Nearing the end

The school year is drawing to a close at my house.  I often think we could use a few more weeks to fully do justice to our year's curriculum, but more often than not, I have to simply accept that it is over.   My children are a little like wild horses when the long midwest winter comes to an end (well after April has passed).  It seems cruel to keep them indoors when we've come through six months of keeping constructive inside during inclement weather.  Whenever the sun is out, and usually this is in our final quarter of the school year, I go into "streamlined mode" of homeschooling.  What I require of my children is simply a set number of pages from each workbook, and they're done for the day.  I do science with them as a group, but besides that, I let it go.  Since I'm not doing elaborate arts and crafts or writing projects, they can usually get the workbooks done in between 30 minutes and 2 hours, depending on their grade level.  The positive side to this method, is that for the final month of school, we burn through those workbooks, which otherwise might have gone half completed.  Once they notice they're "almost done" with a workbook, I challenge them to push hard and finish it off so they can be done for the year.  As the workbooks dwindle in number, their excitement for the summer grows.  I ordered new swimsuits a couple of weeks back, because I knew that we'd need them soon and I need a whole bunch of sizes, so I didn't want to wait too long.   That was enough for my kids: they demanded we get them goggles so they'd be ready for swimming.  My oldest informed me of the opening day of the local pool.

Obviously, I love homeschooling.  I just get a thrill out of educating my children.  It's definitely one of the most edifying aspects of my parenting.  As a mom, there's not just a ton of daily work that I get to feel satisfaction in accomplishing (think dinner or laundry) because it needs to be re-done daily.  Of course we'll revisit the water cycle or the Civil War again every so many years, but there is a real amount of learning accomplished each year.  That said, even I start looking forward to the new routine, and the break, of summer.  The hours of schooling can be turned toward other projects, like gardening. I can go for a walk to the park with the kids at 10 a.m. and not feel like I'm getting a late start on our day's work.

Since I leave for my in-laws in the southwest every summer, some of the projects I'd love to do (like gardening) can't happen while we're away from home.  Still, I'm outside in the sunshine a whole lot more, and that's just healthy and restorative.  We all need to recover and renew.  We need to clear our minds and strengthen our bodies...that have grown a little pale over the long winter.  I love the rhythm of the school year and summer break.  I'm glad that as a mother I don't have to lose that by working a job year round, with only weeks of vacation time each year.   It's a blessing, and one of the perks that come with being a stay-at-home mom.  This isn't to say that working men and women don't have their advantages.  But I figure it doesn't hurt to acknowledge one of the benefits I receive from my vocation as a home educating mom.:)