My summer break may be a bit busy. My three younger daughters tried out for The Sound of Music a couple nights ago. Apparently my five year old was quite the little ham. I am already trying to plan activities for the summer that are cheap.... or free. Library activities, free movies at the theater, and whatever else I find can all be considered.
I will also be taking the summer to plan our schooling for next year. While I enjoyed having it all planned out for me, that option has gotten too pricey for us this year. So, I am pulling together resources that I already have and seeing what else I can find cheaply. The internet has been an amazing resource of free homeschooling ideas. While I may have to purchase some items, I am hoping to keep it limited to math and some Christian sources of history and science. Since I'm still planning, I'll not get into details until I have them all figured out.
This school year went by very quickly. Laura became very independent. In fact, I miss her. I don't feel that I got to be a part of her education the way I did when she was younger. Independence is a good thing, but I still want to be a bit more involved.
Megan is my busy girl. She loves to create things. She wants to be doing stuff. She wants to join Laura in the science experiments and be a part of projects. She loved all the activity in her preschool program, and learned SO much.
With the end of our year at hand, I can reflect back and state honestly that it went well. There were things I loved and things that I wasn't too hip on. The all-in-one curriculum, while easy, eventually made me feel a bit trapped. I wanted more choice.
We did venture off for a couple weeks with a study on money and stewardship. It wasn't the first unit study we have ever done, but it gave me a chance to try out something different. I enjoyed it. Megan loved it. Laura thought it was different, and enjoyed the break, but was uncomfortable without her check-it-off-the-list style of doing school. That may be partly due to my planning. What I did notice was that Laura learned A LOT and RETAINED well. I ask her questions about that study, and she still knows it easily after six months!
I have been very drawn to reading about the Hebrew style of education versus the Greek style of education. Slowly, I have been implementing some of the things I have learned. It really makes sense to me. I like including variety in our studies.
So, officially I now have a seventh grader and a Kindergartener. I was also asked to homeschool another child, but I'm still praying about that one. My husband and I are also fighting for the right to homeschool his daughter, who would be in the ninth grade. That is also up in the air, and it may end up that she has to stay in public school or that she has to be homeschooled by someone else. God is in control.
My planning time is starting, and I am excited. God has led me to some very interesting avenues, and I will be excited to share them with you as we forge ahead down them.
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