Autumn is already giving us little reminds of it's return. Cooler morning and evening temperatures seem to tap some internal seasonal clock, helping us mentally prepare for the start of another year . Usually, I would be up to my elbows putting up tomatoes and pickles, but last week's hail storm took that annual chore off my plate.
In a way, I am grateful to that. This summer has been overstuffed with organizational tasks, and I haven't had much relaxing. Looking back, I have realized that I have created a lot of that work, for I filled my days with lots of P.R. type work. I don't regret all the time spent building relationships with the teachers and parents that will be attending the co-op this fall, but I do know that I have to put time limits on it now. Email will now become the tool of choice, which is much less intrusive . Thankfully, I am quite good about doing so guilt free, as everyone understands that my first commitment is to teaching my own kids, and then my students.
I look at the three weeks ahead and also realize that while there are some tasks still outstanding, we are in really good shape. And I am also realizing that not everything needs to be set in stone to start. This reality alone is giving me great peace.
As such, I took a little time to do some much wanting tasks around the house this weekend. I made new covers for the dogs beds, and got more stuffing to plump them up a bit. I went through the summer's accumulation of magazines, gathering them up for recycling. We went through the hunting clothing and took inventory of future purchases. Somehow, some of DH and Scout's stuff shrunk. (which baffles me as I only wash it once at the end of the season with special scent free detergent, but I digress. ) No tears shed, as they just passed them around to the smaller/ shorter members.
The reality of having a high school junior reminded me that I need to get on the ball. We waited to have Scout take the PSAT's until his junior year because if taken before a student loses eligibility for National Merit Scholarship money. I've a call into the local high school to get him registered for October's PSAT date, but I also got to thinking about the rest of the college testing , and got dates for registration and test taking sorted and on the calendar. I found an Open House coming up at one of the local schools Scout is considering, and registered us for that as well. He will be spending some time as part of his SAT prep curriculum to research other schools, and we may be taking other road trips as well.
We are purposely going to slow down a bit each day this week...to savor the summer's end. Whether it be hikes with the dogs, or snuggled in watching movies, or a trip to the ice cream store...I need to settle myself before beginning the new year much more than I need to get a jump start on academics. There is no need for such a harried attitude at this point in the game.
So, more unschooling this week. We will continue with some of the hunter's safety stuff, as well as math. I had picked up an excellent book Pirates, by Celia Rees, that has Girlie mesmerized and dreaming of swashbuckling. We will do some mapwork to start, but it will be a perfect segway into the navigation portion of our history of exploration unit.
She also wanted to experiment with a big of unique cooking. Since sausage, chicken and shrimp were on special at the market this week...looks like some old- fashioned gumbo is on the menu.
Wishing you all a last bit of total relaxation...
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