Summer is in full swing and it is HOT. When summer hits education often takes a back step to just keeping cool and having fun. Only… It does not have to. You can teach your child while they play in the pool. Figuring out how to homeschool in the pool is half the fun. Make a game out of it with bath and pool toys. Find creative ways to make everyday schooling work at the pool.
Teach fractions and measurements in the pool.
Teaching basic fractions and measuring is easy in the pool. Just take measuring cups and buckets. How many teaspoons make a cup? How many cups make a gallon? How many gallons do you think fills this pool? Learn to measure distances. Take a flexible fabric tape measure like you use for sewing to measure the length and height of objects at the pool for easy practice and plenty of fun.
Learn about what makes things sink or float
Play sink or float. This one always makes my kids happy whether it is in a large tote or the swimming pool. I challenge them to find a few items they think will float and a few they think will sink. The older children are usually right because they have an understanding of this now but I love encouraging the children to think. The more they play the more they will begin to understand how things work in a lesson they never forget.
Use waterproof cards for a fun poolside game.
Ever combined the classic card game war with water and a waterproof deck of cards? I thought not. In a pool without a filter, you can toss the waterproof cards in and have each child swim and collect as many as they can. Faster they gather the cards the bigger advantage they have over the other guy. Now play a traditional though an uneven game of war. Turn any game of war into addition, subtraction, or multiplication game. Have each player pull out two cards. solve the equation. The person with the highest number wins the cards.
Set your child’s inner photographer free with a waterproof camera.
One of the best investments I ever made was my waterproof, crushproof, dustproof, shockproof, and freezeproof camera. I can literally set my kids lose and find a memory card full of creatives image anywhere we go even the pool or lake. This camera was a bit of an investment for our family at over $200 but was much less than a DSLR and it can do anything and go anywhere and I can let my kids have all the fun they want. They are learning a skill as well as how to aim, frame shots, and use basic hand-eye coordination.
Bring educational bath toys too the pool
The educational toys you buy for the bath from foam letters to teach reading and spelling to toy fishing sets the opportunities to bring the fun and learning to the pool are endless. Throw letters out in the pool and have them swim to fetch the letters to spell a word. This is a great way to get kids physically active, learning, and having fun while keeping cool on a hot summer day.
Work on your read-aloud at the pool.
Grabbing your read-aloud book and taking it to the pool is a great way to keep cool and still get your reading in. Allow the children to wade in the pool while you read with your feet in the pool or sitting on a step to keep cool. This is a relaxing and enjoyable way to get your summer reading list completed when you choose to homeschool in the summer.
Summer is a great time for homeschooling outside whether it be learning at the pool or homeschooling in the garden. Get out have fun and get messy doing the things you cant do in the winter.
This is a great idea, shame it wasn’t going when I was little!
What great ideas! If only I had thought of these when my kids were young. Mind you, we didn’t have a pool but I suppose the little kiddy pool would have worked. I’ll have to save these ideas for when I’m a grandma 🙂
These are great ideas, and so fun! I love watching kids around a pool and these would be games but also great learning.
Fun ideas! We usually just swim at the pool, but I like the idea of making it educational, too.