A summer schedule of sorts

Alright, so, we planned to keep going with school straight through the summer, but the first week of summer break we had so many fun plans, we took that week off because we were hardly going to be home between breakfast and dinner time each day. And we got the vacation bug…well, probably me more than Rylan, but it made me stop and realize that we needed to take a break. For Rylan school is fun and he doesn’t quite see the reason for a break from it, but I actually think he is enjoying the freedom to do whatever he wants and just play for hours without having to stop to do sit down work or run off to some lesson (be it swimming, piano, music, etc). For me, I realized that I had reached a point of complete exhaustion and really needed to slow down a little and shift my focus for a bit. I have been so engrossed in homeschooling, that I have let my “to do” list for our home get a little too long.

So, we are officially taking a break! The length of which is to be determined. We will be flexible and see how it goes, and when we are both ready to dive back into school work we will. With all that said, however, there are a few things we are going to be working on over the summer.

This week we attend a presentation on the Hawaiian coral reef by the author of The Complete Hawaiian Reef Fish Coloring Book which was hosted by our local library. Now Rylan’s interest in Hawaiian reef fish has been growing with all the snorkeling he has been doing, but this really did it for him. So, we decided then that our special summer project would be to work through her entire book. If you look inside the book through the above link, you will see it is much more than a coloring book, it is loaded with information to be learnt and built on with further research. We are going to color in the fish looking at our own snorkeling pictures and other reference books. As we work through the book we are also going to build a coral reef of our own (one made out of construction paper and crayons) and we are going to spend a Sunday morning exploring a coral reef with an expert in the field. Rylan is very excited about this summer project, and you can be sure as we go along you will be getting little reports from me too! :) We will, of course, do other learning here and there, but this will be our main focus, and most of the other school stuff will be put on hold for a bit.

As for me, I will be tackling that “to do” list. One of the items is to give the boy’s room a makeover. They needed new bedding, and so I felt it was time for an overall change, and a big clean out. Funny thing is this ties in with Rylan’s summer project…you see just a couple of days before we went to this presentation, we had decided to do their bedroom in a ocean theme, so another part of our summer project will be putting their room together. I cannot wait to share with you all the ideas twirling around in my head for that project!

On a less exciting note there is the craft cupboard that needs a serious overhaul, some belated spring cleaning that needs to be done, and about six months of photos that I need to sort through and back up (how did I leave it for so long??).

I will also be coming up with an outline for the next school year and choosing curriculums. And you can be sure you will be hearing more about that too!

One organizational project done!

I had planned a busy day for today, but Rylan really just wanted to stay home this morning (we have literally been at the beach or hiking or something outside every day, the whole past month that my sister-in-laws have been here, and I think the kids (and me!) are all tuckered out), so that's what we did!

The kids were, for the most part, happy to play together or by themselves all day, which was great for me, because I had the opportunity to re-claim my home! In the morning I cleaned and cleaned and did a little more cleaning for good measure! Then in the afternoon I tackled Rylan's closet and won! It is now all organised again, storage containers labelled, dress up clothes hung up and sorted out. This is the top of his cupboard, which was pretty straight forward, the bottom was more of a mission, and I forgot to take a picture of that when I was finished, because I had my mind on making dinner, it was getting late!
But before I started my closet make over, I did snap a couple of pictures of other organizational things I have done in his room (a long while ago). This IKEA shelf is a favourite of mine. Inexpensive, and very easy for the kids to use and keep the toys neatly sorted into their respective boxes. On each container is a photograph that I took of what is inside the box (e.g. finger puppets, model animals, cars, trains, or wooden blocks), this way Damian (and before that Rylan, when he was little) knows where to find the toy he wants, and also where to put it back when he is finished. This system has helped immensely in their learning to clean up after themselves!

I also love this bookshelf that allows them to see the cover of the book, instead of just its spine. They have another regular bookshelf with many more books, but I rotate the books on this one, so they always have new books to attract their attention.

Now onto the rest of those projects! :)

Getting back into things

For a long while now we have been preoccupied with various family members visiting, it has been wonderful for us, but I apologize for the irregular posting. Next week we should be getting back into our routine…well, sort of. After such a long period of being busy touring the island with family, enjoying their company, trying to relax and catch up with each other, a lot else in life has been skipped. I have a TON to do around the house to recover, to organize, to spring clean.

I am truly sad to see my sis-in-laws leave, it has been so wonderful having them here, and it is hard to know that they will be so far away and it will be a long time before we see them again. This is the most difficult part of being world travelers, as we are, we never have family nearby and I wish my boys could be with family more, but I digress…

Although I am sad to say goodbye I am looking forward to getting back into a routine, getting back to work with the boys, and getting our home back into shape! I am thinking a lot about what needs to be done and how to go about it because there is so much to do, and as always there are never enough hours in the day! I want to get Rylan’s room more organized, so that I can easily rotate toys every week or so (like I used to before our last move!). It keeps them more interesting and the space less cluttered and more organized.

I want to give our craft and school supply cupboard a serious overhaul. I need to go through everyone’s clothes and separate what can be re-purposed and what needs to go to Good Will. I have already started to sell baby toys and items that are no longer in use, but I need to do more of that.

Let’s see what else? I need to figure out a new schedule for our week, since our activities have changed with the new year – although I like to be flexible, I do need to have some basic ideas of how each day should proceed and be able to make sure things are getting checked off my to do list.

I have some new materials to choose and order, since Rylan has finished his kindergarten reading curriculum and I don’t think we will continue with Hooked on Phonics. And there is more, but you are probably dozing off by now! As I finish these projects I will share them with you…but now enough thinking and writing about it, time to get to work!! :)

Ready-to-go activity folders

I created these little ready-to-go activity folders which I keep in our craft supply cupboard, they are each filled with everything needed for one activity, usually one that can be done without my assistance. If we are going to a restaurant, I have to make a phone call, make dinner, sit in a waiting room, etc, etc, I have these stocked and ready to pull out to hand to the kids or take with us, whatever the case may be.
Here are a couple examples of the activities I have inside the folders right now:

Sew a lion bag kit.

Sticker activities are a stable in these folders, because my kids love them and it is something Damian can do easily too. This particular set in the photo was something we received in the mail for free, part of a subscription advertisement for a magazine I am not familiar with...but hey, they come in handy for the folders!