Summer is just around the corner and if you have kids you probably have mixed emotions about it. As a mom of six children, who are finally all in school full time, I have gotten very comfortable with having my days free of children, noise, snacks, fighting, Disney Channel and taxiing. So with the onset of summer I do have mixed feelings about the drastic change in my schedule that is about to occur.

Instead of fighting the inevitable, go with it. Be the one in control this summer by planning to have fun learning and building memories with your kids. Having a great summer doesn't have to include a big costly vacation to a different place. With gas prices the way they are, a lot of us aren't planning to do too much travelling anyway. So how can you succeed in having fun, making memories, discovering far away places and stay home all at the same time? It's easy if you have an "Around the World in 90 Days" kind of summer.

I am speaking from experience here, thanks to my amazing grandmother. Ten years ago at the ripe old age of 80 my grandmother fulfilled a lifelong dream of travelling around the world when she enrolled in a program called Semester at Sea. This program is a college-level study abroad program in which the students live onboard a ship and travel to many destinations on every continent. While they are at sail between ports they study their next destination in depth, then when the reach that destination they explore the culture of that destination first hand. The coolest thing is that my Grammy was one of just a handful of seniors onboard the ship. They learned and took classes along side the 20-something college students.

The semester that Grammy was participating in this program was one of the years I was homeschooling my two oldest children. A large part of their learning experience was following Grammy on her voyage around the world.

So how does this all apply to you and your family this summer? First of all, see what's happening in your family that you can make into an educational experience. Do you have weddings to attend? Is someone you know moving away? What is happening that is of interest in your community? Take a look around you, there are probably a lot of things going on that you can make the most of with your kids.

Now, back to "Around the World in 90 Days". Before the kids come home for the summer take a look at a globe and choose 5 or 6 countries you personally would like to know more about, preferably one per continent. Then make your plan. Here's what my curriculum looked like on a week to week basis, I will use the Bahamas as my example:

• Monday is Library day. Take everyone to the library with the focus of your search being the Bahamas (or whatever country you are learning that week). The youth non-fiction section of the library is all you need. I really love the kids books because they are streamlined and touch on the most simple and understandable information. Be sure to try and find a fiction book or two that are either set in the Bahamas or somehow teach something about the culture of the Bahamas. When you get home with your books set them out in a place where they are easily accessible to the kids. You might also want to post a map of the world somewhere in the house, too. You can find really good ones at any teacher supply store in your community.
• Tuesday is Language & Games day. Experiment with the native language of the Bahamas. This country is easy because they speak a mix of English and Creole. Learn to count to ten, find out what they call the members of their family. See if you can learn about any traditional games the children of that culture play and then play one. In my experience this kind of information is in the non-fiction books that you get at the library. The Bahamian nation actually has a very well known poet and playwright named Susan J. Wallace. The poem "Islan' Life" is actually written in their English dialect and is quite fun to read aloud.
• Wednesday is Arts & Crafts day. Plan to do something artsy on this day. Every culture has traditional crafts so it should be easy to come up with something to do that's fun for everyone. In the Bahamas there is a Junkanoo Festival that happens every year and one of things they do to prepare for the festival is construct huge, colorful headresses and costumes. It reminds me a little bit of Mardi Gras. Anyway, making headresses is what I would do while in the Bahamas. Take a look at this video to see for yourself:

• Thursday is Music day. You'll find that every culture has their own style of music and, like in the Bahamas, there are exciting celebrations that music is an integral part of. Some of the traditional instruments of the Bahamas are goatskin drums, cowbells, and whistles. Dig around the house to see what you can come up with and make some noise. That's often the kids' favorite day - not so much yours, though. Be sure to take a couple Exedrine before you start! Also, at most libraries you can check out CDs. If that is the case at your library see if you can find one that has Caribbean music. If you get it on Monday it would make good background music while you work on your crafts.
• Friday is Food day. You should be able to find a recipe or two in the books you got at the library. It's fun to have the kids be involved in what dishes you decide to make. When I did this, I would prepare a traditional dinner. For the Bahamas I would serve a native fruit salad made up of oranges pineapples, bananas and melon. The main dish would be conch fritters, pigeon peas and rice (none of which is available at the local grocery store!)- or something comparable. The web is a great place to find adequate substitutions. Dinner would be served with lemonade, the most popular drink of the people. Finally, dessert would be banana bread or something made with coconut. I always made Friday Food Day be the day we brought it all together. We would set the table, making our crafts the centerpiece, turn on the CD we got from the library and share everything we learned that week with Dad or whoever happened to join us for the meal. It's great for the kids to invite grandparents, or their friends over to show off how smart they are!

I found it really rewarding to keep a journal of our whole experience. It is a great reminder to really observe your children. You will learn so much about each one of them as you explore the world this way. Some will enjoy the art more than the others, while Food Day might be the favorite of one and not the others. Ask them at the end of each week what their favorite things were and find out their least favorite activities as well so you can tailor the next exploration to what they enjoy.

This experience is still one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done with my kids. It is a little intense for us parents because of all the preparation and study that you have to do, but it is so, so worth it in the end. For my boys, since we were homeschooling at the time, the testing at the end of the year was the proof that what we did paid off for them educationally. Austen, at the end of 3rd grade tested at a 9th grade level in geography and map reading, while Tyler, at the end of 1st grade, was reading at a 6th grade level. When they're having fun, it doesn't even feel like learning!

The beauty is that you can make it want you want it to be. Take your time if you need to. If you only have time to do one country, and it takes three weeks to get through it, I'd say, "Bon Voyage!". You'll have a blast!