Getting Ready for Summer!

Happy Tuesday! We have more tips for you today but this time, on the more logistical, practical side of things. These 5 simple tasks were posted last year and we felt they were extremely helpful in preparing us for a relaxed and purposeful summer. I (Cheryl) actually spent a couple of days doing this last year and it did wonders for our summer (and made for an easier transition in August!). It only took the weekend right after school and then it was done!

Clean out the backpacks and piles of school work

This is definitely best done sooner rather than later. Save any mementos you want to keep, like art journals, history reflection journals, primary or kinder journals, special projects, etc. It helps to have a designated bin or shelf where you keep these items. All other old papers and items you don’t want to keep, go in the trash! Or, as my kids used to like to do, have a bonfire at the beach and burn all the papers you don’t need anymore. Kids love fire, and somehow they love it even more when feeding it old schoolwork…?!? (Be sure to have plenty of parental supervision, if you do this.)

Clean off the shelves

Chances are, your homeschool areas aren’t as neat and tidy as when you first started the school year, so this will feel good! Go through your shelves and school areas at home and pack up any Year 1 literature or curriculum you’re done with, that you plan to use again. (If you don’t plan to use it again, offer it to another family you know, sell it back to SLOCA if it’s on the list, or donate it to Fred & Betty’s!) Some families have totes for each history year and keep their literature and history books tucked away in those. Others have sections of bookshelves designated for each year of the history cycle. If you’re feeling really energetic and you have history or literature from 4 years ago, get out all your Year 2 books and put them on your shelves, ready for next school year. It feels so good to pack up the old and bring out the new!

Go through the SLOCA summer calendar

If you’re returning to SLOCA in the fall, you received a summer packet in your family file that includes a calendar. Sit down for a few minutes with your phone calendar or paper planner, and input all the SLOCA events happening this summer, to keep in mind when making summer plans. Check out the suggested summer reads and all the other great info in those packets, too! It’s also not a bad idea to look at the 2019/2020 School Year at a Glance calendar and write in next year’s events – then you can rest assured that you won’t forget a thing.

Sit down with your kids and dream together about what this summer holds

Some families make a “summer bucket list” of ideas everyone contributes to for summer fun. Other than planned vacations or summer camps, what’s one thing each person in your family wants to be sure to do this summer? What makes your child’s eyes light up? What if each child gets one day this summer to make all the decisions? (Within reason…) Try asking, “if you had one day with nothing you had to do, what would you do?” They need not be expensive or complicated activities. Have fun dreaming and planning! (And be sure to check in with Down Home this summer for lots of great family fun ideas…)

Phone a friend

Don’t lose touch with your SLOCA friends over the summer break, and don’t wait to be invited by others. Plan some play dates and get the kids (and parents!) together frequently. Summer is a great opportunity to think back over the last year, talk about ideas for your child’s growth in the coming year, glean some new organizational tools, and process everything out loud with a friend who is right there in it with you.

We hope you find these tips helpful! If you have another suggestion, please comment below!