Spring Fever

It is late Spring. Temperatures are getting warmer. Spring sports are over, other activities are slowing down or over for the summer as well. Because of all this, my kids think they should be done with their school work as well.

This week we have been slogging through. I have been pushing Ben and Rebekah to get their work done. To give them some incentive I have been trying to do something fun, outside, as a reward for working hard. One day we went to the small zoo in town. One day we went with friends to the skate park.

I find that taking small breaks when the weather is beautiful and spring fever is at its highest is very effective. I do have some trouble bringing Rebekah back on task, but I just consider it good practice for her for later. Life is not always run by a strict schedule and learning how to deal with  interruptions for fun and then getting back to work is a good challenge for her.

Because of the different homeschool products and curriculum we review, we are going to be doing some school throughout the month of June and then pick it back up again late July, early August. With just Ben and Rebekah at home for school now, it does not take very long to get done, if we knuckle down and do it.

I am excited by the prospect of a slower, but worthwhile summer schedule. We just began a Geography review  from Memoria Press that we will be working on. Ben and Rebekah love maps and learning countries so this is not going to be too challenging for them. We will be getting an excellent writing curriculum from Institute for Excellence in Writing. The last plan for Ben and Rebekah at the moment is to also continue with their math.  Sarah has summer work as well. Even though she is attending a Christian School now, I received an e-mail with English work to be done over the summer and turned in for a grade the first day of school. I am quite impressed. She has to read The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and complete five pages of work. The work is a pretty in-depth analysis of the book. No multiple choice questions here, it is all short answer/essay. 

Two weeks and Spring Fever will be over and Summer will begin for us. I am going to be tough on my kids and push them through till Summer work begins.