Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Summer's Coming!

Have you started planning for the summer yet? I can't wait. Homeschooling is a commitment to year round learning, but summer is devoted to the fun stuff. This summer we'll be working on swimming, botany, state history, and creative writing. We live near a beach for the first time, and I have already started to stock up on such beach necessities as an umbrella and beach towels. The local arts council offers concerts all summer long, and we've discovered that we love flying kites. Last year we got into stunt kites, but I purchased a classic kite for the younger kids this year.

Last year, I was feeling good just to get us unpacked and out to the beach two or three times. We didn't do any classes or teams. Moving consumed the entire summer. This year I'm looking up swim classes, art classes, chess workshops, and I'm writing a curriculum for a neighborhood writing seminar. I didn't do a good job with the garden last year. We were just getting acquainted, our new yard and myself. This year I'm going to do better, and start adding my own touches. We need some herbs and some flowers for cutting. I'm poring through seed catalogs, though the time to dream is soon going to be over and I'll need to get my orders in. I really ought to do it today.

You probably think I'm a pretty sick puppy by now, but it doesn't stop with summer. I've started laying out next year's homeschooling curriculum. I've already purchased the foundation for our study of physics next year. The older my children get, the more I realize I'm in the summer of my life and there is not a moment to waste. I don't want to be an old woman wishing for days that can't come back. I want to be a busy grandma with great stories to tell.

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