Homeschool Planning Ideas for May
Looking for some fun learning ideas for May? I have a list for you! Here you’ll find a collection of resources to help you plan your homeschool activities and learning in May.
I’ve included links to articles containing unit study ideas, fun holidays, and famous May birthdays. You’ll also discover bucket list ideas, journal prompts, art prompts, and more.
In addition, you’ll see links to helpful articles related to seasonal spring and end-of-school year activities.
Bookmark this page for reference and come back each year for new ideas!
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May Unit Study Ideas: Fun Holidays
Each month has designated awareness holidays, and these can be a great way to introduce your kids to a new experience or get them to try something new. They can also be used to spend additional time focused on a particular area of interest.
Here’s my list of unit study ideas to incorporate in your homeschool in May.
What Can I Learn Today: May Homeschool Ideas
This article offers suggestions for learning topics related to that month. Use the specific suggestions given, or research additional people or topics in a particular category.
You can expose your kids to books, music, poetry, people, and careers they might not otherwise encounter, just through choosing a few to read about or watch a quick video on each month.
The learning suggestions are grouped in the following categories:
- Read Aloud Book Suggestions
- Movie/Book Combos
- Poetry
- Classical Music
- Quotes
- Artists (birthdays in May)
- Athletes (birthdays in May)
- Authors (birthdays in May)
- Composers (birthdays in May)
- Engineers (birthdays in May)
- Inventors (birthdays in May)
- Presidents (birthdays in May)
- Scientists (birthdays in May)
- Interesting People (birthdays in May)
- Unusual Occupations
- Animals
- Plants (seasonal related)
- World Landmarks
- Games
- Crafts
- Study Skills
May Fun Learning Ideas
Each category can open up discussion of history, science, art, entrepreneurship, relationships, and the list goes on. The categories I chose to use this year are as follows.
- birthday of the month
- invention of the month
- country of the month
- life skill of the month
- character trait of the month
May Country Study – Turkey
These mini-unit studies covering 12 different countries are a great way to expose your kids to the beauty and culture of countries around the world.
Using video, engaging books, games, and maps, kids of all ages can get a taste of the uniqueness of different cultures, along with understanding our fundamental similarities as humans.
Try out a sample of France from my free resource library. You can purchase the full pack of 12 countries from my Etsy shop.
May Bucket Lists
Bucket lists are one of my favorite lists to make. I also love to read what’s on other people’s bucket lists! Here is a list of ideas for your May Bucket List.
May Prompts for Three Things Thursday
If you use a Three Things Thursday prompt in your classroom or homeschool as part of a morning meeting discussion or individual writing activity, here is a list of prompts to consider for May.
May Motivation for Kids
Each month’s quote comes from a famous historical person who was born in that month. I’ve included resources for further learning, and conversation ideas around that person’s life or ideas.
“Live life when you have it. Life is a splendid gift. There is nothing small about it.”
Florence Nightingale – founder of modern nursing (Born May 12, 1820)
Resources to learn more about Florence Nightingale
- Heart and Soul: The Story of Florence Nightingale by Gena Gorrell
- Florence Nightingale Facts & Worksheets from KidsKonnect
- Florence Nightingale – Famous Nurse (YouTube – Biography)
Conversation about Florence Nightingale
Why would Florence Nightingale be especially aware of life being a splendid gift? What gets in the way of you looking at life as a gift every day? What could help you live life to the fullest? (A conscious focus on gratitude has been shown to improve the outlook of those who practice thankfulness. Try keeping a gratitude journal, or making a habit of thinking of something to be thankful for before you go to sleep each night.)
May Fun Journal Prompts
Each day prompts for a list of three things. The first prompt of each month is “3 things you’re thankful for.” This is a gratitude exercise to get them in a mindset of remembering to be thankful. Then at the end of each month is a prompt for “3 favorite things about this month.” The purpose of this is to urge them to reflect upon what brings them joy or delight.
May Art Prompts
These simple drawing prompts are a low-key way to encourage students to create a habit of sketching and drawing.
How to Use the Prompts
First, decide on how frequently you want to use them. Daily, weekly, or even monthly if you prefer.
Next, decide on the size you will recommend. My favorite way to do this is in small 1-1/2 inch square boxes, requiring students to keep their drawing simple. You may wish to limit the size to 3 inch squares or a 5.5″x 8.5″ half-letter page size.
Finally, decide on the allowed art supplies. The simplest form is to allow only pencil sketches. My preference is to allow colored pencils so kids who love color can let their creativity shine.
Suggestions for using these simple drawing prompts:
- bell-ringer activity
- daily or weekly sketch practice
- year-long creative project to save as a keepsake
- activity during read-aloud times
- early finish activity
15 Simple Art Prompts for May
- butterfly
- flowers in vase
- watering can
- swing
- daisy
- trumpet
- scissors
- duck
- bicycle
- birdhouse
- ladder
- microphone
- book
- shell
- fish
You can also download a full school year’s worth of 180 prompts to make this a daily activity or choose your favorites and make this a weekly activity.
May Activity and Daily Checklist
Grab a Mother’s Day mad lib-style poem and have your kids fill it out. No peeking! You’ll find the download in my resource library.
In my Etsy shop, I also have a complete set of monthly themed checklists with an activity for each month. The May activity includes this Mother’s Day fill-in-the-blank poem.
May 30-Day Challenge
30-day challenges are highly popular in the health and fitness arena. You can pick pretty much any exercise and make a 30-day challenge of it. In the healthy eating realm, cutting out junk food, sugar, or soda is common.
Beyond the physical challenges, though, you can find challenges inspiring you to spend time cultivating a hobby, decluttering your home, or learning something new.
Try one of these 30-Day Challenges in May:
mile-a-day challenge OR a early morning challenge
For a list of 25 challenge ideas, read 30-Day Challenges to Try This Year.
May Character Trait Study
The character trait focus for May is self-awareness.
Find suggestions for books, movies, video content, activities and more to encourage self-awareness this month in my Character Counts series.
Character Counts: Encouraging Self-Awareness
May Fruit of the Spirit Study
May’s fruit of the spirit character lesson focus is on self-control. Encourage your teen to discover what the Bible has to say about self-control with scripture references and questions for reflection.
May Encouraging Proverb
It’s time to return again to thinking about our words. They have such power in our homes. Read this verse every morning. Tape it up on your bathroom mirror or above your kitchen sink. Pray for God to guard your tongue as you seek to teach, train, and enjoy your children. Your wise and kind words will impact your kids for the rest of their lives.
She opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
Proverbs 31:26
Download a free list of proverbs to cover the whole school year from my resource library.
May Pray Around the World Country List
To pray for every country in one year, you’ll need to pray for 16-17 countries each month. I’ve assigned the countries alphabetically to each month of the year. However, by praying for one country every weekday you can actually cover every country over the course of a school year if your summers are hectic and you prefer to organize it that way.
You can download my free calendar for May to pray for countries of the world, along with a few questions for your kids to learn a little bit more about a country of their choice.
May Focus Word
Perfect to use on a bulletin board or other display board, my set of monthly focus words provides one word to reflect on and prioritize each month of the year. Visit the free resource library to download your free printable pack of 12 words.
May Scripture Card
If one of your goals is to memorize more scripture this year, try using my monthly scripture cards to memorize twelve Bible verses over the course of the year. The scripture word of the month for May is “gentle,” and the verse comes from Matthew 11:29.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
You can download a set of twelve scripture cards from my free resource library and begin to memorize Matthew 11:29 this month.
Additional May Resources for Homeschool Moms
Encourage Your Kids in May
Give thoughtful gifts.
Your kids can be encouraged by thoughtful gifts as well. If their primary love language is gifts, this could be a big one. Thoughtful gifts don’t need to be expensive, they just need to show that you value and appreciate the recipient.
Consider some of these categories when giving gifts to your child:
- hobbies your child enjoys
- something your child says he/she likes in passing (go back and get it!)
- keepsake items
- items to start or build a collection
- personalized gifts (name, birthday)
- ask kids’ friends for suggestions
- meaningful family heirlooms
MAY ENCOURAGEMENT FOR YOUR KIDS: Give thoughtful gifts
If you’d rather choose a different way of encouraging your kids in May, read this article: 10 Practical Ways to Encourage Your Kids This Year
Fun Online Games for May
If your kids love games, there are a lot of opportunities for them to learn while they play! Choose a game of the month for them to try out—or have the whole family play either collaboratively or competitively.
MAY ONLINE GAME: Chrono Quest
Pick your own game for May from my list of 50 Fun Online Games for Students.
Life Skills Focus for May
Every so often, I encounter something that I thought my kids knew how to do…but they definitely do not. To make sure we’re covering a variety of life skills, I like to focus on one or two things each month.
MAY LIFE SKILLS FOCUS: Nutrition and fitness
As we head into the warmer months with abundant fresh fruit and vegetables available, May is a good time to focus on eating whole, fresh foods and incorporating daily physical activity into our lives. You may want to focus on developing a regular workout routine, trying a new sport or activity, or finding healthy meal ideas. Substitute overnight oats for processed cereal or put together a veggie plate on the weekend to snack on throughout the week. And don’t forget to hydrate—drinking enough water can ward off headaches and fatigue before they even set in.
You can read my extensive list of life skills to teach your kids if you want ideas of more specific tasks to tackle in May: 140 Essential Life Skills to Prepare Your Teen for Adulthood.
Helpful Blog Posts to Read in May
May Homeschool Planning & Routines
The possibilities really are endless. If your kids are interested in nature, plan to incorporate a mini-unit study of one plant or tree each month. Try listening to a specific type of music each month, trying out a new game, recipe or podcast every month of the year.
This collection of ideas is intended to provide inspiration only. Obviously, there are far more activities and learning opportunities than you could fit into one month. Pick and choose a few things that sound fun to you or your kids and see what sparks interest in them.
Visit my homeschool resources page for monthly unit study ideas, projects, and homeschool planning help!
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How to Homeschool in May
