Hello Summer!

Every year, the beginning of summer break fills me with the excitement of the prospects of a new school year! Next year, I will have a Junior! That means ACT tests, transcripts, and a year full of cramming in tons of books that I want Austin to have read before he graduates. Even though we will still have his Senior year left, I think it may fill up with college classes and college prep that I am not even yet aware of. So, I really want to make the most of the coming year with him.

Sydney will be in her Freshman year, which means a second child in high school. Seems unreal! So, I am looking ahead to what we need to cover to begin her first "transcripted" year. Andrew will be entering the middle school years, starting 6th grade. 6th is typically the year that I bump things up a notch and expect more "grown up" work from the kids, which is a big deal. And Macy will be in 1st. Pure sweetness! So much of what makes 1st grade fun is the one-on-one time with an eager little darling. That takes some strategic planning, though!

That leaves my precious little "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"-singing preschoolers (by fall they will be 2 and almost 4). They require so much attention and energy at these ages, so we must find a way to have plenty to keep them busy while the rest of the schoolwork gets done! I plan on us each taking shifts reading to them and playing with them, but with each person having quite a bit to do now, it will take careful planning.

For now we will enjoy some summer fun (and, yes, a few lingering pages of math and grammar for a couple of the kiddos). But I will be doing what I do every summer... daydreaming about another new start in the fall!