Hello Summer
Summer has officially began. It’s as official as any homeschool family can say it is, that is. I find a lot of families have summer schedules, chores, math, required reading and well, not exactly an entire break. Are you familiar with this? I know some schools even send kids home with packets to complete over the summer. I’ll admit I get some of this, but when I look back at my own summers as a kid, there wasn’t math, just summer reading. You may remember, I love a good summer reading list, but when it comes to my own family, what will our summer look like?
I understand and support the reality that kids need routine and as your kids get older chores are a great thing too. Not only does it give my kids a sense of teamwork, whether they like it or not, but it means I’m raising boys who will someday be men and know how to clean toilets, vacuum, mop floors, dust and more. While their spiritual health is of upmost importance, I really care that they don’t go off to college and their life afterwards and keep a dirty space. I may have even told them how I remember going to guys shared homes or apartments in college and how nice it is if you see they can keep a space clean!
So, what will our summer look like? It’s not even Memorial Day yet, but here are my thoughts.
Some Math. Our math curriculum has several lessons in the beginning that are all review. Rather than start in August with several weeks of review, my hope is they can get some lessons in over the summer to keep their math minds working. Some kids may get flash card review for multiplication, division, and addition facts. I have friends who have their kids do five problems a day, one lesson a week, or maybe we even do it by time. I’m not sure exactly how this will look, but I do support there being some math to avoid the summer slide.
Reading. I’ve got kids on various levels of reading so for some there may be a daily time, or maybe it’s reading a chapter a day for others. I may decide it’s best to do phonogram review flashcards and grow confidence with easier books for others. I remind my kids that their brains are like muscles, and in order to get stronger we have to exercise their brain. I’m hopeful this metaphor works for my growing boys!
Read Aloud Time. This relates to reading yes, but it’s on me. I’d like to read the Wingfeather Saga books to the boys this Summer. My oldest devoured these when he was younger and while we’ve started them probably three times I could never get hooked. I’m going to give it a try this summer and know these will likely happen in the evening after the baby goes down.
Nap time equals downtime. During the year nap time has meant more school time, and even crunch school time for us as the baby got more mobile. Nap time this summer is going to be a time the boys and I will have some downtime. That will likely look different for them each day, but for me I know it means I’d like to get back to writing more. What if I tried to write every day at nap time. What if?!
The beginning of a new season is my favorite. I’m hopeful and the reality hasn’t hit yet. I’m holding these plans loosely. We have a summer of being home a lot, a few camps, and a garden I hope will grow lots of food for us. Just like I tell my kids to read to flex their reading muscles, I’m hoping to write more and get my own mind and hands back to the writing I used to do so often and miss so much. Clink and cheers to summer!
