Summer Comes to a Close

Summer is drawing to a close, if not the actual season but the time before Kindergarten begins. I feel like a big shimmering bubble floating around, full of exuberance about starting homeschooling "for real." But I know that the bubble that is me has no way to avoid landing on something sharp (like reality) and popping, probably sooner rather than later. Nonetheless, I use my eagerness to fuel me in getting ready.

John and Mary each have a large binder in which I save their best artwork and handwriting. All of John's work has gone into his Pre-K Binder for the last three years and, starting this week, I will put things in his Kindergarten Binder!

I had great fun creating a History Timeline Binder, which I hope will serve us for years. I found a very useful website on timelines and considered the pros and cons of various types of timelines. As much as a wall timeline appeals to me, I have very little vertical wall space in our attic school room, so I chose to make a binder. I used four different colors of card stock for the four periods of history.

My plan is that any time we learn about something from history, we will add a little picture of it on the appropriate page. We have already added the birth of Jesus, Beethoven, and the invention of the steam engine train. John seems very interested in this project. I'd like to add pictures of our various family members to the timeline to show when they were born (pics of the kids, of Mama and Daddy, of the grandparents).

Take a good look at how neat my desk is because I get it this organized about once per year.

It is almost time to throw away the list hanging behind my computer entitled, "Goals for This Summer." I achieved some things on my modest list, but mostly spent the summer gestating, which involved lying horizontally on the sofa.

As excited as I am for Kindergarten tomorrow, John will tell anyone who asks that he is not excited. Of course, the two parents who have planned to homeschool since before they even met have a firstborn who says he isn't excited about school. That reminds me, it is still on my list to buy "Teaching Boys & Other Children Who Would Rather Make Forts All Day"!