Have you ever tried summertime school on the front porch?
We homeschool for so many reasons. It seems that with each passing year, I discover a new one. A long time ago we discovered the joy of summertime school on the front porch.
Summertime is not usually time for school.
It might seem like the wrong time to teach your children. But for us it is a perfect time to homeschool. One of the best reasons to school at home is that you can enjoy those empty beaches and uncrowded museums.
My kids asked me a long time ago if we could homeschool year-round. It is a little harder on me, but easier in the long run. There is no rush to finish. Even with some vacation breaks throughout the year, we still finish with plenty of time to spare.
And so we hit the beaches in the fall, when everyone else is back in the classroom. The roads are clear and you can pick nearly any spot you like on the sand to lay out your blanket.
We go to the snow on weekdays, hit museums on weekday afternoons after the school groups have left, and always go to the library before school lets out for the day.
Even extroverts don’t like crowds
My kids are definitely not introverts. The opposite, actually. The thing is that even extroverts don’t like to wade through crowds and sit in traffic on the highway. So our crowd avoidance strategy has led us to a year-round homeschool.
You can usually decide when to school for yourself when you homeschool.
If you are just starting out as a homeschooling family, you might be tempted to follow the calendar of the local schools. You might not realize that in many states, you can decide for yourself. Look it up and if you do have the authority to decide, think about what works best for you and your kids.
Don’t worry, the neighbors will get used to it. Mine did. Even the ones who are school teachers. After they see homeschooling in action, they change their minds.
Schooling on the front porch is a great way to share a peek into your day with your neighbors.
If you are doing a craft or a science experiment, the porch is also a great place since clean up is easy.
After all these years homeschooling, our neighbors still don’t really understand why we like to teach our kids at home, but they are amazed at all the things my kids know and everything that they can do. So I guess you could call it a state of cautious respect for our way of life.
