Mom's
Corner - June 2001 "Time
for Summer Schedule Planning"
One
of my children asked me this week if they would be doing math over the
summer. That question prompted me that it is time to begin praying about
and planning our summer schedule. We have just finished our normal school
year and begun our two weeks of "break," then it is summer for
us! What about you? Have you considered the use of a daily schedule during
the summer? Since I am beginning to think about our summer schedule, I
feel that it is time for me to encourage you to begin on yours!
I
was amazed by the reports of several of the moms who tested our book on
scheduling for homeschool families before it was printed. After they had
been on their schedules for a school year, some decided not to make and
use a summer schedule. Their feedback was that they would not make that
choice again. Their summer had rushed away without getting to the activities
they had wanted to accomplish, and there was a greater level of disharmony
among the children. Summer
is perfect for catching up on organizational and cleaning projects for
which the school year does not allow time. I schedule one hour a day for
these kinds of projects, and I am always surprised and delighted at how
much I can do during this hour through the course of the summer. The
temptation is to continue working on the project past the allotted hour.
However, this then undermines the rest of my summer schedule, in which
I have other priorities planned for the rest of the day. I
keep a running list of projects I would like to get done during that organizational
hour, prioritize it, and jump in when summer begins. I also like to look
back over what I have done during previous summers to help me know what
to tackle this year. This
is my list right now, but I will come up with other projects as the summer
progresses: pack away and label children's winter clothes, box this year's
school books, create a school portfolio for each child, clean kitchen
cupboards, clean and organize closets, put photos in albums, and plan
2001/2002 school schedule. I
may schedule Joseph, my twelve-year-old son, to spend my organizational
hour playing with the younger children outside. This way I would have
fewer interruptions for that time, and the children would be getting some
exercise. Because we live in Kansas, this hour is scheduled for right
after breakfast before it becomes unbearably hot. Planning
for a summer schedule is a great time to pray about whether year-round
schooling would benefit your family. Year-round school is one way to eliminate
some of the time pressures faced during a normal nine-month school year.
When you spend a couple of hours schooling each day throughout the summer,
you free up that time during your full-time school year. It also gives
your children something constructive to do with their summer days and
keeps their skills fresh. We have found that we can skip the first quarter
of a math book when we move into it right after finishing the previous
one because that first part is all review. I
will also be praying about how much school to continue through the summer.
Usually I schedule math, which will necessitate my involvement. I try
to make the other school time self-instructional and self-correcting so
that as much of my time is freed up in the summer as possible. I
want to spend more time playing with the children during the summer. I
put this in my schedule as well because it gives me needed accountability.
I am likely to find something I feel I need to do or want to do rather
than go outside with the children - especially when it is hot! - if that
time isn't scheduled. When the children are looking forward to our outside
time, I don't want to disappoint them. Summer
is a perfect opportunity to teach your children new chore skills. You
can revise your chore schedule by moving jobs from child to child, training
them on new ones, and making sure they can do them well. Some
of you do gardening and canning. Your summer schedule can help assure
you that the gardeners in your family are seeing to their tasks in a timely
fashion. When canning days come along, you will evaluate your schedule,
dropping the least important activities to allow time for the extra hours
canning will require. Having
a summer schedule does not prevent you from taking whole days or weeks
for activities that don't fit into your normal schedule, such as a trip
to the zoo or building a swing set. Your schedule is your tool. Use it
when it is helpful. Leave it be when it isn't workable. We
want our summers to involve a change of pace. However, we don't want to
lose the direction, productivity, and peace our schedule lends to our
home. Therefore, we simply pray about a summer schedule, seeking the Lord
for His priorities for our summer days. Then we are ready to put together
the summer schedule and look forward to what we can enjoy and accomplish. Ephesians
5:16 and Colossians 4:5 both mention "redeeming the time." May
we see the productive possibilities for a summer schedule to help us in
this important directive of "redeeming the time"? May I encourage
you to consider a summer schedule if you have not used one before? If
you already believe in the importance of a summer schedule, may I suggest
you begin now to pray about and plan for the details of that schedule?
Teri
Maxwell
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