Summer school

Read. Think. Learn.

It's not exactly an educational philosophy that lends itself to a traditional September to June academic calendar, so we study year-round, which not only promotes the sort of synthesis on which the life of the mind thrives but also allows ample time for extended music practice, art classes at the college, star parties (when conditions permit), sleeping in (whenever needed), field trips, and simply breathing.

Now, the flexibility of year-round studies aside, I must admit that our academic calendar has been at least partially defined by the demands of the winter and summer swim teams, and in our neck of the tiny woods on the prairie, summer swim season (which comprises one week of evening practice, seven weeks of early morning practices, one weekday evening meet per week, and a conference) has begun. From first practice to final conference, the entire season comprises eight weeks, and over the last six years, I have learned that it works well for us to plan what I call "eight solid weeks" of studies since daily practice and weekly meets dictate a certain rhythm. So, tuck ninety-minute music practice sessions in here and a weekly piano lesson there, then hang some reasonable academic objectives in the frame, and voilà! I've built a rigorous but utterly doable plan that includes, in our case, forty math lessons and eight tests, a history course, four novels, two plays, a handful of short stories, ongoing memorization projects, science, logic, Spanish, and, yes, art -- always and forever, art. (To say nothing of a several mornings at the beach, many excursions on the bike trails, and a few field trips!)

Anyway, in preparation for this year's summer endeavors, I reorganized the "bird room" and prepared a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils that included Smencils. And although my students are now entering seventh and ninth grades, they have certainly appreciated the whimsy of watermelon-, grape-, and cinnamon-scented pencils as we discuss the finer points of literary analysis and algebraic equations.

Whether you study year-round or on an traditional academic calendar, whether you homeschool or not, remember the whimsy, folks, because I can guarantee that they will.