End of Year Records

We "school" year round, with a few well-placed breaks among the un-planned breaks throughout. We typically go from July 1st to June 30th each year, which means we are nearing the end of this "school" year (I really don't like the word school...it reminds me of mindless fish). I take all of the records we've kept throughout the year and place them in a new binder.

The records I archive on June 30th are:

• Each person's individual planner for the previous year.
• The lists of books read by each person that year.
• The calendar used for attendance.
• The Course of Study plan.
• Previous Compass outlines, the current Compass stays in their Binder.

Beginning the "new" year - the first week of July is when I usually get the Binders ready for the new year. This time of renewal is always a fun time when I feel jazzed up about what the new year will bring. I try to have new resources ready by this time, but I've learned that new resources just seem to naturally begin showing up when they are needed. More on that next month!

Yearly Breaks

We used to take all of July and December off as our yearly breaks, but as the kids became teens we discovered there are many other conflicting things in the summer that get in the way. This year is no exception. There is Girl's Camp in June and Scout Camp in July. Seminary lasts into the first week of June. We've already had several visitors who feel we are sufficiently settled and can come visit on their terms. My mother is nearing the end of her life and we are taking more trips to visit her...and a wedding in another state at the end of July. With all this going on our calendar is rather disillusioned compared to the simplicity we used to experience.

We will be taking two weeks off in June and two weeks off in July instead of the whole month of July. We've already had too many breaks with the move and all the company we've had lately (I won't even get into some of the comments company made when they were here). It feels like we are really not making the kind of progress we've made in years past. We discussed these issues in our recent Family Council and discovered that we are all feeling a bit out-of-sync. With the new break schedule on the calendar, I think it gave everyone a much needed overview of what to expect this summer.