Summer School at Home

Summer is definitely arriving soon! We have just a week left of school for our 3 older kids and the sun is shining. It really got me to thinking about how to spend the time with them when they aren't in school and how to get my preschooler ready for the fall.
There are so many things that our kids are taught in school but also many that aren't. It occurred to me that the summer is a great time to focus on the things I want them to learn that aren't taught in school. It's also a great time to reinforce some of their school lessons. They learn at school to check out, take care of and return library books so we are definitely hitting up the public library this summer. They will keep up their reading skills and continue to learn about taking care of things that are borrowed and the privilege of borrowing. We are also going to get flash cards for our 3rd grader since learning the multiplication facts was a little tough for her this year.
What I really want to focus on though is some of the things we don't get as much time for. I want them to really work on taking care of their space so I'm going to hold the older kids to making their beds and doing their chores. I'm also going to make sure they all understand our choices to have a home garden, to do our own composting with worm bins and our focus on recycling and why we make those choices. I want them to really understand the importance of taking care of our planet, our family and ourselves. I also plan to take a few road trips this summer that are focused on nature and the outdoors. I'm taking them to see Yosemite and we've already been to see the Giant Sequoias. I want them to see the world as something amazing to be a part of and I want them to care about their impact here.
I also want to spend more time doing hands on things like baking cupcakes together and less time with them in front of the TV. I want them to be outside, to take walks together and maybe fit in a little creek clean up time near our home. I hope we can do a lot of economical projects together too like making our own popsicles and creating bird feeders with pinecones and peanut butter!
Now this is my idea of summer school!