Summer….To School or Not to School…That is the Question!

Well we are in full summer weather here and we are all so ready for all the fun that comes with the sun and heat! However, I am torn between keeping up with some school work or between letting it all go. Part of me wants to keep the girls learning. They are doing so well and they are wanting to know so much. I also want Bunny to keep practicing her reading and some math facts. However, they just want to play in the sun and frankly, I’m tired and so are they. We need a break I think. I can feel burnout starting to happen (this maybe due to the emotional meltdown I had yesterday) and I don’t want to loose my cool. So what to do? That is the million dollar question. There is a lot of debate about why the world doesn’t school through the year. Some people think that we should have kids in school all year with long breaks in between, and others think that Sumner is a time to be free and have fun! But I think what is really the issue here is that kids and teachers need a break to relax, recharge, and to get pumped up for the new year. We all love the feel of the first day of school! New crayons and pencils, clean desk, heart full of hope and a teacher with a smile! Yet by May we are all ready for a change. We are ready for summer fun, water slides and Popsicles, late nights and long days! So I guess my thoughts lead me to ask, is there a way to keep the year fresh and learning exciting all year long? I must admit to having a bit of ADD when it comes to our routine. I love to have routine, and I love to not have too much change at one time! However, I LOVE little changes in the normal day to day fun! I love the themes and how they allow me to to be creative with school work. I love to make little changes that make life better and more enjoyable. Right now we are in need of a bit of that change. I LOVE the waseca biome study, but I think we are done with it for now. 🙁 We are going to study animals this week and I would like to do the overview of the different types of biomes, but after that we are going back to the basics. Does that mean that we have wasted time, NO! I can see us pulling from this information as we go through the summer. I am sure that we are going to be learning about every animal under the sun this summer and we will be able to pull from this really firm base of nature study as we learn! I know without a doubt that we will be doing a lot of animal study this summer (purely child led. Bunny told me today that she wants to learn about seahorses). I really think that reading is a must and some math. So I guess I as I type out my scattered thoughts, I have a plan for the summer! 🙂 Some Math work, Reading practice, and lots of child led projects! I want to strip out the school room of everything except the basics. That way there is plenty to work with if they choose, but I dont need to worry about them on a regular basis. I guess I have a plan. So What are your plans for summer and school? How do you avoid burnout and find a way to pull excitement for learning into the day to day? I would love to hear what you do! Happy Schooling!