The Layers of Learning Podcast with Karen and Michelle is here to help you get your whole family learning together in your homeschool. We are the sisters behind Layers of Learning. We love getting together to chat about homeschooling and this podcast is just a series of our chats. We’re inviting you to listen in on our conversations.

We both have big families, but we teach almost all of our school subjects to everyone at once. We want to help you find the joy in that too, so we talk a lot about family homeschooling. To see all of our episodes, visit our Layers of Learning Podcast Page. Join us as we explore how to have a happy, hands-on, family-style homeschool.

Some homeschoolers choose to do school year-round, but that isn’t for everyone. We spend our summers at the lake, hiking, and going on adventures as a family. We also love to have time to reset, make new homeschool plans and get organized, order new books and supplies, and take a long enough break to get excited for each new school year to begin. When you take time off though, you always risk the summer slide. Kids tend to forget quite a bit of what they’ve learned during the school year when you time off for summer break. Have you ever noticed that the first part of every math text book is just a review from what kids have already learned the year before? Summer slide is real!

There are a few things you can do to keep the summer slide from stealing everything you’ve learned together though. In this podcast, we share ideas for a few simple things you can do to ward off the summer slide even if you do choose to take the whole summer off like we do.

• Making a gift package for your kids with books, art supplies, science kits, tickets to museums, and more things to kick off summer
  
  
• Keeping library visits going and signing up for reading programs around your town or city
  
  
• Planning a read aloud followed by a movie night of the same story for your family
  
  
• Going on family trips and taking advantage of real-life learning about the things you’re seeing and the places you’re going
  
  
• Becoming a “tourist” in your town and explore the landmarks and sites of your area
  
  
• Assigning your kids to plan outings for your family, right down to making a grocery list and figuring out what time you need to leave and if you have enough gas in your car
  
  
• Playing outside and being imaginative
  
  
• Doing family work projects or service projects
  
  
• Playing quiz games and trivia with things you’ve learned
  
  
• Having your kids keep a journal, write letters, and have other authentic writing experiences
  
  
• Encouraging your kids to pursue their hobbies and interests