Crazy Summer

Wonder when I will give up my fantasy of schooling all year 'round, taking short breaks throughout the year instead of one long on in the summer?

I really rebel against the idea of the September - June academic year.  But I can't seem to stop following it.

Since we had such a bad start to our 2011/2012 academic year, I wanted to keep going even after the portfolios were turned in and our 180 school days fulfilled.  We can start counting days on July 1 and I love to start filling in that attendance chart - even as I lament that fact that I have to "keep attendance" at all.

It's already been a busy summer but not with school work.  Busy work:  doctor's appointments, housework, yard work (why is "housework" one word but "yard work" two?), Boy Scout merit badge work and meetings, get-togethers with friends.   There hasn't been time for school.

But, that's OK, we need a break, right?  July and August could be our big school months. Except they won't be.

My boy has three trips to go on this summer; my girl has one. Both are helping out at our church Summer Bible Camp (aka VBS). So, I find that in July, we have five uncommitted days when both kids are home. It's true that the afternoons of the Summer Bible Camp week are free (mostly), but having helped at such events before, I know that the afternoons will be better suited to swimming and lazing around than doing any sort of academic work.  

The first two weeks of August are full of camp for both kids.  So, as I see it, summer school can start around August 14. Or maybe the 20th, after they've recovered from camp and I've recovered from camp laundry. What was that about not following the academic year?

The mind is a funny thing. (Or maybe it's just my mind that's funny.)  I knew it was going to be a busy summer, but until I looked at the calendar, in "month at a glance" view, I didn't realize just how packed it was. 

But it's not that bad.  Camps count as school time in my homeschool.  My son's church youth missions trip will definitely count.  So my son is all set with summer school - just not the way I'd envisioned it.

And my daughter, who has fewer camp opportunities than her big brother, has a project that she's going to start on real soon now.  We've put together a casual Botany study, using a few books and a lot of colored pencils.  While the boy is away, she and I will be found in gardens and at the kitchen table, learning about plants. 

Not a bad summer school plan after all, huh?