Saturday 1 August 2015

August Inspiration

August is high summer and part way through the holidays. I think that already one of my children would really like to get back to a more structured day and learning. In the holidays, we don't have the structure that usually marks our days and this is missed. We are beginning to put something in place with a read aloud over breakfast (Jungle Doctor's Casebook) and daily trips to the park or library but I think, we should have more planning still. Of course, there are more exciting trips out but realistically, these can't happen every day!


Anyway, I have been doing some planning for next term. This involves some new books and Nelleke, at Education is a Life, helpfully posted a link to Bookfinder.com which searches for the cheapest books around the world. All that has to be done is to type in the title. The great benefit of this site is that it adds in postage to the total cost.

We are keeping up with reading aloud and the holiday has allowed more time for individual reading. I guess, like many mothers, I have struggled to keep awake while reading aloud and yes, have even fallen asleep so I thought that this post was relevant.

Years ago, when we only had little children and life wasn't quite so complicated, we had family worship every morning after breakfast and before the children went to school and we went to work. Fast forward, ten years and family worship should be easier: my husband works from home, I don't go outside the home to work and we home educate. The sad news is that it becomes more complex: not everyone has breakfast at the same time; carers arrive early; clients phone and children are out. We now have family worship usually after lunch but sometimes it works better after our evening meal. It often feels like an uphill battle which we may not be winning so I was encouraged to find this practical post by Tim Challies.

Wasting food seems criminal and yes, that makes me a criminal. I found the lovefoodhatewaste site recently which is full of useful ideas and some recipes. Broccoli stalk soup sounds worth a try.

Finally, for the holidays, making tangrams kept my children busy one morning.

How do you tackle the holidays? Do you carry on as normal or have some work for the children to do? How often do you manage trips? I don't think I have quite the right balance so advice would be helpful!


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9 comments:

  1. I, too, am struggling this whirlwind summer. I try to fit in the important things but need to add more structure for my children, just like you do. And I feel completely unrested, just like you did recently, and slightly panicky that summer is half over.

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    1. Yes, I've been reading about your summer and you obviously have loads going on. May you know the Lord renewing your strength.

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  2. We are taking a shore break this summer. School starts on Monday. I need the schedule and routine and so do my children.

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    1. Yes, I think that we should do that another summer. The routine makes things easier.

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  3. you always ask interesting questions!

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  4. There is a really good book defending holidays and the need of children for unstructured fun. Anthony Esolen "10 ways to destroy the imagination of your children" is both challenging and refreshing. I also found that it gave me a peace of mind about the holidays. Highly recommended reading.

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