School’s Out for Summer, no sweeter words for a homeschool mom. I am a homeschool mom, or at least I was for 18 years (see I Kissed Homeschooling Good-bye) and “school’s out for summer” was always a nice time of year. Thank you Alice Cooper, for that lyrical phrase that brought joy to many a heart.
I was in the school’s-out-for-summer camp, and I’m here to tell you it was totally about me! Oh, sure, the kids could use a little break too, but let’s get real, I needed a break.
Homeschooling takes up so much time. Not only is the parent involved in hands-on, day-to-day teaching, but planning and preparing, checking and so forth, after hours, just like a professional teacher, only you live with your students, all year, all the time…until they are grown and gone.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved those early days of homeschooling and wouldn’t trade them for the world (though I would do a few things differently), but it was hard, and I let a lot of things go during the school
year. So summer wasn’t just about vacation, it was a lot about catching-up on things let go and new projects too.
I did, however, subscribe to the reading rule. I tried to keep that going. Reading aloud with the kids every day and having a “reading hour” where each of the kids would spend time reading to themselves. This was high on my summer to-do list for the kids. I must admit, too, that the scared hour seemed to wane as the summer days slipped away.
When all was said and done, summers brought learning experiences all themselves, and plenty of free time for the kids to be outside, exploring, exercising and using their imaginations. And by the time school days rolled around again, their bright, inquisitive minds still remembered and was geared for more to come.
Are you a homeschool mom? What do you do during the summer?
Brings back lots of memories for me, too!
You could write a book. Wait, I think you have!