Freedom Isn't Free

It's another cool and rainy summer morning.  Last week we declared a two week break from the end of our school year so we could enjoy summer a bit and, go figure, it's been cool and rainy almost ever since.  Not that we aren't enjoying the break from school; we are, and boy did we need it!

Dreaming of Summer

As a homeschooling family, we have really enjoyed the freedom that making our own schedule affords us.  The biggest example of this is that every year, beginning the week after Labor Day (You know, the week that all the schools start for the new school year, at least here in Minnesota where they haven't changed to a May-August plan...) we load the car and take a long drive to the Gulf Coast to spend 2 or 3 or 4 weeks with family in a beach house.  The rental prices are cheaper, the beach is uncrowded, the weather is still wonderful, and it's an altogether beautiful time for us.  As a result of this lovely family time, we usually do not begin our school year in earnest until sometime in October.

Fast forward to May or June.  Schools are winding down, and even our homeschooling friends are finishing up right on schedule.  And here we are, still chugging along like it is March or April.  This would be fine, except as everyone else has free time there begins to be fun things to do, like going swimming, summer camp, graduation parties; you know, things you do in the summer when there is no school.

We have managed to finish up quite a few subjects, but I can't really call it done yet.  We still have testing for the younger kids, too.  After the break we will put our heads down and finish up, hopefully in time to switch to our summer schedule by August.  We'll take some trips here and there and they will get off days then, so don't feel too sorry for the poor kids.  Then we will return to our happy beach place in September and be mostly free of school, except for the five (!) online classes that begin on the "normal" schedule...

Freedom isn't free; they may as well learn now.

Summer Reading

I just finished reading The Old Man and the Sea, for the first time as far as I remember. I could say I’m not sure how I missed that one, but I think I have figured it out already. I didn’t read much in school, and I read almost nothing that wasn’t assigned. Actually, I did not really read that much of what was assigned, except in a skimming or Cliff Notes sort of way. What I remember about literature in school was that we never could just read anything; we had to pick it apart, write about it, and discuss it, ad nauseam. I know comprehension is important, and writing is very important. Don’t worry - my children are required to do these things in school, too. It’s just that I feel like if we do that to every assigned book they will turn out like I did and not enjoy reading. And there would not be time for them to read the quantity of good literature out there that I hope they can cram in before college. So yes, I’ll admit it, most of the assigned reading for my kids’ school is just that, reading. Throw in a dinner table discussion and check it off the list.