough to keep writing a habit. The instruction can be as gentle as requiring the children to write in their journal three lines per day. You can provide quotes. Bible verses also work well.

The skill: writing. The rail: personal attentiveness, follow through, and responsibility.

Play

At the end of the day, leave lots of room for play. Outdoor games that get the large muscles moving are ideal. The older children and teens can be referees for tag, the "mother" or "father" in Mother or Father, May I?

The skill: teamwork. The rail: getting along, usefulness, temper, fortitude, self-restraint, listening, and so many others.

It doesn't have to be complicated.

With a little before-summer thinking on your part, you can plan to school with gentleness and intention. In the end, you'll have kept skills sharp, worked on habits and made a lot of memories.