Summer Break?

So, we were supposed to take a break this entire summer. Our first summer ever where we weren’t schooling through, albeit summers are always a lighter version. This morning the children woke up, the first day after our vacation, and asked what we were doing for school. I said it was summer vacation! They said vacation is over, we are rested ha ha.

We take many breaks through the year. We totally shut down for December and the first two week so January. We take another week off when ever spring finally arrives. And we take the first few weeks of September off so we can reconnect with our community after the summer break and visit all the places we didn’t visit because they were too busy during the summer. Add in the gap week we take between each block and we’ve got a pretty good break schedule each year! Summer feels like such a slow and lazy time that for us, it works to work lightly through the season while everyone else is off doing summer things.

All that said, I’m all for listening to my children and what I hear when they say “vacation is over, we are rested” is lets get back to some semblance of our regular rhythm. Even before our vacation we were out of our regular rhythm as we were out seeing our friends and enjoying all our regular spaces before they were taken over by summer camps and school families.

When we take breaks, the things that stay firm from our rhythm are meal times and bed times. I always try and keep our quiet times regular as well but sometimes we are out and about and those get skipped. This is typically what triggers our need to “return to school”. And the last few happy, fun and adventurous weeks have not had much quiet time in them. So a new plan is in order.

Today, we sat together on the couch during what would have been our typical lesson time and did a small lesson from Keepers of Life, and finished our book on King Arthur. THEN, my eldest pulled out his main lesson book and our Hudson Talbott collection and did a summary, as well as choosing spelling words, then did a few drawings in his sketch book. My youngest pulled out her math book and gems and practiced double subtraction with borrowing.

It was calm and quiet, just what was needed. I’ll be spending some time tonight planning some light activities that we can do together to make our rhythm feel more present and holding. I will say I think I’m looking forward to it as much as my children are!

Marina