Sunday, April 20, 2008

Ready to Finish Strong

I just finished preparing lesson plans for the last six weeks of school before summer break begins. According to my original plan, we were to school for 40 weeks but I think there is just too much public school left in me. Two-thirds of my life has been spent in a traditional educational setting: thirteen years as a student, four years of college and seven years as a ps teacher. As a result, this time of the year I get the itch for a time of rest. I am ready to spend lots of time at the beach (only 30 minutes from our house), get my yearly deep cleaning and organizing done, read few good books and start planning for next year. I want to sleep in, read a million books to my boys, wrestle and do all the messy things we never have time to do during the school year - Moon Sand, painting, Playdough (gluten-free, of course ;) and so much more.

All that to say, I condensed our last ten weeks of school into six! I am re-energized to finish strong, and it feels great. Ultimately I want to move towards more of a year-round model. I would love to school for 40 weeks, taking six weeks off during the summer, a week off at Thanksgiving, three weeks at Christmas, a week off for Spring Break and a one week fall break as well. Maybe it will happen next year! I am thrilled with the year we've had so far and am thankful it is drawing to a close. My next post will be a very over-due weekly report - more like a quarterly report, I guess.

9 comments:

Andrea said...

Goodness, I feel exactly the same way! We planned for 40 weeks but I'm definitely wnating the break that I'm used to getting each summer.
I could shorten it but we'll have to spend a week just on SOTW and science to make it work. Do you having a reading plan for Thatcher for the summer break? I just know J won't pick up a book unless I have a plan for him.
Now you've got me thinking about the beach......:-D
Andrea

Anonymous said...

Jennefer,

I've enjoyed reading your blog for the past year, and I have always wondered about one thing--your boys' names. They are so British that it really tickles me (I love British anything). I've been wondering if my guessing is correct---is Thatcher after Margaret Thatcher? I know that Haddon is Charles Spurgeon's middle name, and I'm also guessing that Beckett was named after Thomas Beckett (murdered by Henry II and former archbishop of Canterbury). If I'm wrong tell me, but being the fan of British history that I am, I couldn't help but speculate.

What names would you have picked for a girl though? I can't remember Spurgeon's wife's name, I just remember it was a long engagement.

You're in TX aren't you (4th biggest city)? I just relocated to TX from MS, but I'm in the oldest city in TX (see if you can guess this one--or it claims to be the oldest).

Keep up the great blogging!

Erin

Jennefer said...

Erin,

Hi! Thank you for the sweet words. It's always good to hear from those that have been following my ramblings. ;)

Okay, my turn to guess...do you live in Nacogdoches? I always thought Galveston was the oldest city in Texas but I googled it (Yes, I cheated a little!) and Nacogdoches came up. I have never been there but I've always heard it is gorgeous!

As for my boys' names, dh thought up Thatcher's name when we were on a walk when I was only 6 weeks pregnant. Everyone asks if Margaret Thatcher was our inspiration though. Spurgeon was the inspiration for Haddon's name! Then, when I found out I was expecting #3 we decided since we already had two British sounding names we wanted to stick with that theme. I got Beckett's name from a reference to a character in a movie I saw when I was 10 weeks pregnant. Originally they thought I was carrying a girl and so Beckett was chosen as a girl's name. When we learned we were having a 3rd boy, dh suggested we keep the name Beckett for a boy. Piper was our other girl's name 8 years ago before we learned Thatcher was a boy. Now the name Piper has become pretty common but back then it was novel.

Well, know you now. Not too glamorous but that's our story!

Take care and thanks for leaving a comment. I hope to hear from you again.

Jennefer

Jennefer said...

Andrea,

I don't have an official reading plan for Thatcher other than he will read independently for one hour a day - most likely broken into two 30 minute chunks. We will also have lots of audio books and I will try to do at least two or three read-a-louds too. He has a few non-fiction series of books he is really enjoying so I am planning on adding to those collections to give him some new material to read as well!

Hope you are doing well and hang in there these last few weeks!
Jennefer

Anonymous said...

Jennefer,

Thanks for the explanation on the names! However they came to you I think they are great.

I do live in Nacogdoches, and as far as I know it is the oldest city (or claims to be). We like it here so far, the town is very friendly.

Hope to read more of your blog in the coming months!

Erin

Anonymous said...

Jennefer,
I've been away for a while and I'm just checking in with all my bloggy friends to see what's been going on. Isn't it exciting to know you have just a couple of weeks left and thinking about fun summer plans? I love this time of year! Finish strong!

Blessings to you!

Sheryl said...

Jennefer,

Hope you enjoy your home stretch. We are in our last week here and I am so excited. We will take off May and June and start back in July. I think I will one day work to a year round schedule but while they are little I love a long break when the weather is beautiful. My ds 's middle name is Haddon for the same reason. CHS is my dh favorite theologian. Anyways, have a great last few weeks and keep those visions of lazy mornings and days at the beach in your head.
Sheryl in GA

Angela said...

Jennifer,
Glad to see the new schedule- I too, am trying to finish strong. next year I would love to do a a year round deal, but I am not sure how to get it going with my current life- I am doing the deep cleaning too- So here is to Lysol baby!

The Phamily Matriarch said...

Sounds like y'all are going out with a bang! Good luck. Holler at us when you have some time to steal.

Tag you're it. Link back to me and see...

Jaclyn