The Pauses Under The Sun

Life in the summer can be a beautiful combination of slow, lazy days trying to catch polliwogs, or busy and exciting days playing miniature golf. 

We have been trying to find a great balance this summer of the two extremes. It has been such a wonderful time of exploration in our new location! Living on a multi-acre farm has truly helped to validate our dreams of owning our own homestead/farm one day. Until that day comes, we will enjoy the bounty of this lovely farm...

We had a lovely time strawberry picking this year, and so of course I had to include a photo of some delectable strawberry preserves. I had visions of us enjoying these all winter until our entire beings were bursting with strawberry goodness, but instead I decided to give a great majority away to friends and co-workers. Don't worry, I still kept several jars for us to enjoy 💜💓💛

Homeschool planning is in a much more active stage now, especially as we near a time when I would like to slowly start incorporating lessons into our week. I know that some might find it strange that we would start lessons in the middle of the summer, but as I have explained in previous posts, we like to have easy, manageable weeks. If we want to take a day (or two, or three, or all week!) off, we just go ahead and do it!

It seems like we hardly do any lesson work at all during the month of December, and we love the flexibility of just choosing, on any given day, to just hop into the car and go explore a new playground/beach/library.

In fact, I sometimes worry that we haven't done enough lesson work for the year because we can be somewhat lax in our rhythm at times. Then, of course, I go back through our MLB, or our workbooks, or our basket of completed activities that need to be filed away, and I realize just how much we really have done!

Another little tactic I use to keep myself from forgetting all the great learning that is going on this year is to DOCUMENT it! I keep a running tab, if you will, for each child. I create a basic outline of what I HOPE to accomplish, the list of curriculum and materials used, etc and then keep filling it in as I go along. I will include links to new sites found, books read, and activities attended. In this way, I only need to consult with these documents if I am ever wondering if I am "doing enough" (tm). 

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Another year?

So, as a part 2 to today's entry, I figured I would include a question I get asked every.single.year. along with this year's answer.

"Are you guys going to homeschool AGAIN this year?"

I know that perhaps some people never question their commitment to this lifestyle of learning. I, personally, think it is a little irresponsible not to give the matter at least some passing thought. I think it should be included in a yearly inner-work session with yourself!

Clearly, it is a decision that should not be made lightly, or on your own. I believe that all of the parents involved should have a say as well as the children! It does affect THEM, after all! If you are homeschooling to help your child find a love of learning, and yet they might not be enjoying the way they are feeling forced into this lifestyle, then it is sort of defeating the purpose (in my opinion).

As it turns out, we HAVE been consulting our children on this upcoming year. We have been giving it all a lot of careful thought. It is part of lesson planning, as far as I am concerned!

I always consult my children before I sign them up for an activity or class.

And so, not to leave you in suspense: we have definitely decided to continue on this homeschooling journey for this upcoming year!

We will be adding in some co-op and sports activities this year into the mix, which will be a huge change for the kids. We found a local learning co-op for them to take a few classes with, and both children are super excited! I think this will be a bit of a game-changer for them, since they are both showing signs of wanting to be a bit more social.

Final thoughts: So long as our children are enjoying this process, so long as they can feel a part of the decisions that affect their lives, so long as those decisions are going to positively benefit their learning experience, so long as our family continues to grow and thrive....then it is a decision that is perfect for our family.