The Cherubs have officially begun the "countdown" .... summer vacation is nearly upon us. Can you believe it ?*
April 24th will be our "official" last day of "formal" school. The books and papers and "assignments" will be finished.
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But there's more ....
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We are attending the Tax Day Tea Party in Knoxville on April 15th. That should be very interesting for the Cherubs .... their very first protest.
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During the last week of April (April 27-May 1), we will be going on a few end-of-the-year field trips. Our Field Trip Week will include:
* go to an organic community-owned farm to volunteer
* to visit the Aquarium
* to tour an Art museum
* to visit downtown for lunch and to "walk the bridge"
* to visit the Zoo
And on Sunday, May 3rd we will have our Annual School's Out Celebration - a nature hike in the mountains with swimming and a picnic dinner (weather permitting - if it is cold or rainy we will postpone this for Monday May 4th).
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So, this week and next, we are finishing many many things ... our history lessons, literature readings, artist studies, read alouds, composer studies, art instruction, maps, vocabulary lists, spelling reviews, grammar lessons, phonics booklets, the typing course, science modules, penmanship and cursive lessons, math courses, and more. As we conclude these lessons, we are also reviewing. It seems hard to believe all that we have covered this year.
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We are "in talks" about next year too. We are also discussing some light "planning" as we review and talk too -- things everyone loved, hated, learning interests ... struggles .... concerns ... aspirations.
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What a blessing for the children to have some input in their schooling ... and to be able to watch them mature and learn ... homeschooling has been such a blessing for our family (well, most days ... ha !).
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We are also in the process of assembling our Summer 2009 To Do lists ... books to read, projects to work on, adventures to plan ... we try to visit the library and do a lot of reading in the summer monthes, and we try to do all of the things that we just simply do not have time for too - places to go, things to see, projects to do, experiments to try, new skills to perfect, and more. It is not a fancy list really, but is rather a checklist of things to do ... so that when the novelty of summer wears off, and boredom (aka bickering) sets in ... there is a good list with plenty of things to do. This list also keeps track of the things we want to do, so that by July's end we don't wonder about that age-old question .... "What I Did On My Summer Vacatoin ?".
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There is one element (it's a new rule -- gasp !!) of our summer, decided by DadToCherubs, that has yet to be announced to the Cherubs. He will make his Beck's Bounty Summer Declaration this coming weekend ... and in the mean time, I have been sworn to secrecy ...
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I'll post our Summer 2009 To Do list when we have it all assembled.
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Do you have any Summer To Do's ?
Or do you just "wing it" ?
Travels, titles, adventures, projects ?
Big plans ? Little plans ?
We'd love to hear what you have planned.
Just post a comment.
2 comments:
How exciting to be almost done for the summer! You are about a month ahead of us. It must be that slowly melting snow doesn't make us hurry until May. :)
However, we've made a few plans for summer already too. Since we studied Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day this year, we'd like to take a field trip down to Boston's Aquarium. While we're there, we'd like to hit the excellent Science Museum too.
We'd like to complete our state study of Maine this summer while the field trips are easier (and warmer!) to take.
We've got a Fresh Air friend coming in July for a two-week visit from NYC to look forward to as well.
Finally, because we use antique tractors, equipment, and horses to do our haying, we're probably looking at a long summer of haying. Hopefully we'll have time to get two cuttings in, if the weather cooperates. (It's our hope that we can fit the other activities in between the haying schedule. :)
Congrats on another year well done!
Lisa W in Maine
We still have six weeks but we are getting to the place where we see the light.....planning end of the year stuff as well. That is always a great time of year for us.
I also try to include the boys in the next year's plans as well and it helps capture their interest and keep them happy with the choices.
We always have a summer to do list and it has really helped us do more things than if we just "winged it". It gives us a focus.
I will look forward to seeing your list. I was out in the garden this morning and for some reason you popped into my head....hope you are having fun with your garden.
Thanks for the great post.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
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