Summer? Or Not?

Posted by Misty | 0 comments

Ahhh . . . June! The time when a young woman’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love, and a homeschool mom’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of something even better–SUMMER!

Our own school year has been constructed in a myriad of forms over the past 13 years. When the children were younger, we did school year-round. They hadn’t yet realized that there were other kids who were free of lessons during the middle of the year, and since we lived in Texas and, later, Florida, I found that I’d rather take time off when the weather was a bit more pleasant. We had simpler weeks and often incorporated playdates and field trips into our “school time.” As they got older, of course, and wise to the public school schedule, we found that conforming a little wasn’t so bad. Having a summer break when everyone else does means that church camps and VBS are more easily assimilated into what we’re doing (or not doing!) already, and lets my kids take part in activities with their friends.

But there’s a benefit in it for me, too, I’ve found over many years of trial and error. I think sometimes we forget (or become less aware of the fact) that homeschooling takes a lot out of us as homeschool moms. We love our kids and we love having them at home; we love to read to them and see the little light bulbs come on in their brains. We love the sight of handwriting samples on the fridge and completed math papers on the dining room table. Sometimes even the sight of well-loved books scattered about the living room can make us smile.

. . . And then comes, oh, say, February. The month to strike the heart of even the most steadfast homeschool mom cold with fear. There’s a reason we need to be reminded of love in February; the reason is that often we are burned out, and for those who live a bit further north of the equator than I, frozen out of the excitement we started with back in August/September. We tend to feel badly about the way we feel in February, like we’re looking back from the proverbial plough or something. However, I think we need to realize something: God has given us seasons for a reason. As the wisest man until Jesus once said, “There is an appointed time for everything…A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.” Ecc. 3:1-2.

We have spent the school year planting, and perhaps have even seen some growth and even a few little harvests. Of course we don’t want summer to be the time we uproot everything that’s been planted in their little brains as far as learning goes, and that’s why summer will find our family still reading, studying the Bible together, and maybe even learning when no one realizes we’re doing it–on a vacation, or at the beach–shhh! But one thing we probably won’t do is sit down in our usual spots with workbooks and pencils, checking off another box of completed work. Because I’ve learned that we all need summer. We all need to know there’s a season when the normal routine changes. We need to shake some cobwebs out of our heads and give ourselves a chance to freshen up a bit. You know how they say your body grows and heals during sleep? I like to think of summer as a bit of sleep for our student/teacher brains. I truly believe (because I’ve seen it over and over in my own home!) that to take a break is to invite refreshing. To invite refreshing is to invite new growth!

Truly, summer can be a time to “tear up what is planted.” We don’t want our children to lose all the academic things we’ve planted in their brains, of course. We want those to grow. Over the school year, though, I find that while learning is always taking place, there are often also habits and tendencies that have taken root and need to be “torn up.” I often feel unable to deal with those character issues while facing a long list of academic areas that need to be finished. During the summer, we’ll focus on things like making our beds every morning and brushing our teeth after meals, speaking more kindly to our brothers and sisters and praying through God’s plans for our lives. We’ll sort through our clothes and get our books organized in better ways. Summer is a time for decluttering and re-arranging, for evaluating what worked and what didn’t during our school year. It’s a time to pick blueberries and eat watermelon and jump in the pool and PLAY…and that means mom, too!

So I encourage you, ask God what He wants to do with your family this summer. And don’t be surprised if He tells you to put away your workbooks, and go have some fun! You’ll be so glad you did when August rolls around!

Misty Krasawski is the overly-blessed mom of eight children whom she homeschools in sunshine-y Florida. She has been clinging ferociously to the hand of her Lord since she was knee-high to a grasshopper, homeschooling for the past thirteen years, and has eighteen more years ahead of her with the children who are glad she will have done most of her experimenting on those who went before. Her wonderful husband Rob has much treasure laid up for him in heaven for having been called to such a daunting task. After the house goes to sleep she can sometimes be found gathering her thoughts at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/MistyKrasawski.