Making homemade ice cream together is a family memory shared by many generations.

 •   Buy an ice cream maker or use your freezer.

 •   Ingredients can include cream, milk, or yogurt; sugar or honey; plus flavorings.

 •   Add fresh, seasonal fruit in or on your ice cream

 •   See many ice cream recipes, many unusual recipes, 460 recipes, 555 recipes.

     Good news! If you missed your spring cleaning this year, you can do it now.
     Because of school schedules, a thorough house cleaning from attic to basement may be easier for homeschoolers to do during the summer than the spring.

 •   You might want to set aside a week or a full or partial day each week for cleaning until it is done.

 •   As you clean, continue using the 4-box method of getting rid of clutter.

 •   Clean room by room and deal with each and every item, nook, and cranny.

 •   Clean as a team. Assign each member of your family a chore (some may want to specialize) and see how much more you can do working together.

     Celebrate when done!

     Reports have recently shown that, in general, people are becoming less connected to those around them. A traditional summer neighborhood activity that can help remedy this is a block party.

 •   Invite people on your block with written invitations.

 •   Someone with a large yard may offer to host a BBQ or potluck picnic, or you could go to a local park.

 •   Have everyone bring food, chairs, and folding tables, etc.

 •   Visiting and getting acquainted is the main objective, but games help break the ice and occupy children.

     Advantages of being acquainted with your neighbors are:

 •   Safety of persons and property as you look out for each other. Exchange a (confidential) list of names and phone numbers for use in emergencies. You might even consider forming a neighborhood watch (read "How do I start a Neighborhood Watch?").

 •   The opportunity to witness and be "salt" in your community. You might consider hosting a children's 5-day club this summer, or an ongoing weekly children's Bible club and/or lead a ladies or couples Bible study.

     What better to do this summer than to help our family hide God's Word in their hearts.

 •   Learn verses that show the plan of salvation, or teach basic doctrines and attributes of God.

 •   Learn larger Scripture portions such as a Psalm (23, 19, or 91), the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, the armor of God, the fruits of the Spirit, etc.

 •   Young children can learn "Be" verses (be kind, be obedient, etc.) and verses starting with each letter of the alphabet.

 •   Put together your own Bible memory and review program and make verse cards, or consider the advantages of a ready-made one.

 •   Take a few minutes before each meal and/or at bedtime to say a Bible memory verse together.

     It is easy to learn one verse each week in this manner. This adds up to 50 per year or a total of 600 total from K to 12th grade.

     To write well, children need to write often. Ask your child to write a sentence, a paragraph, or a journal entry every day. (See ideas for topics.)

Copy Work
     Just as beginning artists copy the masters to learn from them, have your children copy material you select to model great thoughts and good writing.

Journals
 •   Personal journal or diary for experiences, activities, thoughts, feelings, and ideas.
 •   Devotional journal for sermon notes, Bible study, and prayer diary.
 •   Nature journal with drawings, photos, and/or written descriptions and observations, plus scientific names and other facts obtained from research.
 •   Correspondence journal of written communications between you and your child.

Notes and Letters
     Have your children write brief reports which they could read to Father at dinner as well as letters to friends.

     See newsletter #37 for more writing tips and resources.

     Just a little writing on a consistent basis will improve your children's ability to write!

     Homeschoolers never have too many books; they just don't have enough bookshelves!
     To organize your library, first go through all the books in your home and sort them:

 •   Throw away any books that are not worth saving.

 •   If you are keeping boxes of old workbooks that your children have done, consider removing the cover and a few sample pages from each one, then staple them together and file them.

 •   Give away or sell duplicate books unless they are really great, hard-to-get books that you want to keep to loan out or save for your children's future libraries.

 •   Check with friends who might want to trade curriculum.

 •   Sell books in a yardsale or on the Internet on eBay, ABE Books, or Amazon.com.

 •   Clean books as you go with methods that will help preserve them.

 •   Store like books together in different places in your home. Examples:
- Children's personal reading books in their bedrooms.
- Reference books in your library or family area.
- Current school books all together by each child's grade.
- Bibles and Bible study books.
- Other like categories together.

 •   You might want to safely store books that your children want to take with them when they start their own families.

     When you have completed work on your library you should be able to find and use your books better!

     In most communities, organizations and events bring people together to clean up roads, rivers, beaches, etc.

 •   Check with your local newspaper to find an opportunity in your area.

 •   Observe safety measures when working along roads or picking up potentially hazardous materials.

 •   Volunteer as a family or as a church or support group.

     One-on-one time with your child builds relationships in vital ways:

 •   Your child's bonds with you are deepened, and he will be able to communicate with you throughout his youth.

 •   Your child's character and behavior is developed through discipleship.

     These suggestions can work for Mom as well as Dad.

 •   Schedule regular times, ideally at least 30 minutes. Include routines like bedtime, a Bible study, or a special time for the girls with Mom and the boys with Dad.

 •   Sit quietly and focus your attention on your child, asking questions to draw him out.

 •   Have one child at a time help with your own chores, repairs, or errands.

 •   Write your children personal notes of encouragement from time to time and help them do the same for each parent.

 •   Schedule an extended period of time with a different child each day, week, or month.

     Ask the Lord to show you when and how to find and use these valuable opportunities.

     Teaching several of your children together with the same material at the same time can be the most efficient use of your time and effort. Consider the following:

Separate Classes
 •   For basic skills such as reading, handwriting, and math during the early grades.
 •   For a student who needs individual attention.
 •   For an older student who can work independently.

Combined Classes
 •   For history, science, literature, and Bible.
     Present lessons in an amplified manner with explanations and extra resources that enable all children to understand.

Combined Classes and Subjects
 •   For most of your subjects, using unit studies that integrate literature, history, science, Bible, and other subjects around a theme.