Last week I asked all those seasoned veteran homeschoolers--What does the end of a homeschool year look like? What does summer look like?
And while, of course, there is no right/wrong answer--I thought it would be fun to share our stories!
Let us know how you finish your school years strong? Do you do anything fun? Do you have an end date, or do you just let things finish out naturally or fizzle out? Do you have any fun celebrations? What do you do over the summer? Any structure or schedule or simply relax and have a season of play and rest? Let us know this week by sending a short answer to any of the questions above--and maybe a picture or two?
Amy Watterson shares her story here:
Over the years of homeschooling, the end of the school year and summer seem to have a rhythm and a pattern in our family. We have a target date to finish school each year by April 15th, tax day. As a family, who owes their own business; family, homeschooling, and business calendars are all considered when making our choices to best fit our family. We love this about homeschooling.
We have used the same video curriculum for our entire homeschooling experience, and as a result of this decision, our school year ends once all of our videos and tests are completed on the last day. We end our school year with two different celebrations. One is on the second to last day of school, when their video teachers say goodbye, and the second celebration is done after the last exam is finished in our home for each child. The second to last day of school celebration is a time of reflection, accomplishment, and investment into our children's lives. I normally shed some tears as it is a end a one chapter and a beginning of a new one. This gives me a moment to take inventory of their lives, and it seems like this day comes so quickly each year. The happy celebration happens once the last exam is completed and there are high fives, jumping for joy, and shouts of joy from each of us. This year we then celebrated in the evening with a family movie night.
Our summer can be summed up in two words...life skills and fun! We work hard on our academics throughout the school year so little focus is spent there during the summer. As we end the school year, we have a few weeks of a relaxed environment before we create a little structure again.
Our family values mealtimes together. If it is an office day for my husband, (which is four days a week) we are all up early and having breakfast and family devotions before he leaves. The other days are more relaxed as to wake time, but still have breakfast and devotions together. During the summers, our girls work on learning life skills like cooking breakfast for the family each morning, helping with laundry, and cleaning the house. The girls have some input into things they want to learn around our home each year. This year they want to cook one family dinner each week. These are responsibilities that we value, and are easier to focus on during the summer months.
Another focus of life skills has been a concentration in music lessons. Both of our girls play the hammered dulcimer and Lydia plays the piano. They spend extra time practicing and learning during the summer. Other things over the years have been learning to ride their bikes during the summer as well as swimming lessons. These activities that we feel are just life skills have created hobbies and interest in our girls that they now choose to pursue.
As far as, academics I look at things that could be useful to them next year or in the years to come. An example of this would be, during the summer the girls work through a keyboarding game to improve their typing skills. They also do math flashcards or formula memorization, but these things vary from year to year.
Now for FUN! Each year, we ask the girls to make a list of fun things to do this summer. Their lists always include play dates with friends, sleepovers, pool parties and parties at our home with friends. We also have what we call Fun Fridays. I do not work on Friday, so the three of us will create a plan from their list each Friday to have fun. It may be simple like painting our nails together, going to the pool with friends, or possibly a cooking day to prepare for a party with friends the next day.
As a family, we love to practice hospitality in our home. It is quite normal to have multiple families over at our home several times per summer. The girls love playing yard games, having bonfires, and going for walks in nature with their friends. We try to balance our life skills with fun memories. Fun is important to us to keep us refreshed and ready to to start again in the fall. By the time, September comes for our family, everyone is ready to start the journey again. Have a great summer!
Thanks everyone, for sharing your story!
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