Well, there are year-round homeschoolers, moms who declare three months of freedom, and then there are homeschool moms like me.
We live in the Pacific Northwest, where sun is an occasional–and seasonal–rarity. I didn’t want to lose out on summer activities or beautiful lazy days at home. I also didn’t want to go through the inevitable summer learning loss, called the summer slide, that occurs in subjects like math and reading when kids have three months of total educational freedom.
So, we had a great summer homeschool routine. Before the day really warmed up, my kids did a little math, a little reading, and Bible. Then, we went and played hard the rest of the day. It worked really well for us–and there was no summer slide!
For your homeschool mom consideration, here are four ideas for your independent learners that they’ll want to dig into every morning!
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Summer Homeschool Ideas for Independent Learning
Check out a few independent learning ideas for your 8 to 12 year olds that they’ll want to do!
1) Bible
The ages of 8 to 12 are perfect for learning how to study the Bible. They’re also great ages for beginning independent Bible study. And, it’s a great time for kids to really dig into understanding sound doctrine and the overarching themes of Scripture.
I promised independent learning ideas your kids will want to do, and I have the perfect solution for you this summer!
Bible Investigators: Creation is a puzzle-based Bible study for 8-12 year olds that will teach your kids about God’s plan of salvation in the context of the doctrine of Creation. In fact, your kids will learn all about Creation in six fun units.
With 90 brain-teasing puzzles, 40 Bible passages, and 30 concepts regarding God’s creation, this 272-page lesson, puzzle, and activity book gives kids aged 8-12 skills to investigate the Bible for themselves―just like a real investigator! As kids apply logic and solve challenging puzzles, they will dive deeply into Scripture and examine the Bible’s account of creation, picking up lots of skills for reading and interpreting the Bible. Your kids will also find lots of journaling boxes which allow them to reflect on, interpret, and apply what they have learned about God’s Word.
What types of puzzles and activities will you find in Bible Investigators?
- Word Searches
- Crosswords
- Rebus Puzzles
- Dot-to-Dots
- Logic Puzzles
- Missing Letter Puzzles
- Cryptograms
- Word Sudoku
- Mazes
- How-to-Draw Pages
- Matching Pairs
- Word Scrambles
- Journal Pages
Your children can absolutely go through Bible Investigators: Creation over the summer, working through a lesson every day or three!
Learn more here.
Purchase from Amazon, or grab an autographed copy from Thinking Kids Press.
2) Reading
Summer is a great time for kids to read books they’ll enjoy. They can use the freedom from a structured curriculum to explore new books and genres. Of course, that doesn’t mean you won’t be involved in their book choices!
Your kids can spend a few minutes each day keeping a log of books they’ve read, books they want to read, and more!
The My Book Log: A Notebooking Journey is structured to allow your 8 to 12 year olds to learn everything they need to know to really understand reading fiction and nonfiction during their elementary years. Not only that, the notebooking portion of their book log gives them a way to practice what they’ve learned over and over again.
It’s the perfect tool for summer reading, and beyond. Your kids will be starting a log they’ll want to keep for life. My favorite part of the Book Log are the mini-book reports, and the teaching on fiction and nonfiction books. Your kids will learn important facts about plot, characters, and genres.
The My Book Log has some cool aspects to it:
- Explanations, charts, and diagrams
- The Dewey Decimal System
- The Dewey Decimal Classes
- Fiction Book Genres
- Nonfiction Book Genres
- Fiction Characters
- Fiction Plot
- Nonfiction Text Structures
- Nonfiction Beginnings
- Theme
- Author Worldview
- Interactive Fun
- A Library Scavenger Hunt
- Book Plates for Your Kids
- Text and Pictures to Color
- Book Logs Galore
- Books I’ve Borrowed
- Books I’ve Loaned
- Books I Want to Read
- Books I’ve Read
- Books I’ve Loaned
- Mini Book Reports
- Fiction Book Reports
- Nonfiction Book Reports
- Easy-to-Fill in Reports that Reinforce What Your Child Has Learned
Learn more here.
Purchase from Thinking Kids Press.
3) Adventures
It’s important that our kids don’t just read over the summer. Writing is a skill that’s subject to summer slide, too.
Writing doesn’t have to be tedious, though. Eight to 12 year olds have an easier time writing when they’re recording events they’ve lived. Notebooking is a great tool for that!
As your kids and tweens travel and explore the world around them, you’ll want to have a way for them to keep track of where they’ve been and what they’ve seen. The My Field Trip and Travel Journal will help them do just that.
My boys loved keeping a travel log of their journeys and field trips. Life for kids is an adventure, so even day-trips, hikes, and fun summer days are perfect for writing about!
Your kids will keep track of:
- Places They’ve Been
- Places They’d Like to Go
- Mapping Their Journeys
- A Record of Their Trips
- Trip Dates
Your kids will learn:
- To Keep Lists
- About Geography
- Where They Are in the World
- Notetaking Skills
- Basic Memoir Story Writing
- To Plan Trips on the Calendar
Learn more here.
Purchase from Thinking Kids Press.
4) Math
It’s important that kids continue working on math throughout the summer to prevent that dreaded summer slide. Even a couple of days each week can make a big difference!
You can always continue working on the math curriculum your family uses, or you can mix it up a bit.
- If you’re looking for an online math program, check out CTC Math.
- We used a literature-based, independent math program, Life of Fred. The books were funny, and my kids learned a lot. We started with Apples in grade 3, and they just read through all of the books until they made it through Calculus.
With just a little effort, you can set your kids up for a fun, enriching, summer homeschool experience.
Bible Resources for Your Kids
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Puzzle-Based Independent Bible Study for Kids!
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2, ESV
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- Observe: They pay attention to what they’re reading.
- Interpret: They figure out what the Bible means in that section.
- Apply: They decide how the truth of God’s Word impacts their life today.
There are a great many truths in life to be found—some interesting, some boring, and some that really matter. You can be the kind of investigator who spends time puzzling out important truth so that you can know all the knowable knowledge that God has given us. That’s right. God, the Creator of the Universe, gave you a great big letter from him to explore and study so that you can discover the truths that really matter to your life!”
Bible Investigators: Creation, (The Good Book Company, 2024), page 7
The Bible Investigators: Creation Bible study for kids, written by Danika Cooley and published by The Good Book Company, is 272-pages of learning, puzzles, and fun activities designed to help your kids become amazing independent Bible investigators–observing, interpreting, and applying God’s Word as they learn what the Bible teaches on a particular subject.
Bible Puzzles for Kids
Middle grade kids, aged 8-12, love puzzles. After all, their brains are just built for figuring things out and memorizing facts. Puzzles are a wonderful way to help kids develop logic skills and retain important information. And, the book is written in a fun, conversational tone your children are sure to love!
What types of puzzles and activities will you find in Bible Investigators?
-
- Word Searches
- Crosswords
- Rebus Puzzles
- Dot-to-Dots
- Logic Puzzles
- Missing Letter Puzzles
- Cryptograms
- Word Sudoku
- Mazes
- How-to-Draw Pages
- Matching Pairs
- Word Scrambles
- Journal Pages
Every child is sure to find activities they’ll love!
Elementary-aged kids need hands-on middle grade resources that engage them and equip them to process important truths.
Bible Investigators is the perfect resource to teach your kids about an important biblical doctrine, while helping them apply God’s Word to their lives today.
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