Summer Break is finally here for our crew! I have officially finished all grading and imputing last years grades. I have also finished sorting the new school years curriculum. Everything has been printed, placed in folders and sitting ready to start the new school year. And that leaves us with one FULL month to mentally relax from anything homeschool related. It feels pretty amazing!! I have already started this break by cleaning up and accomplishing a few projects I’ve had on my to-do list for the last couple of years. I have even cleaned most of the carpets in the house as they have already (in only two years) needed a good scrub. (We have a lot of wear and tear on this house and with the kids around quite a bit we make A LOT of messes. ) I kinda feel like a new woman. Even though I know the second I scratch one thing off the list-Five more will likely pop up. But It feels good none the less.
I know cleaning carpets doesn’t sound like a good “summer vacation” but for us, we took a few mini get-aways here and there throughout the year, so my need to vacation isn’t as bad as it would be if I had to follow a traditional schedule. That’s one great thing about extending out the school year- we break more throughout the year and summer boredom doesn’t last as long. I’ve tried many different versions of the homeschool school year. I’ve tried 5 weeks on 1 week off, I’ve tried fully year-round and I’ve tried traditional school years. I think for us, I like having the school year extended but with at least a month to 6 weeks of a summer. I also like that I can have 3 or 4 weeks around the Christmas season if I want. We are usually pretty busy around that time so it’s nice to not worry about “official” school work. (we do more arts and crafts around that time) (I also use one of those weeks to grade and file the first semester grades. Then reorganize the school room as it gets pretty messy) We also take random days off for good weather and the kids can spend the whole day with grandma (when she’s able) so they get quite a few breaks along the year.
So far it’s been working well for us. The worst part for me is the end of the year where I have to do all of my “official” duties. It can take up to a month to get it all done. Depending on how busy we are, as we are also enjoying the warmer weather, so I don’t always have time to work on it. But its how I like to work on it. Get the bulk done now so I have less to do later. But that’s all done now. Weehoo! We are officially ready for the 2018-2019 school year.
I also hope to continue with the plan of writing more this summer. That plan didn’t work out too well for me so far. But I’ll still be around. Once the new school year is back in full swing, I’m sure I’ll be more mentally available to write more. As I’m pretty sure, my brain decided it was starting its own vacation a few weeks ago! ;). I hope you all are enjoying your vacation time. I sure am!- and it’s only been 3 days for me!
