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May was a month filled with lots of interesting fiction and weekend trips, a worthwhile way to kick off the summer! Here is what I thought about the books I read. I'm implementing a star system, because I think it's easier to quickly see the bottom line on a book that way!
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - 4 stars - I have actually never read The Martian, which is Weir's most popular book, but for some reason this one caught my eye. The main character is a microbiologist who ends up being recruited to study a microbe that has started to basically "eat" the sun. Little does he know that he'll be called upon to go on a mission to rescue earth from this destructive little microbe, and make unexpected contact along the way. I started this book and really could not put it down - the unusual plot sucked me right in. I will say that there is ALOT of evolution-based elements to the plot (as someone who believes in creation I find this annoying) and some obnoxious political points thrown in here and there. There was also an awkward conversation about *ahem* about adult things with one of the astronauts. I'm taking off a star for those, but otherwise I found this book to be an imaginative and fun read.
The Mystery Of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict - 3 stars - This book started out pretty strong, but the follow-through just wasn't there. In case you didn't know, in real life Agatha Christie disappeared when she was a young wife and mother for about a week in the 1920's. She never talked about where she went or what she did, and to this day no one really knows what happened. How intriguing is that? This book explored a fictional explanation for that disappearance. I thought the idea for this book was really interesting, but the author kind of lost me when Mr. Christie is talking to an inspector and uses the phrase "my truth". That is not something anyone from that time period would be likely to say - "my truth", as opposed to just "the truth", is a thoroughly post-modern phrase that has really only become popular over the last couple decades. After that I noticed other modern attitudes that seemed imposed upon the characters, and I had a hard time taking the book seriously. At the end, when Agatha is explaining why she disappeared, I could tell the author was trying to give a "Poirot" vibe to it, but the monologue lacked the incisive insights about human nature that Agatha Christie used in all her final monologues in her mystery books. The reasoning for the disappearance seemed weak and forced. It was a good try, but in the end this book didn't work for me as an avid Christie reader.
What You Wish For by Katherine Center - 4 stars - In this book, Sam is a teacher at a special school that has just lost it's beloved principal. The new principle arrives, and lo and behold, it's Duncan, a man that Sam had a hopeless crush on at her previous school. But Duncan has changed, and Sam goes on a mission to help him rediscover the guy he used to be. This book was adorable and I enjoyed it very much. The dynamic between the characters was believable and kept me on the edge of my seat. I tend to like the hate-to-love trope in my chic-lit, and this one was done well.
Content Notes: There are a few bad words scattered throughout, a couple kissing scenes that are a little intense, a moment when Sam admires Duncan shirtless, and Sam sleeps in Duncan's room one day after he just had surgery to keep an eye on him, at another point the couple almost sleep together. I'd rate it about PG-13 if it was a movie.
Happiness For Beginners by Katherine Center - 3 stars - I enjoyed the first Katherine Center book so much, I decided to pick up another one. In this book, Duncan's older sister Helen is trying to find herself after her divorce. She ends up on a wilderness survival trip with a bunch of college students and Jake, her little brother's annoying friend - except she finds herself drawn to him unexpectedly - especially when she learns he's been pining for her for years. I very much enjoyed the wilderness setting and plot, which dominated the middle half of the book. Maybe I found myself intrigued by this aspect because, like the main character, I'm in my thirties now and I can imagine how obnoxious it would be to go spend two weeks with college students in the woods.
Content Notes: I can't recommend this one as much as the first Center book because it was more racy than the other one. More references to you-know-what, one pretty intense scene where the main characters almost sleep together, etc. If this was a movie I'd rate it a more racy PG-13. I try not to read and often don't finish books that would be worse than a PG-13 movie, but this one pushed it a little bit.
The Polar Bear Expedition by James Carl Nelson - 4 stars - This is perhaps the saddest book about World War One that I've read so far. This book tells the story of American soldiers who were sent to Russia toward the end of World War One, and then left there for two years...for reasons that no one ever told them. When I read The Last Of The Doughboys by Richard Rubin, one of the veterans interviewed in that book was one of these men of the Polar Bear Expedition, and even when pressed he refused to talk about his experiences in Russia. You know when they won't talk about it at all, it had to be terrible. About 200 soldiers died there in Russia fighting the Bolsheviks, and many of the men returned home still not knowing why they were sent there in the first place. The book explores why this chapter of WW1 happened, and emphasizes at the end how these brave men should be remembered (the poem in the last chapter made me actually cry). Because it sometimes gets bogged down in names/dates, I am giving it just 4 stars, but I am 100% glad I read this book.
Company K by William March - 4 stars - This is another WW1 book that I read because the author of The Last Of The Doughboys recommended it (are you sick of hearing about The Last Of The Doughboys yet? It's my favorite WW1 book). William March actually fought in WW1, and then returned home and wrote this book about a fictional company and their experiences in the war. Each chapter is basically a short story about a wartime situation, and for that reason this book is a quick read. It is not an easy read though, because some of these stories are awful and haunting. There are grisly portrayals of men dying. We see many of the surviving men losing their compassion, religion, or humanity, while others make it through and go on to be successful after the war. This book really gives a full, non-sugar coated perspective of what it would actually be like to live through such a terrible conflict. I think if you are studying WW1, this is worthwhile reading to give a full perspective of the human experience in that war, but if you are sensitive to descriptive violence you probably should skip this.
The God Who Is There by Francis Schaeffer - 5 stars - I started this book at the same time that I started Another Gospel by Alisa Childers, but it took me longer to get through because it's so meaty. Schaeffer is a brilliant guy, and very philosophical, so sometimes I had to really focus to get the point of what he was saying (philosophy is not my strong suit), but it was so worth it. This book traces the fall of culture from above what Schaffer calls "the line of despair" to below it. The despair he is talking about it when men give up all hope of knowing absolute truth, or of that truth even existing, and if they are consistent in their worldview, they are left with nothing but meaninglessness. He traces the history of the progression of this despair through different aspects of culture, starting with philosophy and going through art, music, general culture, and finally trickling down to theology. If you are finding yourself flabbergasted by the rise of progressive Christianity (as was described so well by Alisa Childers in her book), then this is the book you want to understand how we got here. The last half of the book is dedicated to encouraging Christians in how to approach the modern man, who has no grounds for absolute truth even existing. Schaeffer explains how in conversations with a person who is stuck in this mindset, we need to go back further and set the groundwork so there is something to build upon in explaining the gospel. This book was SO GOOD, and incredibly relevant considering it was written in the 1960's. Highly recommend it, just stick with it when it gets tough and I promise it's worth it.
And that's it for May! I am finding myself reading a lot of non-fiction in June, which is not the typical summer reading fare, but it's what I've been in the mood for. I should have some good recommendations coming up I think!
What are you all reading as we start the summer?
"I disagree."
I took a deep breath at these words that have never failed to increase my heart rate, whether I'm hearing or saying them. What followed was the first real friendship conflict in my adult life, with a person I cared very much about. She tried to convince me of her point, and I tried to convince her of mine. Later on the phone, we were at an impasse. And I took another deep breath and said "You know, it's okay if we disagree. We don't have to agree on everything to be friends."
It's a lesson that has been reinforced over the many years since then, and I've had more and more friends who have shown me how to disagree well. Dennis Prager also taught me something about disagreements between friends with his refrain about the goal of discussions, which he says should be clarity, not agreement (example).
Certainly there are times when a correction may be required between brothers and sisters in Christ on issues that can be obviously cleared up by the word of God, the Bible, as the standard to which believers should conform their minds and lives. But in general, I think "clarity over agreement" is a rule to live by when dealing with more nuanced disagreements. When I keep that principle in mind, it is much easier to be gentle and thoughtful in my responses, to speak the truth according to how I understand it in God's word with love. It also allows me to be more open to hearing out someone else's perspective, while clarifying my own thought processes on the subject.
As I think about the topic of disagreements, I'm also reminded of the Bible verse which says "faithful are the wounds of a friend" (Proverbs 27:6). I don't think this verse is saying that every wound by someone you think is a friend will be faithful - indeed we are fallen human beings, and we too often approach disagreements with pride and self-righteousness. But I think what this verse is saying, to both the person being confronted and the one doing the confronting, is to approach these discussions with the goal of wounding faithfully.
That means avoiding sarcastic jabs. That means seeking the good of your friend when you confront them, not seeking to be right. And that means that just because a friend may say "I disagree", it doesn't mean they are intending to hurt you. Indeed, if your friend is a true friend, the momentary pain brought by their challenge is likely meant as a faithful wound, for your good. And approaching confrontation from the perspective of striving to be faithful, and giving a friend that benefit of a doubt that this is their intention, can ultimately sharpen both of you. If it's handled rightly.
That's the trick, isn't it. Handling disagreement rightly. So difficult to do, but worthy of the effort of practicing at getting it right.
Stop.
This post is a participation in Five Minute Friday, which I would like to start practicing more regularly! I almost didn't write it, because disagreement - who wants to write about that? But I guess the point is to challenge and stretch myself a little, so I'm aiming to be back next week with another installment, even if it's another topic I don't want to write about.
As I mentioned a while back, every year we have to weigh our budget against possible destinations and time restraints with my husband's job. This year we had to worry about time constraints even more than normal - Derek actually got a new job this spring, and he had to start from scratch on building up vacation time. Next year we should have a chunk of time to work with again, but this year he is only able to take off a day here and there.
Because of all that, instead of going on one week-long trip this year, we have decided to do several smaller weekend trips. In the end, this will likely work out better anyway since many of the destinations we considered are not places where we necessarily want to spend a whole week!
Over the last couple weekends we took our first two mini-trips. The first was a planned field trip/camping trip to a historic fort, and the second weekend was a last-minute road trip to Utah over Memorial Day weekend (once we found out Derek would be able to take an extra day off). In Utah we visited three national parks, and I plan to write a post about my tips for visiting Utah national parks with kids. But for now, here are a few pretty pictures.
Visit To Bent's Fort
Our first weekend road trip taught us an important lesson - do not try to start a long drive after work on a Friday night. We had grand plans to make it to a certain destination and set up our tent before dark - well, that did not happen, and by the time we arrived it was nearly 10:00 PM in the middle of a lightening storm. We ended up springing for a hotel instead.
The next day we made it to the campground and set up our tent, and then made the trek out to Bent's Fort, which is a historic reproduction of an old west trading fort. I have to say, the kids were completely fascinated by the fort. They paid such close attention to all the details and history, and said it was one of their favorite field trips ever. If you ever have a chance to go, it's a great stop for kids! I think the general store that sold old-timey odds and ends added to the magic, and we ended up getting the girls some pioneer girl bonnets, a powder horn for Clyde which he has been exceedingly proud of, and a fire starter kit and arrowhead for Wyatt.
(On the top level of the fort.)
(Looking through a fort window.)
(Saying the junior ranger pledge. This guy stayed in character the whole time. I was very impressed with the commitment of all the employees in enacting their historical parts!)
(Bird watching near the fort. I was mad at myself later for not getting a view of the outside of the fort for the blog - sorry guys.)
This was the first camping trip where we did mostly our own cooking (instead of eating meals out), and I'm happy to report it was a success!
(Playground near our campsite.)
(Checking out the lake.)
Utah National Park Trip
Our next weekend trip was to Utah to check out some of the national parks down there. I am working on another post with more details of our visit and tips, so I'll keep it short here.
First we went to Zion National Park, on perhaps the busiest day of the year, which was perhaps a mistake! The trails were completely packed, but I still couldn't help being impressed with the grandeur of all the cliffs and canyon walls. I'd like to go back sometimes when it's not so crazy-busy and visit some other locations within the park. Because of the amount of time it took to navigate into the park, we only got to check out one trail in the day we were there.
Our next park was Bryce Canyon, and I have to say, I liked it better than Zion just because it was less of a zoo, and we were able to drive into the park ourselves (more on that in my next post on this subject). The views were honestly breathtaking, and almost more beautiful to me than the Grand Canyon (though it's been a while since we were in Arizona - I reserve the right to change my mind).
(Guys, look at this trail that went down into the canyon! We didn't go that far down, because we had kids and time constraints.)
(We found a waterfall, which was perhaps my favorite part of Bryce.)
Lastly, we made a spontaneous detour to attempt to check out Capitol Reef National Park on the way home. It ended up being a three-hour detour with a disappointing payoff - only because of the fact that I really wanted to see the arch, and it took us a while to figure out that we had to hike two miles to see it! We didn't have time to do that, so that was a disappointment. I wouldn't go back to this one unless I had time to explore it properly, but like all the other parks we visited, the areas we did get to see where impressive and beautiful.
So that's part one and two of our vacation in pieces this year. As I said, I'll be back with more details of our visits to each park, and what I would do differently next time!
I am happy to report that this post is brought to you by the pretty, windowed portico in my library.
For the past year our library has been limiting us to 30 minutes per visit, with the self-assigned mask-police following us around making sure our noses are covered. In other words, the library has not been pleasant for a while, and over the last year I frequently just sat in the parking lot and called the number to have the librarian deliver books to my car instead of putting up with that nonsense. But our state has dropped it's mask mandate, the library has dropped theirs and now I'm sitting at a desk covered in dappled light, admiring the view of the woods, and drinking a white mocha while I type this. Where are the kids? Vacation Bible School, another thing that we didn't get to do last year. Cheers to normalcy!
We actually finished school three weeks ago, but for some reason we decided to jump right into back-to-back spontaneous weekend trips. I'll share more in another post this week, but we visited a historic fort and three national parks over the course of two long weekends (one of which included tent camping). And we did all this right before the busiest month of the year, June, which is typically packed with family birthdays, Father's Day, the homeschool conference, VBS, and this year we also scheduled in two more weekend trips.
Basically, I'm tired. Thrilled that things are nearly completely back to normal, but tired.
This week, the first quiet week we've had since we closed the books, I am anticipating lots of time for the following:
Reading. May really should have been a better reading month with all that weekend-tripping, but my vacation days never work out very well for reading. I'm the kind of person that goes away from home to do and see things I normally wouldn't - I don't want to sit in a chair and read! I can do that at home. I also have a horrible time reading in my car, unless we happen to be driving across a flat state. Mountainous roads? Forget it. I'll be too sick to eat anything in approximately 30 minutes. So during my one quiet week in June, you can bet I'll be working on some books. First up is Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
Blogging. Where have I even been the last couple months, guys? I have a lot of posts bursting to get out. You'll probably get several this week.
Planting flowers. This last weekend was technically an off weekend, but I spent Saturday and Sunday catching up on the necessary shopping - first for groceries on Saturday, which takes forever because I do once-a-month shopping. And then on Sunday for a summer wardrobe for Gwen (I already bought Wyatt's, and the rest of the kids get hand-me-downs with a couple new pieces each).
As an aside, I was about to go into our normal discount clothing store, but they had a huge sign and window display insisting that any kid above the height of their (short) mannequin was required to wear a mask. That's more than even our state or the CDC ever required, and sorry, but I am DONE with dealing with all that. I turned back around and we went to JCPenny. instead, which conveniently, was having a pretty good sale.
Anyway, on the way home we stopped and bought this year's flowers for my pots and for the weird little strip of dirt by our front door, which I feel needs some plants. I happen to kill plants really easily, so I'm not sure how it's going to go with our front-door dirt, but I'm going to try. If it wasn't for Derek watering all the flowers I plant each year, this would be a colossal waste of money, but I know I can count on him. I'd like to get everything planted this week.
Planning for the homeschool conference. Our homeschool conference is on this year, hooray! I need to sit down with a curriculum catalog and come up with a homeschool budget so I don't go overboard, which is very easy to do in the curriculum hall.
Possibly drill on grammar terms. This year is the first year Wyatt has to do testing. Our state/umbrella school requires testing or an evaluation ever other year after 3rd grade, and we are due. I feel pretty confident that we prepared enough for him to do well, except perhaps in the area of grammatical terms, which I'm not sure will even be on the test (but we’re going to practice a bit anyway). When did you all start learning grammar terms (you know, adjectives, adverbs, etc.)? Because from my personal experience, I don't remember covering grammar at all during my years as a student in public school (1st-3rd grade), and then I was totally overwhelmed with my 4th grade English book when we started homeschooling, because I had no idea what it was talking about. So in comparison, I feel like it'll be fine?
Thanks for visiting and reading my ramblings, even when I get overwhelmed and don't touch this blog for weeks. Sometimes it's difficult to find energy to sit down and write, but I am always storing up things I want to share on here. Especially since getting off Instagram, I know those of you who take time to read here instead are the best kind of online pals.
Hopefully coming up in the next week or two...
-Travel Photos
-May Book Recap
-Reasons You Should Go To A Homeschool Conference
-Podcasts I'm Enjoying
-Top Book Recommendations For Homeschool Moms
-Any other topics that come to mind (suggestions welcome!)
April was quite a slow reading month for me, and because of that this post is rather late. I don't feel like I have a great variety to share this month, but I did enjoy most of the books I read, so that's something!
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Penderwicks On Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall- This is the second book in the Penderwick series (you can read my thought on the first one here). The mother of the Penderwick family died when her girls were young, and in this book Aunt Claire comes and basically forces their father to start dating again. The girls have a hard time with this, especially the oldest sister, Rosalind, and this is the story of how they come to terms with a new phase for their family. I loved the first book in this series and I loved this one just as much - all the characters are delightful, and the situations they find themselves in are charming. I especially like the development of Rosalind's character in this one as she struggles through her feelings about losing her mother, and the way she had to fill the motherly role in their family since then. I will say that Rosalind and the boy she likes decide in this book that they will date when they are 13, which is still a shockingly young age to me, but I still loved it.
Wundersmith by Jessica Townsend - I read the first book in this series (Nevermoor) last month, and overall thought it was quirky and fun, but this book took a darker turn for me. In this book Morrigan Crow starts classes at the Wunderous Society school, and as she gets to know her classmates, more is revealed about how the villain, Ezra Squall, is working in Nevermoor. I mentioned when I reviewed the first book that I was a little unsure about it because I like to be careful about the twisting of archetypes in children's fiction (ie. presenting traditionally evil creature as good, or vice versa) - well, that was much more of a feature of this book. There was a lot of ambiguity about who is good and who is evil in this book, some of the characters and situations are darker, and even some characters who I assume are supposed to be the good guys are really dark and creepy (like the headmistress of the school). There is also more references to sorcery and witchcraft in this book, which I like to avoid since the Bible is very clear that those things are detestable to God. So while the first book came off as more imaginative and quirky, this one was just...darker (how many times am I going to say darker in this review?). I won't be reading the next book.
The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - Have you ever heard of HeLa cells? HeLa is am "immortal" human cell line that has been important in research for decades now. Well, it turns out the HeLa cells were taken from a woman named Henrietta Lacks, and this book digs into her story. It turns out neither Henrietta nor her family was ever formally informed on how her cells were being used until years later, and consent for research was never obtained. When her children did find out about their mother's cells, it ended up being very traumatizing for them, especially because a lot of the ways her cells have been used in animal/human experiments are very creepy. This book made me think about a lot of things that I never would have otherwise - such as the fact that your tissues and samples can be used in research without you ever knowing it. It brings up a lot of ethical conundrums about whether it is right for medical researchers to claim a right to use your tissues without informing you as the patient/donor. The whole thing was really fascinating, and also rather disturbing and sad. Once I started listening, I couldn't stop - the audiobook was really well done.
Back Over There by Richard Rubin - Rubin wrote one of my favorite book about WW1 so far (The Last Of The Doughboys), and in researching that book he traveled all over France to see the battlefields and memorials of World War One. In the process he met some really fascinating people in the French countryside, and find out more about how much World War One affects their lives even now. This book is a travel log of sorts of Rubin's trips to France. I found it particularly interesting to read about the attitude of the French people toward the American military - they are still so grateful for the role America played in ending that war. Really interesting, but I would recommend reading Last Of The Doughboys first.
I'll be back in a couple weeks with my May books, though I have a feeling it's going to be another slow reading month. What have you all been reading lately?
That's how many days we have left in the school year.
We finished a lot of our core subjects - math, language arts, reading - a week ago, and so these last couple weeks have been dedicated to state history lessons, art, humble science experiments, and numerous read-alouds. Weirdly, all those more fun school subjects end up taking a lot of energy and effort, and even though I've had several blog post ideas in my head for weeks now, I can't seem to muster up the margin or energy to type them up. So a chatty post it is.
Forgive the typos in advance please. I'm tired.
But four more days. Four more days and we'll all be as free as a bird.
Fun With The Grandmas!
Speaking of interesting school activities, the last two Fridays have been dedicated to special school activities with the kids' grandmas.
Derek's mom has done an incredible amount of research into his family tree. She is so thorough, and she has traced some branches of his family back to the 11th century. I asked her if she could come up and tell the kids a little more about their ancestors, and also about how she researches geneology. She told us stories of some of the kids' great-great-greats, which include many really fascinating people, and she even printed a little mini-tree for each of my kids showing their all great-great grandparents. The kids were so interested in all of it!
Before she left she demonstrated how she researches a family tree by using my side of the family, and we got a couple names filled in. We looked through census records from 80 years ago, and I watched as the family of one of my grandparents grew from 7 members to 9, and then back to 8 ten years later after one of the names disappeared from the record after a death. I knew about my grandparent's family before, of course, but seeing it there in black and white, connected by a few clicks to my own name on the tree - it made me feel more connected to my heritage. Those were tough times, and I come from people with grit, and seeing it on paper makes me even more grateful for the blessings in my life now.
It was so interesting to see how it works and see names so closely connected my own in the original records, and I am thinking I want to dive into more family tree research myself this summer. I will also be busy recruiting my mom-in-law to come back up soon and tell the kids more stories! It's fascinating to see the amount of detail she has been able to find on the family.
The very next Friday, my mom planned a "field day" for all her grandchildren (all of which are homeschooled). I have a lot of memories of field day when I was a kid (particularly memories of being proud that I beat the boys in the sprints - there is only a small window when that could have happened! I don't run.) I loved the idea of a field day so my kids could have some fun memories of races with their grandma and cousins! Final analysis - huge success. My mom planned a ton of different types of races, the kids loved it, and no one compared or felt bad about any of their placings/ribbons. We had a delicious lunch, explored outside and fed the horses, and visited more while the kids played. It was a great time with the family and a good chance to practice good sportsmanship!
(The dress-up relay race!)
Awana And Rain And Mother's Day
In other news, we also had our last night of Awana a week ago. The kids got all their awards, my mom was able to come to the ceremony, and it's a consensus that we can't wait for it to start up again next year! Derek and I will have to be more strategic about planning date nights over the summer - we became rather spoiled this winter with a free 1.5 hours each week for a dinner date.
We celebrated Mother's Day this last week by seeing Derek's mom for breakfast, and my mom for lunch - before heading home, lounging on the couch, and watching Survivor reruns. (After the kids melted my heart with adorable cards, and gifts which they bought with their own money. Some of which were candy. Some of which we ate while watching Survivor) .
We did have plans for an outing to the zoo on Mother's Day, but the weather ended up being rainy and cold. And what do you know, it snowed again on Monday and Tuesday, making this a near record-long snow season for our state. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it snowed AGAIN before the end of May, so we may smash that record! Doubtful though, since I know for a fact that it has snowed here in June before, but we'll see. I just read an article about the Southwestern states possibly declaring a water shortage emergency for the first time, so let's just say I'm grateful for any snow we get here. No fires this summer please.
Fun Things, Anxiety-Producing Things
The rest of this week will likely be filled with fun and stress mixed together - on Friday I am going on a girl's night with my college friends/book group girls, which will be the first time our group has eaten at a restaurant together in over a year. As I am looking forward to that, I am also anxious for our poor old dog who has a surgery scheduled for Friday.
A couple years ago we discovered a tumor on Harvey's neck, which we briefly grieved about because our vet assured us it was most certainly malignant. I was making mental plans for budgeting in cancer drugs for our faithful hound, but when the results came back the tumor ended up being a benign tumor which usually occurs in cats, completely baffling our vet.
Well, Harvey has another tumor on his leg, which our vet again says is most likely malignant. I am holding out hope that it will end up being another one of the cat-tumors, but on Friday he is getting it removed. It almost physically hurts me to take him to the vet, because big and tough as Harvey looks, he acts like a scared Chihuahua whenever we have to take him in for a checkup. His anxiety gives me anxiety, and then there is more anxiety about the fact that the tumor is right on the join of his back leg and I'm running worst-case scenarios in my mind of the surgery crippling him. Our vet assures us that the risk of that is low, but...I'm just nervous. You dog people understand.
Cookie Dough And Summer Fun
Finally, as the school year has been winding down, I've been thinking ahead a bit to what kinds of things I want to plan for my kids this summer. Last summer I made a mostly at-home summer bucket list, which was a success, and I would like to plan out some fun activities for the kids again. But, I have to admit, I am tired. Homeschooling will always be worth it for me, and it's incredibly rewarding, but it is also verging on exhausting when we reach May. Like I mentioned last week, we keep a traditional school schedule because I need a break in the summer to rest mentally.
So I will wait to make any fun summer plans until we've had time to reset, but I must mention that I did find this cookie dough recipe book while I was at the library today, which was surprisingly motivating. A few years ago I took the kids to the mall in the summer, and there used to be a cookie dough shop there. I've never been one of those people who likes to eat cookie dough raw, but my kids very much enjoyed the experience of eating uncooked cookies. I am pretty sure that the cookie dough shop went under, but I am thinking this book and our own cookie dough cafe might be an easy place to start for summer fun.
After I rest for a couple weeks.
Four more days...
One of the best things about homeschooling is the ability to make your own school schedule. You get to decide how you spend your time each day, how you want to schedule your week, and even how you want to break up your school year.
I've read so many great posts from other homeschool moms on why they choose to do a year-round homeschool schedule. Usually a year-round schedule is broken up into terms, such as taking six week on/one week off (or whatever break schedule works for your family). There are a lot of great reasons I've heard for managing your homeschool year this way, but our family has chosen to stick with a tradtional school schedule for our homeschool. By traditional schedule, I mean that we do school from (approximately) September through May, and then take the summer months off. I've written a little about this before, but today I wanted to give you a few of my reasons in favor of keeping a traditional school schedule.
1. The weather is nice in the summer.
Where I live, the winter drags on for quite a while, and the most beautiful months we have are...you guessed it...June through August. During those summer months, we want to be outside, enjoying the mountains and our nice weather after a long season of being cooped up indoors. I think this would be a different consideration if we lived in a state where the summer months were unbearably hot - it makes sense to take advantage of whatever time of year the weather is best.
2. I don't want the traditional schools to have a perceived advantage to my kids.
For me as a homeschooling mom, it's important to me not only that my kids know our reasons for homeschooling, but it's also important to convince them that it's better for us (because I really think it is). Because of that, I don't want my kids to look at what their public/private school peers are doing and feel like they are missing out on anything. In our situation, if our family did school in the summer, my kids may end looking longingly at all the kids who have the summers off, wishing they could also be outside enjoying the weather while it's nice (see the first point).
Now, the validity of this point is going to depend on where you live, what your family habits are like, and how you communicate your choices to your kids. I know families who do school all year so they can take off for outdoor adventures in warmer states anytime they'd like, and because they explained those advantages to their kids I don't think they mind at all doing some schoolwork in the summer! There are worthy trade-offs to year-round schooling as well, and I think the important part is communicating the advantages to your family's choice to your kids. For our family, because we don't do multiple trips each year, doing schoolwork during the one time of the year when the weather is comfortable would be burdensome. Its more advantageous for us to leave the summers open to enjoy the nice weather while we have it.
3. Looking forward to the break of summer is motivating for me.
Sometimes when I'm feeling a little worn-down with homeschooling, just knowing that summer is coming and that I'll have all kinds of time to rest is a motivation for me. If there was no summer break to look forward to, I think it would make difficult weeks even harder for me because there would be no real end in sight. Reaching the end of the year gives me a clear point to work toward and keeps us on track.
Some moms can find just as much motivation in doing school for a couple months and then having a couple weeks off, but I find that just having one or two weeks off school doesn't do a lot for my refreshment. This is one of the reasons we don't take a spring break at this time - I'd rather just power through and be done with the school year sooner.
Having the extended time off in the summer allows for deeper refreshment for me as a homeschool mom. I have a big chunk of time to rest from the pressure and work of the school year. Sometimes getting away from the routine allows you to come back to it later with a better attitude. This is the same reason why we take vacations - getting away from regular life allows you to be ready to come back to it with a fresh perspective.
Again, some moms can get both of these advantages with a year-round break schedule, so this is really about knowing yourself and what would be most refreshing to you. For myself, a longer break in the summer is more refreshing than shorter, more frequent breaks year-round.
4. Having the summer off allows more time to pursue interests and be bored.
I love giving my kids (and myself) a long enough stretch of open days for them to deeply pursue their own interests without the distraction of schoolwork. Sometimes it's beneficial to dig deeper into an area of study, and while you can certainly do that during the school year, the internal pressure of finishing a curriculum always keeps me from enjoying those rabbit trails. In the summer, we don't have to worry about regular schoolwork and can rabbit-trail to our heart's content without worrying.
I also think it's good for kids (and adults) to have enough time to be bored. Boredom can foster new levels of creativity or allow your brain time to refresh and make connections. When my kids are bored, I've been surprised to find them inventing new games or building forts outside, things they may or may not have enough free time to do during the school year.
5. Summers off give me space to reflect on the bigger picture and make a plan for the next year.
Having time away from our normal schedule in the summer also lets me take a step back from the "trenches" and evaluate the situation more objectively. I do most of my reflecting and planning for the next homeschool year in the summer months. Because the summer is so long it lets me clear my mind and do my planning at a leisurely pace, which is something I personally need to keep my ultimate goals for homeschooling in perspective. Without this time to reset my perspective, I know I would be much more likely to experience homeschool burn out. Usually by the end of the summer, I feel organized and motivated to tackle the new school year.
I know homeschool moms who do year-round school, and others who take a break for the summer as I do. I know moms who start school sooner so they can finish earlier in the spring, and I know moms who start early and end later so they have time for days off in between. One of the greatest thing about homeschooling is being able to think about the needs of your own family and plan your school year for the best advantage to your own lifestyle.
If you homeschool, what does your schedule look like? It's interesting to see how different people choose to organize their years!
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