School's out for summer

I've been MIA (missing in action) for a few days, and I have missed checking in here.  School is out!  Yesterday was the last day of second grade for my big girl.  My wee one has already been out for almost 2 weeks.  What a wild time!  Entertaining a 5 year old all day every day amidst last minute parties, preparations, teacher gifting, thank you note writing, excitement ramping up into a frenzy...whew!



Today feels like a deep exhalation, a slow release of a big breath held in longer than was completely comfortable.  The girls are happily playing together in their playroom, as they usually do on a Saturday.  On this, Day One of Summer, it simply feels like a weekend with the curious and notable absence of Papa, who is working.  Soon, we will be traveling for our big summer trip.  We will use the next week or so to settle in, prepare for that, and take care of a few things that need attention.  Once we return, though, summer will be in full swing.

In the US, summer vacation from school is three months long.  I find that an insane amount of time off in one go.  I love having my girls and watching them enjoy being children, but that kind of gap from school simply doesn't make sense to me.  With that in mind, we're planning to treat this summer holiday as a simple homeschooling term with lessons and activities every day (though not all day; it is a holiday, after all).  Lucky for me, the girls are already excited about it.  In a way, it was my daughter Ellie's big idea.  We listen to Martin and Sylvia on Sparkle Stories, and they have a homeschooling lesson every morning after breakfast.  Ellie asked if we could do that too.  Why would I say no?

We have some big and small ideas we need to fluff out and organize (part of our task list for the next few days), and we plan to implement starting on Monday.  If this sounds appealing or even vaguely interesting to you but you aren't sure where you might start, I found a great blog post on it here.  That site even offers downloadable content for $15 to save you on the brainstorming sessions if you just want to get going.