If you school year-round, you know the Summer Schedule doesn't mirror the winter, fall or spring schedules. It's different, somehow. For some families it's slower, just the basics; for others, it takes on a more literary focus and leaves off a bit of the drills. A summer homeschool environment, just like all homeschool families, can take on any number of forms and faces, styles and themes. The flexibility and variation are among the things we both love and hate about homeschooling, I think. Anyway, over at "the boards", the question of summer schedules has come up. That's one of my favorite seasonal topics, simply because everyone has their own touch, their own texture to add to the discussion. (I know I always learn so much from those threads.) Do you school year-round? If so, what does your Summer HomeSchool look like? (Or Summer Home Education Plan? Family Camp for the Incorrigibly Heat-Weary?)
I think we do read more in the summertime. Not that we don't read the rest of the year, but autumn and spring are so beautiful here. Winter reading probably rivals summer reading, except that winter is so short-lived. February, basically. If you take too long finding your gloves, you're likely to miss it. But summer in the South? We're acclimating, but I'm not holding my breath in the hope that we will one day be able to dance in the "sultry" summer afternoon humidity. So in the meantime, we do shuffle our schedule around a bit.
While it's still lovely in the mornings, we make use of it. There will be entire weeks of time later in the summer when we won't see the light of day other than to retrieve groceries. Until then, though, we get up and out early. Enjoy toast and yogurt on the front porch, maybe a chapter or two in a good book, maybe bird watch a bit. Then off to play with the dog, build forts, weed the garden (um, more on that later). Soon, we aren't feeling so perky anymore. Blech. Time to go in. We slink to the front door, and (this is how you know it's hot out) that chilly 80' a/c air gives us a Good Morning shakedown that perks us right back up. Ready to work!
Lessons. This is just a chunk of time, done in any order we fancy for the day. Latin, math, reading. Just like all. year. long. Finish those and take a break. Read another chapter or two. Share something you found. Play with EmBaby. Hey, how about a snack?
Science, History, Music, Art. Hey, how about an otter pop? Or lunch?
We finish up with the days' studies shortly after lunch. I put EmBaby down for a nap. We pile up/sprawl out/curl up somewhere comfy (usually directly beneath a ceiling fan) and read for an hour or two. Do a few chores. Start supper. Free time. Game of chess or checkers? How about that letter to Maddy? Anybody want to play gin? Mario Kart? Charades? If it's not stiflingly hot, or if we really need it, we'll head outside again.
This year is a bit different with the new activities. On game days, we have to head out right about our normal "suppertime". I've got to find a good groove, as it doesn't look like we'll have much of a break in between seasons this year (b-ball ends 8/2, f-ball begins 8/4). I've been making a light supper around 4:30 (we call it "senior supper"), and then preparing another light supper when we get home ("second supper"). On non-game days, when Zorak comes home, we eat, and the children have more time outside.
The mosquitos are getting bad now, with all the rain. Sometimes they're too tough to handle, so we stay in after supper. Most of the lightning bugs are gone now, too. (Though they were delightful while they lasted, and we look forward to them again next year.) All signs point to the beginning of our self-enforced exile from the out-of-doors. It's just for August. Then we can breathe again. This year's going to be tough, but not for schooling or lessons. Just for... being outside... in August... in the middle of the late afternoons... Come November, it'll be time to spend our afternoons at the duck blinds down at the Wildlife Refuge, and we'll be able to enjoy it because we got our other lessons done while it was hot. :-)
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
6 comments:
Yep! One of the best things about a year-round schedule in the south - take advantage of the weather when it is good. I've kind of adopted a seasonal/quarter planning style. Our 'lightest' quarter has been Spring, we need it after Winter/Holiday burn out and that is when we spend the most time outside. Summer is when we start picking up momentum again, which is great because we don't have all those nifty field trips and classes conflicting with our schedule. I love the flexibility.
I'm jealous of even being able to get out in the mornings to read, our mosquitos are already bad even at that hour.
Amy
Your days sound wonderful! My kids are still sleeping (9:20, and I really should be waking them up instead of playing here!), but we do go to bed kind of late.
We school year round, and summer is a lighter schedule. There are activities we want to participate in, like library programs, VBSs, swimming lessons, and family outings to streams, and we fit school in as we go. Summer is "catch-up" time for us. We keep going with math and, as of this year, Latin, and use the time freed up by having finished our Bible study and grammar to catch up on things like history, science, and art that we neglected or got behind on during the year. I spend more time than usual reading the curriculum board and thinking about what we will need to work on in the coming year and what materials will work. And agonizing over that growing Rainbow Resources list!
I envy you that winter so short you could blink and miss it! I thought last winter was Dreadful, and all the locals laugh at me when I say this and tell me last winter was Nothing. Shudder.
Melora, I should probably qualify that statement. :-) It's short, as in there is a dreadful cold snap that's very short. But "winter" here is basically just cold and rainy. It's not a real winter, with snow and such. We do get ice sometimes. That's pretty. Not so much fun to play in, or drive in, though. It's funny that we had more "winter" weather in New Mexico and Arizona than we do here. *sigh* But it's not winter like they have in WI or PA!
Dy
I guess we are in similar places when it comes to winters. Coming from Florida, where winter is a delightful time of year, I found five months of cold grayness Not Fun. If I have to bundle up, I want Snow! We got ice and a few sprinklings of snow, but that is no winter wonderland. I will stop whining now, though! (and, in fairness, autumn was absolutely Lovely here).
We school year-round also. Summer is lighter simply due to all the camps and visiting relatives. We usually school in the mornings if we're going swimming in the afternoon, or school in the afternoon so we can be outside in the mornings if we're not going to be swimming. In years past, summer was for different subjects like map skills, logic problems, more read-a-louds and the like. THIS summer however, we're still finishing our 4th year of history, continuing on with math as usual, and working through a grammar book that KJ's Latin tutor recommended. It's still school-lite though.
interesting - we actually read LESS in the summer - probably because we are so busy outside, on vacations, etc. I find winter to be a heavy reading time
btw - i posted this earlier under an anonymous post (signed it) and it didnt go through.
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