Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Summer vacation looms

We are just a few days away from the start of Summer Vacation! Big Djust finished Kindergarten (graduation was yesterday in fact!) and today is the last full day of class. Two half days and then off until September! I am so proud of all that he has accomplished over the year and seeing him excited about school and learning just warms my heart.

I've given myself a project, that is to continue working with him over the summer to reinforce and build on the things he learned this year. I plan to focus on reading skills but he already has a pretty sharp mind about math and like all kids a natural curiosity about science.
No, I don't plan on taking away his summer vacation, but I don't want him to lose all of the skills that are so new. So I've been poking around online for resources that could help me. Big attends public school, but I've found the most resources and collaborative info on homeschool websites, particularly SecularHomeschools.com The message boards have been full of great links, info and other tidbits from parents who are homeschooling. Since I work full time and unlike my hubby dont have summers off, I'm trying to find ways to take some of these programs and links and modify them for our needs. The nice thing about homeschooling is the overall sense of "go at your pace" that will work for the summer.
I also want to work with Lil A, who will be entering Preschool in the fall. I'm not going to go crazy with her knowledge of all the letter and their sounds, but would like to work on some of them so she has a base knowledge to start with. Beyond that I plan to keep it simple, projects that encourage hands-on work (cutting, pasting, creativity), and lots of stories to develop her skills in sitting still to listen. And of course exposure to new things, museums, music, zoos, all the fun stuff that preschoolers absorb like a sponge.
Doesn't this sound like an amazing plan? Don't I sound like an awesome Mommy??? Well, this is great except that I have one small conflict in the mix. I work full time. So my grand plans will be great but I won't be there for lots of them. My darling husband, who teaches high school and loves summer vacation as much as any kid, will have to handle most of the "field trips" and I think I can do some work in the evenings when I get home. He's usually game for most things, and I think that if we coordinate what we want to accomplish over the summer it should all work out, but in all of the posts I've read so far, I haven't found anything related to how working parents juggle "homeschooling". It feels a little like unchartered territory, but I can't possibly be the only person doing this.
Am I over thinking this? Quite possibly actually. I have a bad habit of doing that and I fully admit that. But if anyone has suggestions, please let me know! I'm all ears! :)
And if anyone has suggestions of fun activities for kids I'd love to hear those too! I'm the crafty/baking/etc parent in the family, hubby is the go-to-the-movies/fishing parent.

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