Friday, June 4, 2010

Summer Begins!

School's out!  Summer vacation for my 6-year-old starts today.  While I am looking forward to spending more time with her, managing all those hours together is a daunting challenge.  That's why I was delighted to find some spectacular ideas for "No More Summer Mush Mind " over at How Does She?  Basically, it seems like a morning homeschool plan, which is lovely way for my kids and I to spend the next couple of months.


With our current schooling setup, I think I get the best of both worlds.  Fall, winter and spring, I am partnering with the public school to teach my children; then in the summer months I get to do "funschooling" with my three kids!  Plus we can focus more intentionally on Christian discipleship, starting with the user-friendly summer calendar I mentioned last week.  Now it's time to get my head out of the clouds and actually implement all these ideas!


Here are some of the "field trips" and other fun outings I hope we can attempt this month:


1. Strawberry Picking
We did a spur-of-the-moment outing last year on my other daughter's birthday; we all hope to enjoy an outing to the farm again this year.
 




2.  "The Mammoth Museum" 
Morrill Hall offers free Thursday nights all summer long; my kids had a blast exploring the place last July. 

3.  Jazz in June and/or International Festival
I have always wanted to go to these downtown events but still haven't made it after two summers.  Third time's a charm I hope!

4.  The Farmer's Market
We made it to the market twice already this season; it has become a Saturday morning tradition for us.  Even my 2-year-old son looks forward to going, especially since there are trains.  He adores trains.  I love the personal interactions with the farmers; it reminds me of the daily open-air markets in our neighborhoods when we lived in Asia.

The Reality: Honestly, it's been a tough week.  Fun events and happy feelings are not what will encourage me at the deepest levels.  In order to feed my children spiritual truth, I need to return to the Source of true strength and wisdom.  From my recent study of John, there are so many lessons and insights that I have noticed but not fully applied to life yet.  That is probably my most important summer project


Big or small plans, what's on your list this month?





6 comments:

mholgate said...

Well, my kids still have another week of school, but we're headed over the mountains to visit Grandparents after that for a week. We'll be back just in time for Father's Day.

I do have it in mind to find a good bible reading plan to follow with my kids this summer. Something fun like an at-home vacation bible school. :)

Have a great weekend!
-Melissa

Alicia said...

I want to hear about when you lived in Asia!
I want to find a place to go strawberry picking here: I think that would be soooo much fun.
Alicia

SpitFire said...

On my list this month, is a marriage conference next week. My husband is overseas so I'll have to fill him in on what I learn. Then later this month, I have a video date with him for our anniversary. We're each going to sit down and watch The Notebook, and talk about it over Skype.

Unknown said...

Lots of things -- but you last paragraph really spoke to me.

One thing I am really adamant about this summer -- only 2 hours of screen time per day. I don't know who is going to benefit the most -- I think partly the rule is for me so that I will be consistently and actively engaged with my kids.

One More Equals Four said...

WE have a busy couple of weeks with dance recital and summer camp and vacation Bible School. After that I hope to enjoy those lazy, dog days of summer. I am reading an incredible book called the Organic God and I hope to use that and the book Crazy Love and Do Hard Things along with the Bible to deepen my kids walks. It looks like you have some fun plans!

Robbie said...

We are planning a low key summer. As this is the last summer before school, we're keeping things relatively quiet in anticipation. Plan to use the community pool a lot, garden and hit the farmers market regularly.