Didn't We Just Get Started?

the smell of summer

Nothing says summer to me quite like the smell of lilacs and fresh cut grass. I can't believe we have left winter behind and are well on our way to summer. It feels like our school year just kicked off and now I'm looking at wrapping up the year tomorrow.

The boys have been doing just a little whining about the idea of keeping a bit of a schooling routine going through the summer, but I feel that this year it might be essential. As JT is moving closer to the high school years, I want him to be making a little more progress in his math. Pre-algebra threw him for a loop this year and he's just now starting to be more consistent in his work. I'm afraid that two months off may be too much right now. So I worked out a one day a week deal with both of the boys. We will only do math. They will also be working on their summer projects, coming along for the ride on the latest Coursera class I signed up to take, Child Nutrition and Cooking, and taking another class on Coursera together, Online Games: Literature, New Media, and Narrative. Those things count as 'fun' so they don't seem to mind. They will also both participate in Kids' College, Fire Safety Day Camp, and EM might take part in a history camp. No one will be able to say they are bored!

book haul

As usual, I plan to plan during my break. Here are some of the books I picked up at the local library book sale two weeks ago. Some of them look very promising. I especially like the looks of Government by the People and hope to use it for Civics next year. I started a list of materials I'd like to buy over the summer and so far it's a very short list. I think I may finally have enough stuff here to take care of these boys. Today I was discussing estimating with EM and we did a rough estimate of the number of books in our library and classroom. We came up with 1,500. We didn't even count any books in bedrooms or a bookcase we keep in the hall between the bedrooms. I have only one weakness when it comes to shopping. I bet you can't guess what it is...

Our annual meeting with our homeschool evaluator is scheduled for May 20th. I will spend some of the days in the next two weeks putting the boys' portfolios together. But before I do that, my husband and I will head out for a little get-away without the kids. I won't be posting next week, but I will be back the following week to share a summary of what the boys have accomplished this year, at least, the measurable things. So much of what they learn can only be seen by watching them in action...

and you just can't put those things in a portfolio.