{"id":38800,"date":"2015-06-03T06:30:12","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T10:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/simplehomeschl.wpengine.com\/?p=38800"},"modified":"2026-02-23T11:03:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T16:03:37","slug":"summer-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/summer-break\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer = time gained"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"If<\/a><\/p>\n

Written by Sarah Mackenzie of Amongst Lovely Things<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

I<\/span> have a bad habit of thinking\u00a0that\u00a0summer is time lost. You know what I\u2019m talking about, right?<\/p>\n

It seems that every\u00a0time we take a couple of months off of school completely, when we finally get back to hitting the books in September, each and every one of my kids has\u00a0forgotten details like how to write a complete sentence or that 2+2=4.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s maddening.<\/p>\n

After all, we pour so much into our teaching during the year! If we take the summer off and lose ground\u2014 well, that\u2019s time lost, isn’t it?<\/strong>
\n<\/p>\n

But on a recent Quiddity podcast<\/a>, Cindy Rollins (mother of nine now-graduated homeschooled kids and someone I look up to very much) convinced me that\u00a0summer break is not time lost, even if it looks<\/em> entirely unproductive.<\/p>\n

Summer break is time gained.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time we take special care to grow as a person is going to spill over into your next school year,\u201d Cindy said. And then she went on to encourage homeschooling moms to read a lot<\/strong>, and to carve out time for full-stop breaks from homeschooling<\/strong> in the summer.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve moved to a year-round model of schooling in our home. These last few years,\u00a0we\u2019ve had a whole lot of new-baby-and-toddler action going on, so I’ve come to rely on summer to catch up and do the things we didn\u2019t find\u00a0time for during the school year.<\/p>\n

But if we want to be peaceful, restful homeschooling moms who come to\u00a0the table with full energy stores in September, perhaps we ought to see our summer as time set aside for something different.<\/p>\n

Not time lost. Not time-to-catch-up. But time gained.<\/p>\n

After that chat with Cindy, I got to thinking about how I could make my summer really count–\u00a0how I could use it as time gained to help me be the kind of nourished, rested, intentional mama I really want to be.
\n\"IMG_2013-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Read<\/h4>\n

Books read in the summer have a different kind of impact on me\u00a0than books I read at other times of year.<\/strong> I have no scientific proof to back that up, but I\u2019m certain it\u2019s true. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

If you, like me, are out of the reading habit, perhaps\u00a0choose just one book- an easy read- and see what happens. When I\u2019ve lost my reading groove, I find the best way out is just one easy book at a time.<\/p>\n

A good book will give me the impetus I need to pick up another, and another. Need good recommendations? You can\u2019t get much better than the Summer Reading Guide at Modern Mrs. Darcy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1177-2\"<\/p>\n

Rest<\/h4>\n

Even those of us who\u00a0school year-round can put a full stop on structured learning for at least pockets of time. So many of our best connections are made when we aren\u2019t doing the active work of learning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Downtime spent at the lake, hiking a trail, napping under a tree, kicking dirt mindlessly in the backyard\u2014 that\u2019s when the pot simmers, so to speak.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t have to be the whole summer- it doesn\u2019t even have to be a whole month, but making a point to set aside time to be, and to let our kids be, may very well go a long way.<\/p>\n

After all, we\u2019re people. Humans. And we need time to let that humanity flourish and grow and be without the pressures of checklists and academic goals.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1020\"<\/p>\n

Refresh<\/h4>\n

My favorite way to refresh is to take a long walk with a good podcast going. I come back inspired, rejuvenated, and ready to take on my life with a little more oomph.<\/p>\n

Just a few great podcasts to get you started (there are lots of other great ones, too!):<\/p>\n