Summer Learning Activities for all Ages

I was shocked when I got an email from school Friday saying there are only 3 weeks left of school.  Holy crud!  I better get myself in gear planning some summer learning activities, I was happily living in denial.

I have found it best to have some sort of schedule and some activities planned for the summer with two 13-year-old boys and if not, I’m setting myself up for major failure!  My daughter also asked me if I could help her find some learning websites for my granddaughters and  I thought I’d share some of those here.  Being an ex-homeschool mom for 17 years, I have a few tried and true sites I’ve used.

I would also like to share a couple of books that I have used over and over in my many years of parenting.  One is Sanity in the Summertime by Claudia Arp and Linda Dillow.  It is jammed packed with practical useful tools to do with your kids from learning & spiritual activities, to chores, to travel, to just plain fun!.  I highly recommend it. Another book I have used over and over is 401 Ways to Get Your Kids to Work at Home by Bonnie Runyan McCullough.  It has many proven and effective tips and tricks and strategies on how to get your kids to share the housework. My older kids would tell me I need to get this book back out and use it with my twins.

Summer Learning Activities for all ages:

Preschool sites:

Learning Activities for Pre-schoolers

http://www.abcmouse.com/
http://www.first-school.ws/
http://www.childcareland.com/free.html
http://www.softschools.com/grades/preschool/
http://www.oopseydaisyblog.com/mommy-school

Kindergarten sites:

http://www.abcya.com/kindergarten_computers.htm
http://www.wacona.com/kindergartengames/kindergartengames.html
http://www.kidslearningstation.com/
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/
http://www.vocabulary.co.il/kindergarten-vocabulary-games/ Vocabulary
http://www.softschools.com/grades/kindergarten.jsp
http://kindergartenbasics.blogspot.com/

1st Grade:

http://www.greatschools.org/students/activities/298-first-grade-learning-games-activities.gs
http://www.education.com/activity/first-grade/
http://www.softschools.com/grades/1st_grade/math/ Math
http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/1st-grade-math.html  Math
http://www.abcya.com/first_grade_computers.htm
http://www.vocabulary.co.il/first-grade-vocabulary-games/ Vocabulary
http://www.homeschoolmath.net/worksheets/grade_1.php
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/spelling-level-d.html

2nd Grade:

http://www.education.com/worksheets/second-grade/
http://www.homeschoolmath.net/worksheets/grade_2.php  Math
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/2nd-comprehension.html Reading
http://www.greatschools.org/worksheets/second-grade/writing/
http://www.scholastic.com/resources/collection/printables-1st-2nd-grade
http://www.abcya.com/second_grade_computers.htm
http://www.vocabulary.co.il/second-grade-vocabulary-games/  Vocabulary
http://www.softschools.com/grades/5thgrade.jsp

3rd Grade:

http://www.abcya.com/third_grade_computers.html
http://www.greatschools.org/students/activities/303-third-grade-learning-games-and-activities.gs
http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/3rd-grade-math.html  Math
http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/CompactforReading/table3.html  Reading
http://www.vocabulary.co.il/third-grade-vocabulary-games/ Vocabulary
http://www.time4learning.com/spellingwords/3rd-grade-spelling-words.shtml  Spelling
http://www.homeschoolmath.net/worksheets/grade_3.php
http://www.softschools.com/grades/5thgrade.jsp

4th Grade:

http://www.abcya.com/fourth_grade_computers.htm
http://www.vocabulary.co.il/fourth-grade-vocabulary-games/  Vocabulary
http://www.education.com/activity/fourth–grade
http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/4th-grade-math.html
http://www.learningplanet.com/index.asp
http://www.greatschools.org/students/activities/542-fourth-fifth-grade-tips-activities.gs
http://www.homeschoolmath.net/worksheets/grade_4.php  Math
http://www.education.com/worksheets/fourth-grade/
http://www.time4learning.com/education/fourth_grade.shtml
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/spelling-level-d.html
http://www.softschools.com/grades/5thgrade.jsp

5th Grade:

http://www.abcya.com/fifth_grade_computers.htm
http://www.vocabulary.co.il/fifth-grade-vocabulary-games/  Vocabulary
http://www.greatschools.org/students/activities/542-fourth-fifth-grade-tips-activities.gs
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/4th-comprehension.html  Reading
http://www.education.com/activity/fifth-grade/
http://www.softschools.com/grades/5thgrade.jsp
http://www.time4learning.com/fifth-grade-math.shtml

Middle School:

http://www.softschools.com/grades/6th_and_7th.jsp
http://www.education.com/activity/middle-school/
http://www.greatschools.org/students/summer-activities/slideshows/4169-summer-learning-middle-school.gs
http://www.math-play.com/Middle-School-Math-Games.html
http://www.mathplayground.com/
http://powermylearning.com/

All Ages:

http://www.mathworksheetsland.com– This is a GREAT math worksheet site. Definitely worth the visit.

http://www.funbrain.com/index.html
http://www.education.com
http://www.tlsbooks.com/
http://www.softschools.com/
http://www.learningplanet.com/index.asp
http://www.time4learning.com/
http://www.mathplayground.com/
http://www.theclassroomcreative.com/

Need some craft ideas?  Check these out!

Don’t forget to READ!  I’m not above bribing to get them to read.  My twins aren’t fond of reading but will do it more readily if I download the book on their iPod so that they can listen as they read along.  Our library has a huge selection of audiobooks.

If your child has a particular interest.  Study it!!  A great resource for a topic study is using lap books.  Here are a couple of sites http://www.homeschoolshare.com/lapbooking_resources.php  and http://lapbooking.wordpress.com/ that go into detail on how to make them.  We all know that kids learn best by doing!

While you’re at it why don’t YOU, yes you mom find something that interests you and study it.  One year I did an in-depth study of the Amish culture.  I read fiction and non-fiction and studied their lifestyle. Another year, I focused on herbs.  How to grow them and their medicinal uses.  I made herbal bath oils and herbal vinegar.  I learned how to find and identify them growing in the wild.  We are NEVER too old to stop learning and growing.

I hope you find something useful summer learning activities from this list!
Do you have any tried and true tips for managing summer and keeping kids from becoming zombies??

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