Victoria is a native Angelino and self-employed artist based in the South Bay. She's also an extremely introverted single mom homeschooling two of the most absurdly extroverted kids ever born. She will be here talking all things homeschooling the first Friday of every month and she welcomes any/all questions!

Ok, so we’ve all made it through the weirdest school year, but… now that a lot of us have had to alter our summer plans re: camps, vacations, and activities, the “now what” phase of summer may have come a lot sooner (and harder) than we’d have liked.

Add to that that we may have used up a lot of our tricks to keep our kids entertained at home (a lot of us WHILE still working our full time jobs), well.. things may look bleak for these last few weeks of summer. But your friendly neighborhood homeschooler is here with some low-key educational activities that will hopefully make this socially distant summer still a fun one:

SUBSCRIPTION BOXES!

There are… probably millions (note: I did not fact check this) of subscription boxes out there, which, I’m going to admit are one of my NUMBER ONE FAVORITE THING ABOUT HOMESCHOOLING because 1. who doesn’t love getting surprises in the mail, and 2. they’re a great way to introduce topics that you may not have come across on your own. Our favorite brand of subscription box is KiwiCo (we’ve done both KiwiCrate and AtlasCrate with my oldest, and this year we’re getting her DoodleCrate and KoalaCrate for my son, but they have several other options for other age groups). Full disclosure we both get a $10 credit if you order through this link.

NATURE JOURNALING!

In the pre-rona days we’d take our sketchbooks and field painting kits out with us to Disneyland and on field trips (both are from Blick), but these days the park, beach, backyard, or even inside your own house can provide opportunities to practice drawing/painting from observation. And no, you do not have to already be a gifted artist to be able to do this and it’s very fun!

BOARD GAMES!

Ok I know I already wrote an ENTIRE POST about this topic already (and be sure to check it out if you haven’t yet because that’s where I have links to all of our favorites), but I can not stress enough how many very important academic skills (quick math, problem solving, strategy…) and real-world skills (taking turns, communication, winning and losing with grace…) board games reinforce. Also they’re just fun and create wholesome family memories.

MINERAL IDENTIFICATION!

Something you may or may not know about me as a person and not just homeschool mom is that my main gig is making and selling handmade healing crystal jewelry. This means my apartment is full of VERY INTERESTING ROCKS that NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO TOUCH, so a few months ago I got my kids this mineral identification kit and I am not exaggerating they spent the whole day sorting, identifying, and labeling the different minerals, and now they have their OWN collection of very interesting rocks that they ARE allowed to touch. Truly the best $25 I’ve ever spent.

AUDIOBOOKS!

Not all kids are big into independent reading (and that’s ok), but that doesn’t mean that you can’t expose them to more advanced types of literature by reading aloud. Except… we are in a pandemic and SOME OF US ARE TIRED AND NOT ABLE TO READ A CHAPTER BOOK RIGHT NOW (which is also ok). We use the Libby app (which is free), linked to our library cards (also free) to “check out” and listen to books because this mom’s an introvert and can only talk for so long.

EDUCATIONAL APPS!

I know we all have our own opinions about screen time, and I have a feeling a lot of us have… maybe changed those opinions a few times since March… And… In case you were wondering specifically WHICH apps I’ve used to rationalize how much time my kids are on their ipads because they’re LEARNING the answer is Brainpop, Coding Safari, and ABCmouse. And also yes I am fully aware that those apps are just THERE and it’s really just youtube kids running all day but whatever helps me sleep at night.

CRAFT KITS!

Look, if there’s one thing that’s like, universal about all kids, it’s that they love making things. And by things I mean messes. BUT craft kits are a great way to start to kind of channel that urge into something a little more productive? My oldest is a VERY sensory/tactile learner so we’ve made a TON of bath bombs, lip balms, slimes, and squishy balls and now she knows words like “emulsion” and “non-newtonian fluid”.

FIELD TRIPS!

Yeah, I know that “field trips” in the traditional sense aren’t exactly as readily available as they used to be, BUT that doesn’t mean that “learning outside of the home/classroom” as a whole is cancelled. You just have to think of that concept a little more broadly! Like, what about going on a hike? or to check out some tide pools? Or a botanic garden? Or to the outside part of the Aquarium of the Pacific because that’s only $12 right now? Or a virtual field trip?

COOKING!

Besides the obvious reading and math skills that go along with following recipes, and the life skills of… knowing how to make your own damn food, cooking and baking are AMAZING springboards to dive into questions about science and social studies. Grab a cookbook or start a sourdough mother and start looking for the answers to questions like: How does bread rise? Where in the world does this food come from? Why do I have to preheat the oven? How is this food traditionally served and eaten? How did this food become a part of OUR family history?

These times are weird, FOR SURE, but I don’t think that has to mean that our summers have to be boring, or that there aren’t yet uncharted realms of educational activities that can be done… during these unprecedented times (sorry I just had too I couldn’t help it please forgive me)

Happy Homeschooling,

Victoria aka The Homegrown Homeschooler

P.S. if you’re curious about what life is like for a single, self-employed, homeschooling mom of high-maintenance kids feel free to give me a follow on IG (but yes, it is 100% as exhausting as it sounds).

Or DM me on insta @victoriaannmeyers or send me an email at contact@victoriaannmeyers.com

Disclosure: some, if not all, of the links contained in this post are affiliate links in which the author earns a small commission of your purchase, please consider purchasing through such links on this and other blog posts as a way to be a super awesome supporter of your favorite content creators without spending any extra money.