No, this is not about air conditioning; it's about scheduling. Actually, it's about overscheduling.

Since it is already time to consider and sign up for many summer activities, here are some thoughts to help you.

First, prayerfully consider your most important goals as a Christian home-school family, such as:

Then, ask yourself questions like these:

1. Spiritual Growth
Are we allowing plenty of time for personal and family Bible reading, study, discussion, and memorization, as well as prayer and hymn singing?

2. Service and Evangelism
Is there something we could do as a family
1) to serve others in our church, extended family, or community that would bring honor to God or
2) to spread the good news of salvation?

3. Academics
Which skills and/or subjects do each of our children really need to master, review, or maintain this summer to be ready for next year?

4. Relaxation
When can each person have time alone to just relax, without demands or deadline?

5. Family Unity
Will an activity we are considering tend to unify or separate our family?

6. Making Memories
What can we do together this summer that will create life-long memories and strengthen our bonds?

7. Limited Commitments
Can we limit our commitments in such a way that we all feel unhurried and rested, while accomplishing a few things we really care about?

As always, we need to diligently keep the good from crowding out the best!

The Bible says that God has revealed Himself through His creation.  We can build our children's faith when we point them to the Creator through the study of all the wonders He has made.

Teach your children about creation directly from the Scriptures, starting in Genesis.

Teach your children to appreciate and wonder at God’s creation as you drive, walk, view videos, or look at books.  Notice its:

Don’t stop with appreciation and wonder; go on to express praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for His creation.

Help your children see God’s attributes in creation.  (Read Psalm 104 and Psalm 139:13-16.)  Some examples include:

•  Power and Might – in thunderstorms and the pounding waves

•  Faithfulness – in the consistent days, months, and seasons

•  Love and Care – for the smallest bird (Matt. 10:29)

•  Beauty – in scenery, flowers, sunsets, etc.

•  Majesty – in the grandeur of mountains and canyons

•  Infiniteness – in the expanse of the universe

•  Orderliness – in migration and design

•  Creativity – in the variety of nature

“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”
     – George Washington Carver

•  Christian Textbooks, Worktexts, and Unit Studies. See The Teaching Home's Resource Directory.

•  Answers In Genesis, mega-website with many articles and resources.

•  Creation Illustrated and Nature Friend, Christian nature magazines.

Walking out-of-doors with your children is a wonderful daily habit.  The benefits include:

You can casually notice and comment on things in nature from time to time as you walk along, or you can plan a more formal nature walk.

Either way, it is important to teach your children, by word and example, to be aware of their surroundings and see the beauty of God’s creation all around them.

Wherever you go, be sure you know and observe posted rules, common courtesy, and safety. Stay on the paths, no loud running around other people, no picking plants or removing wildlife, avoid poisonous plants or snakes, etc.

See safety pointers at U.S. Forest Service.

•  Within walking distance: around your own yard, neighborhood, or nearby park.

•  Within driving distance: a nearby conservation area; garden; arboretum; county, state, or national forest or park; or the beach.

For State Parks in your state, search “state park” in Google.

•  During your daily scheduled walk time.

•  Try walking your regular route at different times during the day and observing any differences.

•  At night (for a change). Take Dad or an older brother, follow safety precautions, and go quietly so as not to disturb your neighbors.

•  A whole or half-day outing and picnic with Dad and/or another family.

Be prepared to observe nature and make your walk safe and comfortable by bringing:

•  Your curiosity. On the way, talk about things you might see and raise questions about them.

•  Snacks and water.

•  First aid kit.

•  Magnifying glass for a closer look at details. The large size is handier to use for small things like bugs.

•  Binoculars for long-distance things like birds.

•  Camera to capture images of nature.

•  Plastic jar with mesh lid for insects.

•  Plastic bag to collect items such as small rocks, shells, leaves, pine cones, or sticks.

•  Sketch book or small notebook for notes.

•  Regular No. 2 pencil and/or good-quality colored pencils and a good eraser.

•  Nature field guide(s) of birds, insects, animals, trees, plants, wildflowers, rocks, shells, etc. Look for those that specialize in species found in your state or region.

See more than 15,000 nature related books and products (including 400 different field guides) at www.wildlifeforever.org.

You can add variety to your nature walks and learn more by trying some of the following:

Penny Walk
As you walk in your neighborhood, flip a penny at every corner and go right if it is heads, and left if it is tails.

A to Z Walk
Look for an item in nature for every letter of the alphabet that you can. (You might have to use scientific names from your guidebook for some letters.)

Rainbow Walk
Try to find something for every color of the rainbow.

Leave-It-Where-You-Find-It Scavenger Hunt Walk
Make a list and look for items such as something hard, soft, short, long, fuzzy, smooth, large, and small.

For a greater challenge, list specific species of plant or animal or types of rocks, leaves, or clouds, etc.

If you have a digital camera, you might photograph each item for viewing on your TV or computer screen.

Touch, Smell, Listen
Use your senses to observe nature by seeing, touching, smelling, and hearing.

Try to concentrate on listening to sounds on your night walk when you are not distracted by seeing things.

Print a worksheet for this walk and find other ideas at www.naturely.com.

If your family is in an area by yourselves, it can be very meaningful to quote or read a few Bible verses (Psalm 19), sing a song (“How Great Thou Art”), and pray, praising and thanking the Lord for the beauty of the earth.

If you are not able to have a time of worship outside, you might quote Scripture, sing softly, and pray in a conversational manner as you walk along the trail or ride home in the car.

Your family may find that they want to make a serious hobby (at least for one spring or summer) of one of the following:

•  Bird watching
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
National Audubon Society
Online Bird Guide

•  Entomology
Gather, study, and display insects. Collections can be entered in state fairs. Don't miss these great websites:
www.insects.org
Home Science Tools

•  Geocaching
Take your family or group geocaching—a type of scavenger hunt for a waterproof container bearing a “treasure.”

•  Hiking or Backpacking

A particular focus in our children's science study has been the careful observation of God's creation.

Familiarize your children with field guides, showing them the different plant families. Show them how to identify a plant by its shape, size, color, fruit, seeds, and leaves.

•  See if you can identify all the shrubs and trees in your yard.

•  Then go to a park and identify plants there as well.

•  Go on to identify birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and fish.

Younger children may not be ready for the technical details required by this exercise, but there are things you can do now to get them ready to use a field guide later.

When your young child sees a bird, ask him to notice and describe different characteristics to you.

•  Was it larger or smaller than a robin?

•  What color was it?

•  Was its tail short or long?

•  Did it have a crest?

•  What about stripes, spots, or other markings?

•  Did it fly smoothly or like a roller coaster?

Our younger children have enjoyed making a list of the creatures they see on a walk. We often take long walks in nature and see rabbits, squirrels, ducks, hawks, egrets, and other wild creatures which are easy to identify.

Our children also count how many of each they see and write it down either on the walk or as soon as they get home.

This is the way naturalists become familiar with wildlife populations. In fact, a local naturalist, seeing our children's enthusiasm for wild creatures, asked us to help her by counting the bats in our area.

Read more of Joy Marie Dunlap's articles at www.lighthome.net.