shanvan Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 cancelled all outside activities for several weeks until you have all adjusted to a new routine? I keep thinking about doing this.....but then I think about how Dc will start losing some of the progress they have made in their extracurriculars. Sigh.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 No, but I do avoid scheduling "extras" during those first weeks if possible. I'm nervous, too. Routines are so important! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 No, but I do avoid scheduling "extras" during those first weeks if possible. I'm nervous, too. Routines are so important! :iagree: Last year my 80 yo uncle came to visit the second week into our new school year and I just felt incredibly stressed the whole time. I find the worst thing to be when everyone suddenly comes down with a stomach bug, or a bad cold, just a couple of weeks into the new school year, which seems to happen more often than not each September, and over which I have absolutely no control :glare:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I would love to do this. I am fantasizing about it. Sometimes it feels like outside activities have taken over our life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 She never taught in September because she said that people just kept changing their lesson times around while they worked out their activities. So her "lesson year" starts October 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LifeLovePassion Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I am considering it. I'll probably just minimize as much as I can for a few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 This is why I start the new year in late July, before all the activities start up. I just feel like we get a routine down, and do some serious school work before life gets crazy for the year :D . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 This is why I start the new year in late July, before all the activities start up. I just feel like we get a routine down, and do some serious school work before life gets crazy for the year :D . Wow! I wish I could do that. We are head over heels with activities for the summer. That's when I fit in swimming, Dc each have a dog class, 4H County Fair, 4H project books to complete, piano and a theory lesson (b/c they don't have school work they can focus on theory), still have 4H meetings, local naturalist club at our county parks, and this summer are ice skating a couple times a week. I don't have to send Dc to camp. I'm running one! So, life is already crazy and I want it to die down for the fall! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 No, but I do avoid scheduling "extras" during those first weeks if possible. I'm nervous, too. Routines are so important! This. Some friends asked yesterday if I was signing the kids up for PE in September and I felt a wave of panic wash over me. No. No, I don't have extras in the fall. We need a solid routine under our belts before we get into the Mid-Winter Blahs. That is when I add extras. Before that, I have enough work convincing my children that the routine is not something new every day. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 It sounds lovely but not realistic for us. We took the summer off from piano and are starting back with school. I never intended to take the whole summer off so I am eager for dd to get back. Also, dd is in team gymnastics. I had a hard time convincing her it would be ok to miss a week for vacation this summer! :lol: We will have a slow start though. First week will only be Bible, math, and LA. It will give us some time to settle into a routine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I had to take a day off from work to get it all organized. He goes to work withme and we office school but we needed an uninterrupted day...we needed a week, though. :tongue_smilie: I just keep telling myself it will get easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 cancelled all outside activities for several weeks until you have all adjusted to a new routine? I keep thinking about doing this.....but then I think about how Dc will start losing some of the progress they have made in their extracurriculars. Sigh.... I've done it for a whole year(except for our co-op). Best decision I ever made. We added them back one at a time and stopped adding before I felt stressed. Even if they loose progress, so what? A calm, peaceful home/mother is far more important than a few months of lost progress in anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 I've done it for a whole year(except for our co-op). Best decision I ever made. We added them back one at a time and stopped adding before I felt stressed. Even if they loose progress, so what? A calm, peaceful home/mother is far more important than a few months of lost progress in anything. I've done it for a whole year too, but that was when Dc were quite a bit younger. If I didn't have a high school aged kid, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Now, with Ds starting high school, I feel more pressure for him, not only to keep up extracurriculars, but to focus more and have some level of achievement. Dd has some issues with learning, so when she takes a step backward, it's a bigger step than the average kid. She's also got a puppy with some issues and he needs constant training. Still, I'm considering ways we can cut back and ways to make it easier for me (Dh taking Dc to night time activities). I wrote about this in another thread. I've evaluated every single activity and each one has a specific purpose in Dc's education, which I won't list here b/c it's TMI---and also b/c I think my posts on various threads are starting to repeat. Even my great uncle (who is in his late 80's and is very much about limiting activities and promoting less stress and more family life) agrees that the extracurriculars Dc are pursuing are too much a part of their education to give them up. But, we were talking about cutting down for a month or so....I might do it and just deal with any lost progress (except for the puppy training and 4H since Ds is president of his club). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I've done it for a whole year too, but that was when Dc were quite a bit younger. If I didn't have a high school aged kid, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Now, with Ds starting high school, I feel more pressure for him, not only to keep up extracurriculars, but to focus more and have some level of achievement. Dd has some issues with learning, so when she takes a step backward, it's a bigger step than the average kid. She's also got a puppy with some issues and he needs constant training. Still, I'm considering ways we can cut back and ways to make it easier for me (Dh taking Dc to night time activities). Even my great uncle (who is in his late 80's and is very much about limiting activities and promoting less stress and more family life) agrees that the extracurriculars Dc are pursuing are too much a part of their education to give them up. But, we were talking about cutting down for a month or so....I might do it and just deal with any lost progress (except for the puppy training and 4H since Ds is president of his club). I got you. I can see your concern with a high schooler. I think your plan of taking a month off would work fine. A lot of kids take the summer off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jujsky Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I don't exactly cancel all outside activities, but I usually start school PT in the beginning of August (not this year -- due to vacations we're all over the place and schooling sporadically) with the intention of completing 2 full weeks by September. We usually don't have too many extra curriculars in the summer, so this gives us ample time to adjust. If I waited to start the activities until half-way through September or October, we wouldn't be able to get into some because they'd be full, and they'd have a difficult time in others socially since some friendships would have already been established. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I always have a very non-exciting summer. We do all kinds of activities in the fall/winter/spring and then do next to nothing in the summer. That's not possible for everyone, but it works out for us. It's funny because we are basically so bored by the end of July we're ready to go back to school. Then we get into a routine in August, and then BAM! the you know what hits the fan starting in September :lol:. Anyway, it's something we've been able to work out in our particular situation. Also, I don't have a high-schooler which changes things! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 No, we just jump in with both feet. But our extra-curriculars don't stop in the summer, so all we're adding back in is schooltime. It works out fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 No, we just jump in with both feet. But our extra-curriculars don't stop in the summer, so all we're adding back in is schooltime. It works out fine. Sometimes I wish the whole world would stop for just a week, and let me catch my breath. Not going to happen. Between the three school-age kids at home, there are at least 2 of them (all 3 of them 4 days a week) that have somewhere to be after every school day. 2 of them have to be somewhere Saturday mornings as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 We don't do that, because the beginning of the academic year is also when most of the extracurriculars here are getting started. If my kid missed the first several weeks of dance class or choir rehearsals or whatever, he'd behind the rest of the group. And certain things, like volunteering at the science musuem, would be off the table for him if he weren't available to start with the group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I got you. I can see your concern with a high schooler. I think your plan of taking a month off would work fine. A lot of kids take the summer off. Yes, but they all take the same time off. For many activities, the expectation is that participants will start together at the beginning of the academic year and continue to work together until the following summer. Choirs begin working on repetoire; dance classes follow a syllabus to master certain steps; volunteer corps have group orientation meetings and set a schedule for the entire season. Especially once you get to the high school level, having a student who joins late or takes time off while the rest of the group is still working is disruptive and forces the student to play catch-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 Yes, but they all take the same time off. For many activities, the expectation is that participants will start together at the beginning of the academic year and continue to work together until the following summer. Choirs begin working on repetoire; dance classes follow a syllabus to master certain steps; volunteer corps have group orientation meetings and set a schedule for the entire season. Especially once you get to the high school level, having a student who joins late or takes time off while the rest of the group is still working is disruptive and forces the student to play catch-up. Yes, that's what I meant in my long winded explanation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 IF WE'd start when the PS starts, we kind of could-most activities here start in late August or right after labor day, and school starts this coming Monday. But we usually go visit family/travel in August, in part because it avoids the "back to school" frenzy that DD's PS friends are in, and as a result, we get back at the time everything is starting, so DD can't easily skip those weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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