Odds and Ends

Even though our insect collecting supplies are in transit (last time I checked, they were in Bismark, ND) my boys have decided to dive headfirst into the entomology study. JT brought me a handful of molted cicada skins he found under our apple tree. Later, when I said, "Get those dead things out of my house!" He quite correctly answered, "Mom, they aren't dead. They were never alive."

That's what you get for teaching your kids.


I finally received a letter from our home school district declaring my homeschool portfolios for last year acceptable. I was fairly certain we had done everything required, but I still felt like I was holding my breath until I got the news.

Our last week of summer vacation is going to be a full one. We will be going to VBS at our church from Sunday through Wednesday, so our evenings will be busy. Wednesday through Friday the boys will be taking part in a Fire Safety Day Camp in the mornings sponsored by a local fire company. It sounds like a good program, but whenever I have to sign a waiver warning me of potential injury or death for my children, I get a bit worried. We'll see how that turns out!

Sometime during all of that craziness, I will need to finalize lesson plans for the first week or two. Because I am going for a less structured method this year, I'm wondering exactly how much planning I will be doing on a weekly basis. I guess I'll have some tweaking to do as I try different methods.

After much avoidance, I did iron out my plan for music instruction earlier this week. That was one subject I had been avoiding like the plague. Although we listen to music most days, have instruments all over the house and attend a number of musical performances most years, I just dread trying to teach music to the boys. I found a slightly dated book called Music Skills for Classroom Teachers published in 1979 at a library book sale. We will cover just five chapters from this book and supplement with a study of several famous composers. Also, because I'm a glutton for punishment, we will be buying recorders that they will be learning to play.

Tonight a cool breeze is blowing in my classroom window. The summer has slipped away and before I know it the snow will be swirling against those windows. Even so, I no longer feel the same anxiety I used to when fall would sneak up on us. There used to be such a rush to get everything ready for school: shopping trips, back to school night, the need to get the kids to bed earlier so the race to the bus wouldn't be so traumatic. They are all behind us. Our life has such a steady rhythm now. I can't imagine ever going back.