And now, back to the subject at hand!
Now that we are officially on summer break, I have about half a million things that I wish to accomplish before the next school year starts up!
Unfortunately, the phrase "summer break" is a bit of a misnomer. Although the academics do take a break, the children and the house do not. So I'm not sure how all of this "free time" is supposed to magically appear for me to work on summer projects!
Regardless, I do have a bunch of things that I'd like to accomplish. And so... here they are!
Over the coming couple of weeks, I would like to...
(1) Make Pen & Paper Record Sheets - For (1) crafts, science experiments, and activities, and (2) field trips. This past year, I found that keeping records on the computer does not work for me, simply because it lures me over to the computer waayyy too often, after which I wake up 30 minutes later and find I've been mindlessly surfing Facebook. Not good. I really enjoyed moving my daily checklists from computer to paper, and so I'm going to do that for the rest of my records as well.
(2) Buy Curriculum - This will be math and possibly Language Arts.
(3) Plan Chores - After discovering what a huge job it is to assign and check up on chores, I now understand why some parents cop out and just do the work themselves! But that would be a grave disservice to our children and our family, and I'm not going to do that - so I need to get on chore planning for next year. Hopefully this will get easier as I get used to it!
(4) Toddler Teaching Time - I want to work on: (1) Blanket training - I've never tried it, but it sounds like a smart idea. (2) Sleep Issues - Okay, I have to admit it. I have a 15-month-old who still nurses to sleep. I have sinned, I have sinned!! And now, of course, the question is how to get him to get to sleep by himself, and in his own bed. Suggestions, anyone? Please? (3) Training to come when called - Right now, if I called our little dude while he was headed out in front of a moving car, he would keep right on going. So teaching him to come when his name is called is something I really need to get on, because this guy is mobile.
(5) Work on Our Daily Schedule - This is mostly done - now to implement it better! Especially needed is work getting to bed at an earlier time and getting everyone up at an earlier time. An hour both ways would be good.
(6) Write Life-Skills Curriculum - This is done; it just needs revision. I'll post when it's finished!
(7) Clean Out Homeschool Notebook & Set Up For Next Year - In process.
(8) Chore Charts - See above - after I get the chores assigned, I want to make cute displays to post. Or at least moderately cute... without a laminator, there's a limit to the amount of cuteness that I can wield around here (*sob*).
(9) Make New Weekly Checklists for First Grade - Taking off handwriting, adding a couple of things...
(10) Get a New Poetry Book - Now that we've worn "The Llama Who Had No Pajama" into the ground, it's time to find something equally awesome! Any suggestions?
(11) Sketch Out Year's Schedule - Breaks, start and finish dates, etc.
(12) Print Various Forms We'll Need - Checklists, schedules, catechism, records
(13) Spend Time Working on Master Book List - My book list is currently about eighty pages long, and growing every day! I'm having so much fun with this.
(14) Finish Last Year's Record-Keeping - Pretty much done!
(15) Set Up Book Cases in Second Bedroom - Lord, have mercy. We'd better start praying now.
(16) Declutter - Yum. Love this. I could do this all day, every day.
(17) Work on Various Decluttering Projects With DH - Going well! DH is making great strides in shedding his pack-rat tendencies. I still can't get him to let me ditch my wedding dress, but we're making progress.
(18) Various Yard & House Projects - A compost pile (done!), clearing out the garage, working on the garden - you get the picture.
And the biggest one....
(19) Pray About Curriculum Choices - Primarily for Language Arts, but also for history, science, and everything in between.
I think that the curriculum struggle is a big one for most parents who home educate. There are so many choices out there, and most of them look good. Then there's also the issue of when to start each subject, what general approach to take, and a million different details that are all knotty and complicated to understand. Hopefully this will get easier as we continue on in the journey, but it is one that has consumed my mind for at least the past three years.
I'd love to hear what your plans are for summer break!
 |
| Church with two babies, one of whom is completely OUT! |
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love to hear from you! All kind and thoughtful comments will be published; all inconsiderate or hurtful comments will be deleted quietly without comment. Thanks for visiting!