And now it's summer

Last week felt like the last week of school, even though my kids don't go to school and we homeschool year-round. Still, it felt like the final week of something.

I wrapped up a volunteer job I have during the school year, most activities for my kids had end-of-year celebrations, spring sports are almost over, and the weather turned hot and muggy. It feels like a time for change.

After a busy week, I'm just now flipping the page on the calendar to the new month, and I see a bunch of blank boxes. We had planned a long road trip this summer, but we postponed it because of a big change in my husband's workload. Thinking we'd be away, I didn't make plans for staying in the city. But, here it is  June, and here we are in the city, and here I am without a plan.

What to do, what to do

When I mentioned to my neighbor that my kids aren't going to a camp, on vacation, or to summer workshops this year, she said, "But what are they going to DO?!"

I told her we have plenty to do, which is the truth, but it's also the truth that if I don't have some sort of plan, we won't do the things we want to do. I don't want to miss summer - I don't want to miss the easy days that linger for hours and hours into the evening. I also don't want to miss schoolwork as summer is a good time for us to focus. Both the kids and I like doing schoolwork in the summer, though with changes to the routine. But, right now, I don't know what the changes will be.

I can figure it out

I'm sitting here thinking of some goals for the summer. Most of these goals I've talked over with my husband and kids, but I'm making some of them up right now.

* Focus on math and writing. Those two topics will be the priorities, but we'll still do our other studies, too, but on a lighter schedule than during the school year.

* Study Civil War (my daughter's request).

* Habits: include in our studies more handicrafts, poetry, and copywork (everyone's handwriting could use a little improvement, including my own).

* Keep days open for day trips with family. Make a list of the day trips and pencil them on the calendar so I don't forget about them and do something like laundry instead.

* Hang out with friends, not in classes but just for fun.

* Go to the Farmers Markets in the neighborhood - can't wait!

* Go to the many, many free theater events in the city. (This is mainly for my daughter and me as my son and husband aren't interested most of the time. They'd rather go fishing.)

That's it. That's our plan for the summer.

Photo: I saw the sunlight hit the weeds growing on top of a wall this morning.