Summer Schedule in Full Swing

I prefer the idea of year-round homeschooling, but when Care Bear’s dad and I agreed on visitation hours, it seemed easier to keep a traditional school schedule, so that’s what we do. Alhamdulilah, now that we are in our summer schedule, I’m noticing some major perks with Care Bear having a somewhat traditional summer break.

Wrapping up some courses

Now, Care Bear doesn’t get to completely veg out all summer. Right now she’s wrapping up on a couple courses, and learning a lesson along the way that if she doesn’t get to her work in a course, it doesn’t just go away. She would have been done with these courses a few weeks ago if missed assignments were made up right away, but live and learn.

Focus on the little ones

Care Bear’s work takes center stage during the school year because the consequences of her not doing it are far higher than if Little Miss doesn’t get some learning time in. Now that we don’t have a schedule for Care Bear, Little Miss can go to the park each morning, have an activity or two planned at home (that won’t get pushed off for lack of time), and I’ve signed her up for early childhood classes. While I do think we can address the learning aspects of the early childhood classes at home, the purpose is more so to give us something to look forward to, and to have activities I don’t have to shop for and plan myself.

I can use my time more freely

During the school year, it feels like I shouldn’t work on anything too in depth because I can be interrupted at any point. We’ve tried to make a schedule where I’m available within certain times so that way our day is more predictable, but neither of us kept to it, partially because each day can be do different with the little ones. Now that I’m not waiting to be interrupted at any given moment, I’ve been able to work on an online class I’m taking, widdling down my to-do list for the homeschool co-ops, and make plans for the upcoming school year. I feel like a free woman! Ha!

Start trying to establish a better routine for Little Miss

We have a bit of a routine, but it could definitely be improved. For one, I need to institute a snack time. Each day at lunch, Little Miss is crabby and whiney because it’s been too long between breakfast and lunch. I’ve learned the hard way that I need to feed her before she’s hungry! Nap time is also a surprise to her almost every day and while it’s at the same time, it’s almost always out of the blue, at least from her perspective. She’s usually in the middle of playing when nap time comes up, and that’s always a bummer!

Prep for Ramadan

Ramadan during these long days takes mental preparation, but in order to stay healthy, it takes some planning also. On the first day of Ramadan, Fajr will be at 3:44a and Maghrib at 9:00p, in sha Allah. That long of a fasting day is no joke! I won’t be fasting this year due to nursing Tulip, so my plan is to make Ramadan as easy as possible for my family. Fasting is challenging, but if I can make it a little easier on everyone, in sha Allah they will reap more benefit from added worship on their part instead of focusing on filling their tummies.

This summer looks promising, and it looks like we’re getting into a routine that will be beneficial for the coming school year so we can get out of Care Bear’s hair while she works on her high school work. Exciting days ahead!