Why We Don't Identify As Year-Round Homeschoolers

We educate all year, of course, and I still require what most would consider academic or book work during most of the summer months. Overall, though, I tend not to identify us as year-round homeschoolers for one reason: summer camps.

I'm a big fan of summer camps. Yes, kids need downtime, time to relax and just be, and so forth. I'm not denying that. For my kids, though, for whom every day might include a good dose of that sort of thing, summer camp is a great time to expand their horizons and provide them with a not-as-every day experience.

The result is that I'm almost always seeking out options and ideas for great summer camp experiences for the kids. EG has a few camps that she always attends, but this year she's branching out. I'm similarly seeking new options for FB, as he's outgrown the preschool half-day camps, and simultaneously hasn't quite aged into some of the grade-school camps. (Fie!) As I was writing this post, I went to confirm something else and discovered that, technically, PC is old enough for half-day preschool camp at the YMCA. I really can't imagine her at camp. "[PC], come sit in the circle." "No!" Yeah, I think we may wait on that one--though, ohhh, it is tempting.

What kind of camps? This year, both of the bigs are going to ice skating camp. They'll also go to a local high school show choir's day camp (EG has gone for years; this will be FB's first year). EG will go to Girl Scout day camp; FB will probably go to tennis camp at the Y for a week, plus a Sports & Skills camp that a local church holds each year. EG's two big new camps are Girls Rock Camp and Space Camp. Yes, these absorb a huge chunk of the summer budget, lol! I think she'll really enjoy both of them, though. I want to find something else for FB, but as I said, he's at an awkward age. The local universities have summer camps, but he's not considered old enough. He's bright and all of that, but if I pay for zoo camp or similar, I want him to be a little older. I think he'll still manage to have a good summer.

And, of course... I hope we'll be moving this summer.