What does your summer look like or Will I ever get a summer break? (vent warning)

[M&M]

It is hot and here I am trying to plan out our school year for all 5 dc. My two oldest still have work to complete from this past school year.

 

So, here I am, trying no to chase after teenagers who think they are on summer break, but have work to do. I really don't feel it is my resposiblilty to sit on a 15 year old until she finishes her math and biology! So, I am not...she will pay the price of not getting things done, but I am soo annoyed!

 

Ok, vent over. What does your summer look like when you are planning out highschool? How much prep work are you doing? Do you read all of the lit you student will read? Science? Are you planning a whole history curriculum? If you have littles too how much do you plan for them?

 

I see some wonderful plans that some of you do and I just want to know how do you get it done?

 

If you have read this far, thanks, If you have no answers, hugs are appreciated.

[Jenny in Florida]

I'm right there with you, and I'm schooling only one these days.

 

My 13 year old is still supposed to be finishing the online language arts class from the 2010-2011 academic year. He has half a book to read and eight lessons to complete, and he hasn't done any work on it in over a week.

 

To be fair, he has been really busy. He's doing summer stock at a local theatre and is in rehearsal at least four hours a day. They open this coming weekend, meaning this is tech week. So, he was in rehearsal from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm on Saturday, 1:00 to 9:00 on Sunday and 1:00 to 10:00 yesterday. He's also volunteering as a junior counselor for the theatre's day camps for younger kids and has been at the theatre from 8:45 am every weekday for the last three weeks.

 

And he has been cast in a community theatre production that is beginning evening rehearsals next week.

 

But still, language arts does need to get finished somehow.

 

Meanwhile, my daughter graduated from college in May, so we all took a trip to New York City in mid-June to celebrate. Then I took her back to NYC two weeks ago for an audition, and this past week she was at a Harry Potter convention for five days. (Because she's still a minor, I had to stay with her in the convention hall, which meant I waited in a lot of lines for her.)

 

She has been auditioning for everything in town since graduation. I think I've taken her to eight auditions and four callbacks, and she has three more callbacks in the next two weeks. She has already been cast in a community theatre show that has me driving her 50 miles round trip to each rehearsal.

 

We also moved the week before her graduation.

 

I've more or less planned my son's math course, although it's still sitting on my desk in the form of scribbled notes on a yellow pad. I haven't touched English or science.

 

I realized yesterday that we have been so busy we haven't so much as dipped a toe in a swimming pool the whole summer.

 

So, you are not alone.

[Oakblossoms]

My 14yo is finishing Math and his Queen's Language book this summer. Prior to using a VA we schooled year round. I kind of miss it. I don't like this free far all the kids have. They end up fetting bored or fighting a lot.

 

I am waiting on our curriculum for my older two. My youngest has most of his already. We use a VA and they haven't sent us curriculum yet.

 

I am trying to figure out how I want to plan this year. I am hoping by 10th or 11th he could plan by himself. I think he is getting his own planner next year. He is an Aspie and I hate to overwhelm him. I woukd rather he get used to the bigger workload this year first...I think:lol:

 

I know I am going to use either a daily planner I make myself OR the SCM Organizer. I just want to pray about a little bit longer.

[Kendall]

I just have a few minutes but thought I would post what I've done this summer. My youngest is 3 and this is really the first summer that I felt like I could do this. I leave the house for about 2hr + 15-20 drive time(round trip). I go to the local university library which opens at 7:30. Some of the children are still sleeping at least some of the time which lightens the load a little for the older ones. My oldest two at home (13.5 and almost 17) are not thrilled with the arrangement, but they are managing. I needed this. It takes a little work to load up and figure out what to take, but it has been well worth it. I don't go every morning, but 3-5 times a week. I've also occasionally gone to the public library or Barnes and Nobles, or even my parents house when they are out of town. Just someplace where no one interupts me!

 

I spend very little time planning for my younger ones, most of my time is spend planning for my 12th grader, some for my 8th.

 

One other quick thing- I think I will be more successful at follow through this year if I actually do the first several weeks of assignments. Not just plan them, but actually do the work I'll be asking him to do. I'm hoping we can develop routines that will mean that even if I don't do all of the reading and assignments he'll know what to do and I'll know what to look for. I'm going to make several changes this year which I've had time to think about/read about at the library.

[Abbeygirlsouth]

it's REALLY hot here too, and doesn't look as though I'll have a summer break either.

 

My oldest graduated in May so early part of June was spent either at University orientation or firming up college plans.

 

My 2nd DC is a rising Sophomore and trying to finish up Worldviews,Geometry, and Drivers Ed. but we've been away for a month at a ballet intensive. So...this gives us about 5 more weeks of summer and we'll probably spend it finishing up academics.

 

Well I've just accepted it is one of those seasons--the kind with no vacation in sight, but at least I've been able to plan next year's schedule. I've put in about 30 hours of prep work so far. What else was I to do as I sought shelter from the heat in either a Barnes and Noble, Starbucks, or a neighborhood library for 4 hours a day while my daughter danced?;)

 

I also got ahead on my reading, as it does look as though I will be reading all of the great books on DC Literature/History list as well. I've worked out the Algebra schedule and have given it to DH (who teaches our kids math), and after several hours of going through the Chemistry textbook, have come to the realization that I am in denial if I truly think that we will manage to teach it adequately. Therefore we are outsourcing Chem.

 

I still have yet to do lesson plans for Art and grammar, and really have to tweak Worldviews. I no longer have little ones to offer a schedule there, but I will send :grouphug: !

[chepyl]

We had Recital in May, Camp Rock The Musical the first week of June, I had a preschool dance camp the second week, Jane Eyre: A musical drama the third week, competition team auditions and summer dance classes started the fourth week, dance camp the first week of July, music and dance camp the second week, and we started two weeks of musical theatre camp yesterday (we still have 3 weeks of summer classes and a competition dance intensive in August)....and we start school August 1st!!

 

I wanted to paint the inside of the house! After tonight I will have one room done!

 

We finished school in April for this exact reason! And I started buying curriculum in March. I had most of our year planned in May so that I could be ready after the madness. I am SOOOO ready to start school and get in a "rut":)

[M&M]

I just have a few minutes but thought I would post what I've done this summer. My youngest is 3 and this is really the first summer that I felt like I could do this. I leave the house for about 2hr + 15-20 drive time(round trip). I go to the local university library which opens at 7:30. Some of the children are still sleeping at least some of the time which lightens the load a little for the older ones. My oldest two at home (13.5 and almost 17) are not thrilled with the arrangement, but they are managing. I needed this. It takes a little work to load up and figure out what to take, but it has been well worth it. I don't go every morning, but 3-5 times a week. I've also occasionally gone to the public library or Barnes and Nobles, or even my parents house when they are out of town. Just someplace where no one interupts me!

 

I spend very little time planning for my younger ones, most of my time is spend planning for my 12th grader, some for my 8th.

 

One other quick thing- I think I will be more successful at follow through this year if I actually do the first several weeks of assignments. Not just plan them, but actually do the work I'll be asking him to do. I'm hoping we can develop routines that will mean that even if I don't do all of the reading and assignments he'll know what to do and I'll know what to look for. I'm going to make several changes this year which I've had time to think about/read about at the library.

:grouphug::grouphug:

I never thought of going to the library in the morning to work. I love this idea! Do you have to have special permission to be in the University library? We live on the edge of a small college campus (we have recently moved here) and I have wondered if the library is accessable to the public.

 

I don't usually plan things for the younger children, but now that I am teaching 5, I need to find a way to stay on top of everthing.

 

Doing the actual assignments for the first few weeks is a great idea!

 

Thank you for your help.

[M&M]

So are we all just headed for burnout? I reallly don't want to be that crazyladywithfivekidsthathomeschools and who is going to have a NERVOUS BREAKDOWN sometime after Christmas!!

[Oakblossoms]

I was feeling that way. I think I am starting to recover a bit. My husband is working again. Our baby is doing well. I have been dealing with a lot of stress the last few years. It really has me burnt out.

 

I am trying to choose easier to teach curriculum. I really hope my oldest can do most of his work without me. something has to give. I really don't want it to be me;)

[WishboneDawn]

I've planned to school through the summer for the last few years but it inevitably falls apart. Extended family wants to do stuff with the kids, WE want to do stuff with the kids, neat festivals happen, the heat hits and between being wiped from it and homeschooling the house falls apart and I break to address that...

 

I think it's a pipe dream for me. I think instead I've got to learn to put away the books and engage in family and local events and explore that kind of growth and learning. Otherwise next summer will be another disappointment.

[FrogMom5]

I just had this discussion w/ a friend yesterday. I am planning for a pre-K, 4th grader and 10th grader. My high schooler still has a spelling test to take and a paper to edit. I had planned to work with my 4th grader but we've been so busy trying to catch up with organizing, preparing for next yr. and getting scout things prepped, that I finally just gave up on any schooling. It's pathetic. I've never been so far behind and I feel like a hamster on a wheel.

Denise

[M&M]

It seems to be a no-win situation for me. I took last summer off (all of our books were in storage) and it was hard to try to plan a week at a time during the school year. This summer I am trying to plan now so I can take off Aug to relax. Things come together so easily in my head, if only the real world could conform to MY plans...LOL!

[Kendall]

I'm sure that you could at least go sit at a table in the library. You might also be able to get a library card with restricted use. I can't use the internet at our university library, but I can check most things out. Our college also has a smaller library for education majors that I can use as well. It is great, but I don't know how common that is for a university to have that.

 

I get an overall rough plan for my younger kids, but as far as writing out assignments I do that weekly and it doesn't take too long. I don't write up assignments for all subjects, usually just history and writing for my rising 6th grader, English for my 8th grader. For these younger ones, my goal is to have routines, so that all I write down is the book title, or book and page numbers and the output they will produce will be a routine output. (Write a summary, look up any words you don't know, do an outline, narrate orally, etc.)

 

My 8th grader I can just say here is the book, my 6th will need some suggested page number amounts. (history, and literature, sometimes science)

 

Math is just keep going! I have started giving specific assignments for my rising 8th grader now that he is in Algebra, before that they just do math each day for a scheduled time period near me. Writing is harder to plan. I'm outsourcing this for the 12th grader and haven't gotten to planning the other kids in writing yet.

 

I am working on more specific plans for history and literature for my 12th grader. Reading the books, deciding what I want him to do, doing the assignments myself. My goal is to get 6 weeks ahead in each of these subjects, but I don't know if I'll make it. I'll have a rough plan beyond that (approximate books used, pages per week).

 

I can relate to the things left over. It is so frustrating. My rising senior is working on an elective. I finally decided to say that 50 hours had to be done by the end of July or X,Y, and Z aren't going to be able to happen that he wants to do. I should have done this months and months ago. Then he has August to do the remaining 25 hours or have the same consequences.

[M&M]

Thank you for sharing. I like the idea of working in 6 week blocks. The older ones do work independently, and my oldest is only behind due to a long illness in the fall. I have to find a way to be a little looser with my oldest, yet still keep her accountable, the middle schooler is pretty good if I check on him once a day, but I still have little ones that need a lot of my time.

 

I want to think I am the only one who doesn't have everything tied up in neat little packages. Thanks to all of you for bringing me back to reality!

[Oakblossoms]

 

I want to think I am the only one who doesn't have everything tied up in neat little packages. Thanks to all of you for bringing me back to reality!

 

I try to keep my packages a little loose. Those fancy ones with all the bows sure make a mess. I like a nice colored on brown bag:lol:

[jamajo]

I feel a little guilty that I have so much time on my hands this summer. I tend to get more done when I'm slightly under pressure (which currently I'm not). I literally wake up and pray for direction in what to do for that day so I don't waste it.

 

Back in May I planned an 11 week Ancient history study for my daughter to do before starting MFW WHL starting in August. She has been working diligently through that and doing some of the tests we didn't get to from her Saxon 8/7.

 

DD11 is working on weaknesses in Math using Key to Fractions Workbooks and she is reading books of her choosing.

DD9 is finishing Horizons 4 from last year, practicing piano and when I think about it I make her read for an hour (which usually ends up being 2-3 times per week.

 

I've cleaned out the school room, made some copies of things we need for the fall, and shopped the Staples sale for school supplies. I desperately need to finish painting the school room walls and decorate using some of the suggestions I received here after posting "how to decorate a classroom for middle/high students."

 

I've read 1 of the 4-5 books DD11 has to read for Lightning Lit 7. I plan to read some of my kids required reading but I'm not going to stress over it.

Positing here reminds me that I have a few things I need to order online to complete my curriculum resources.

 

Thanks for asking what I've been up to!

[M&M]

I try to keep my packages a little loose. Those fancy ones with all the bows sure make a mess. I like a nice colored on brown bag:lol:

 

:lol::lol:

[8filltheheart]

For the last 2 summers I had wonderful visions of fun/relaxing/organized days. Well, the Lord obviously realized that I needed to let go of focusing on my wants and instead focus on my great blessings b/c my summers have not resembled anything like I wanted! Ironically, it is my adult children that have consumed all of my time both summers (not b/c of anything they could control---major catastrophic health issues)

 

Our summer has slipped by and until last week, nothing I needed to get done has gotten done. So, last week I came up with a new plan. :lol: Normally we start school the last week of July/first week of Aug. It is simply impossible. I will not be ready.

 

But, I spent last week going through everything from last yr, cleaning out the school room, organizing our new materials, and sorting mentally through everything I need to get done.

 

Yesterday I actually started lesson planning (only 6 weeks later than I planned on starting, but writing those first few days of plans broke my mental paralysis!)

 

I have created our school calendar (we are starting 2 weeks later than normal and taking fewer weeks off during the yr). My older kids are watching the younger ones during the morning so that I can plan. Afternoons are for fun and free time. I have a lot to do to catch up, but I finally feel like I actually can focus and get things done.

 

FWIW, I preview their materials for the yr and then I normally only write our first 6 weeks of plans. Since we are starting late this yr, I am writing 9 weeks worth.

 

:grouphug:

[tofugirl101]

Man, don't I understand.

 

I haven't even started my German :ohmy:

 

I have to send my stuff to my correspondence school (which I'm dropping this year! :D), and still read a book for a book report.

 

I think the thing that mostly helped was to get a calendar, and plan out what I should do for each day, so in that case, it doesn't look like a mountain of work to do, just small molehills every day. :)

[BarbaraL in OK]

We just started the "summer" part of our summer, and I am glad of it -- after 7 weeks of whirlwind activities (mostly trips and camps for my sons, and then company).

 

On the other hand, on Monday we will face doing the summer school projects that must be done (ds15: 2 history essays, chemistry experiments, some reading for the new year. ds11: return to handwriting at his request, kitchen chemistry exploration, finish his Latin book if possible, and some math practice made fun).

 

We have never done schoolwork in the summer before now. I really have no idea how Monday is going to go. It all works out to maybe an hour a day for four weeks, for ds15, and less for ds11. Plenty of "summer" left in every day! I hope.

 

On the other hand, I was on a planning streak in June and got nearly EVERYTHING planned for both boys, including a big literature and composition year for ds15. I have just a few things to nail down now (physics curriculum, and will it be French or German?). That is a huge relief, and very different. Most years I do a major planning session at the very end of July, but this year I am creating several courses of study for ds15 rather than relying on curriculum, and I needed to get it done and off my "to do" list asap.

 

We start school around August 17.

 

As for prep, I've received the books I ordered for the beginning of the year, and have started reading the resource books -- those for ds15 and those for me -- and some of his literature. I'm taking on more curriculum responsibility this year so I'm doing the last round of focused teacher ed before school starts!

 

This year I intend to emphasize discussion with my ds15. I will read as much of his literature as I can, and check in more with him in his foreign language, math, and science. Over the last couple of years we moved away from discussion time, and we were both less happy with how things were going. I am looking forward to this year :)

 

For both boys, I still need to go over their subjects and figure out my usual year-at-a-glance for each subject, as well as approximate daily amounts for the first six weeks. For the last couple of years, a six-week checklist has been really helpful in seeing whether they are ahead, behind, or on target in each subject... and I create a new one for the next six weeks that takes into account where they really are. I expect to do this planning in early August :)

[Susan C.]

My summer?????

School year ended mid-May, then 3 weeks of SAT prep.

Then curriculum fair and planning for an upcoming senior.

And her college changed entrance requirements, so we have to add two classes. Big difference, thought we were doing four, now six.

And..... 3 weeks ago, dd has a slumber party, one of the girl's house caught fire, fire trucks, whose house, her house!!! Up all night, including a stuffed animals rescue, they are airing out in my garage.

Then my mom came for a week. Thank goodness a little fun!

Then an eye doctor appt. that revealed the need for vision therapy for dd..... three hours one way to it, once a week for 12 weeks.

And did I mention our house got struck by lightning last week?? And dealing with insurance for that and the vision therapy??

 

Dd tried to start school a few weeks ago, but oh my, when on earth could we have done it??

 

I keep seeing Steve Martin on that roller coaster in Father of the Bride!!

[M&M]

My summer?????

 

I keep seeing Steve Martin on that roller coaster in Father of the Bride!!

 

:lol::lol::lol:

[8filltheheart]

My summer?????

 

 

I keep seeing Steve Martin on that roller coaster in Father of the Bride!!

 

:lol::lol::lol:

 

My life is literally Steve Martin in Father of the Bride 2!!

 

I'm sitting on the sofa with my preemie granddaughter beside me asleep while my dil takes a nap after I just put down my 19 mod for a nap. We are waiting for our ds to fly in tonight to see his wife and dd!! :lol:

 

Dh and I watched Father of the Bride 2 earlier this yr and we could not stop laughing and crying simultaneously!!

[Susan C.]

So glad your grandbaby is ok!!

 

I bet it was funny! Kind of like when we saw Money Pit while out of town, when our house back home kept breaking!! We didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or throw something at the tv!!

[Katiebug_1976]

:grouphug:I have no advice, but I wanted to let you know you are not alone. My 14yo still has to take her last science test from last year, and 2 dc are still finishing up last years math. I feel like I have spent most of my time from the first of May until now planning, organizing, photo copying, scheduling etc...to get next years work ready to go. Dh has been building a school room for us in the attic and I have been so excited about it, but now realize that it wont be finished before we start school. :sad: My highschoolers are supposed to start school on Monday , and my youngers the following week. So I guess I am not getting a summer break this year. I was really frustrated with this at first, but with the heat being so awful and everyone getting so bored because it is too hot to play outside (and we can't go anywhere because gas is so expensive!), but now I'm actually ready for school to start. Maybe it will bring some sense of structure back into our lives. Sorry I cannot help you with your frustrations, but know that you are not alone.