I was hoping to end the summer with a bang, packing in lots of fun adventures and organizing the whole house before embarking on this new school year; but instead I spent the last two weeks of summer struggling through pink eye and a sinus infection and then pneumonia. Not what I had planned, not fun - but we survived and I am so thankful that God brought us through it and we are now on the other side. The kids were thrilled about all the movies and shows they got to watch while Mom was sick, and we finally did manage to sort through the school supplies and get organized enough to begin our school year last week. I know it's still August which is still technically "summer" but Classical Conversations began this week and I really like getting at least one week of school under our belt before we add that group to the mix. Plus, we take so many breaks during the school year that we might as well get started early. Flexibility is such a perk of homeschooling! In some ways, September and October feel more "summery" to me because we finally get the parks and playgrounds and zoo and museums all to ourselves, once everyone else is back in school! It's quite lovely, actually, and we try to get out as much as we can during those months before the cold weather hits. All that to say that I don't at all mind doing school in August, and I don't think the kids do either.
We tend to start our school year slowly - briefly touching on each subject the first couple of days but not spending too much time on them. It always takes a while to find our groove and settle into the new routine and figure out what the toddler will do all morning, so I try to ease in gradually and give us all space to adjust. Also, because everything is new, it takes longer now than it will in a few weeks, so we don't get through as much each day as I plan to do eventually. And that's fine! It's all part of the process. Along with our school schedule we started our new Fall Chore Schedule last week, which means that I am spending time with each child after breakfast making sure they know how to do their new jobs and checking their work after they are done. This will get faster as they get better at it, but right now it feels like half of our school time is spent getting chores done. I have to remind myself that these are crucial life skills that they are learning, possibly even more important than some "school" subjects, so it's absolutely worth the time. For the past year or so we have done a chore rotation where each child sticks with a few chores for a whole season, and then at the next season they move on to something different. This is working well for us because a) I don't have the time to switch it up more frequently and b) they get to sit with each chore long enough to (ideally) get pretty good at it. They also have their chores long enough to get quite tired of them and start complaining ("Whhhhennnn can my brother do this instead of me???") but so far the pros have outweighed the cons. I have recently come to the exciting realization that having a lot of kids is actually extremely helpful when they reach those ages where they can do things - and sometimes even do them well! You may be laughing at me and wondering why I didn't realize this before, which is a totally fair question and I might just blame it on Mom Brain, but I also feel like when the children are younger you get in this mode of "kids are lots of work and that's just how it is" and you forget that someday the balance will flip and they will indeed start to contribute as much as (or more than?) they take. But when four, eventually five, kids help haul in the groceries, or pick up the living room, or when you divide up the household chores among them all, it's actually, amazingly helpful! Hallelujah and amen.
Looking back on this summer, I discover that my favorite moments were all small ones. We had a couple trips in spring/early summer, which were lovely, but other than that it has been a fairly quiet summer - which is not bad in the least. I loved watching the older kids play with the baby and cheer him on for each new milestone. I loved seeing the baby experience his first summer - grass tickling his toes, and chubby fingers poking the sand, and pure delight at the feel of sun on his face and wind in his hair. I am proud of how the three older boys practiced riding their bikes (thanks to Dad's consistent efforts!) and how much more confident they have all become. I loved the time we spent reading Little Pilgrim's Progress this summer - just a small bit each day - and seeing their wonder and delight when they started making connections and understanding that it was an allegory. I loved the lunchtimes when I was sick and coughing and couldn't read as usual, so instead we turned on our audiobook version of Charlotte's Web and laughed and cried our way through it. Ok, ok, you're right. The kids never cry at our read-alouds. It's only me. I loved reading about insects in our science book (which we still haven't finished but I promise we will so please don't call the Homeschool Police) and then finding a freshly-molted cicada in our backyard.
Picking giant cucumbers - the one thing that grew well for us this year.
Catching fireflies on late nights after church.
Walks around the neighborhood.
Library visits and stacks of picture books.
Baby Brother shrieking with joy on the swing.
Little moments, but precious ones.
I always enjoy peeking at other homeschoolers' schedules and seeing how they try to manage the craziness, so if that's you, here's a glance at our routine as we have it at the moment.
* Kids get up around 7:30, then breakfast and chores
* Morning time all together (while Baby Brother begins his morning nap)
- this includes singing, Bible stories, poems, memory verses, maybe a picture book, etc
(not all every day but we will rotate through them)
* Little Sister then does some Independent Playtime in her room, I will give Big Brother & Middle Brother their independent work/reading to do and then do some focused math or phonics time with Little Brother
* After that, I send him off to play with Little Sister and then help the older two practice piano or check the work they have done
* Then we have snacks, a break, and I try to read a book to Little Sister or give her some attention
* Then we all gather again to read either science or history all together which usually ends in "Let's try that experiment!" or "Let's act out that story!"; sometimes I say yes and sometimes I say some version of "You guys can do it on your own cause the kitchen could probably be classified as an Actual Disaster Area and I need to do something about it"
* Outside time for the kids while Baby Brother gets up, has a bottle, and plays; then lunch and a read-aloud chapter book
* Nap/quiet rest time: and this year each day either Big Brother or Middle Brother will come down early, before the others, and we'll do some focused math time together
And that's it! The afternoon is for taking a walk or picking up the house or making dinner or playing a game together or continuing our chapter book if it's really exciting or all of the above. Other things on our schedule for the fall include piano lessons once a week, speech therapy once a week, and Classical Conversations once a week. It's not a lot, but it feels like plenty! I despise over-scheduling and do my absolute best to avoid it for our children.
One quick note about screen time: we began the summer with a new rule, "You get to watch a show if it's raining." Well, I did not plan on this, but it was a remarkably dry summer. Ha! It wasn't at all good for my sad neglected plants but it was excellent for weaning us off our habit of watching PBS kids. And I will say that after about 2-3 weeks, the kids stopped asking if they could watch something. It was amazing. We even had some rainy days where they forgot to ask and so we didn't open the computer at all. Furthermore, they also stopped complaining about playing outside! For quite a while this spring, certain children would come stomping in the house every five minutes, asking "When can we stay in?" This completely stopped when we cut back on screen time. I don't know precisely why, but it is true. They played outside and made up games together and splashed in our little pool and bickered as children do and I loved seeing them entertain themselves throughout the summer. Of course, this all went out the window when I came down with the never-ending-mega-virus - which is fine! There are seasons when you've got to do what you can just to survive, and no shame there. But when I've got a choice in the matter, I absolutely prefer the "little to no screen time" version of our life.
We are looking forward to cooler temperatures, all the beauty of the changing seasons, and our new year of learning and adventures that is to come. I feel much more optimistic than I did at this time last year - Baby Brother is napping well, which means we can usually count on that time to get things done, and I have much more energy than I did last year! Pregnancy is exciting and breastfeeding is precious but I am thoroughly enjoying the increased stamina that comes with not being in those stages.
Whether you've already started, are about to start, or will be waiting until September, I hope your school year is full of good books, relationship-building with those darling children, and many encounters with fascinating ideas that spark wonder and joy.
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