Time for a Brain Dump!

Hello friends,

It has been too long since I've written here! We just finished our school year earlier this week. The school year felt long to me. I made the choice last fall to take Mondays off, but that meant our terms took longer to finish. Last week we still had two or three weeks to go, but I made the choice to cross out what I could and read the rest, narration-free, at breakfast for the summer. (The children want to hear the rest of the stories!) We did some low-key exams over a couple of days and were done.

The rest of the week has been fairly relaxed. SA(9) had his birthday, and so did I. I took a break from my diet and exercise in time for birthday cake. My mother came over and we went to the beach. We gave away three kittens but still have Oscar, Cat about Town and Meeko the Mighty.

Oscar, Cat About Town

Birthday Indoor Picnic

Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake (Yes, those are dark chocolate Kit Kats!)

MM(4)

Greenwich, PEI

 My mind is buzzing with Things that Must be Done, and I'm finding it hard to relax. I know I need to write them down so I can deal with them.

There is the Sweep and Smile course that I'm taking from Mystie of Simplified Organization. We're starting week 5, but I need to reboot. (It's a wonderful course, by the way. If you need any help in the homemaking area, jump on board the next time she offers it!)

There is Diet and Exercise. I lost 25 lb from March-May, but lost steam in June. I have another 25 to lose, and I need to recommit.

There is book tidying and organization. I'm behind again.

There is reflection. What went well in the last school year? What needs improvement? What am I thankful for this year?

There is school planning. Ambleside Online or AO 2.0? Continue to combine as much as possible with my upcoming Year 4 and Year 2 students, or treat them as if they're in different "Forms" (I'm speaking in terms of content...of course my Year 4 will have additional subjects and skills to work on.)?

There is prereading. SA(9) will be reading more of his books on his own this year, and I want to get a head start on him.

There is my personal reading...Homer's Odyssey with a study group, Northanger Abbey with a book club, continuing with my C.S. Lewis project, The Living Page. Oh yes, and I want to read through School Education quickly again before SA jumps into Year 4. Maybe I'll even have the self-discipline to blog about it here.

There is the Natural History Illustration MOOC I'm taking to boost my nature journalling.

There is SUMMER! I need to make sure we don't miss the opportunities of summer while I'm doing all this working and planning. For one thing, I want to make sure we go to the beach once a week. I also want to plan a few field trips... a waterfowl preserve, a historic site, maybe a zoo...

How about you? How is your summer going? AO friends, are you going for 2.0 or sticking with 1.0 for now? I want to hear about it!