Five weeks are behind us in Term 1, with five to go! Last year, on the advice of Amy, I scheduled a break after our first five weeks of school, and I did the same this year. Generally speaking, we don't take many breaks during the school year -- we all work well with a good amount of momentum behind us, and we mostly just like to plug along and enjoy a longer summer. But I found that this midterm break in Term 1 is so nice for reflecting on the school year's start and making adjustments/additions.
For example, this week, I will be...
- setting up the next five weeks of art, handicraft, and Italian lessons (I find these easier to plot out in 5-week chunks)
- looking over our term programs to make sure everything I planned has now been incorporated into our routine
- making a few small changes to our timetables (always tweaking as needed!)
- weighing some outside classes/opportunities for fall
- meeting with each student to see if he or she needs any additional support or has had helpful insights to share into our plans or schedule
- doing some final prep for Term 2 and 3 that I didn't get to over the summer (mostly pre-reading for my high schoolers)
This break also provides a chance for me to work on some household projects and schedule in some fun. Those early weeks back to school each year leave very little time for either of those things! :) So we'll be cleaning, cooking, running errands, and going on a couple outings, I hope.
And my older kids won't be completely off school: my Form 3-5 students will do a few readings this week to "get ahead" a bit since we will be missing two days of school in October while I am in Philadelphia. They also have online Latin and Italian classes to attend.
Some notes on what we have been up to since I last shared...
This can be a difficult season to get outside in California -- it is still so hot and dry in September! But I am grateful that this summer has been so much better than the past few years; no days of wildfire smoke yet here in the South Bay. I am also grateful for our nature group for motivating me to get out with the kids weekly.
For example, we had a fun exploration of oak galls a couple weeks ago...
More on that another day!
So do you take a break early in the fall? And how is your school year going so far?
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This all looks so delightful! I wondered if you could share your current daily and weekly schedules? I need to troubleshoot my own and examples are SO helpful!
ReplyDeleteHi Rhebeka, I have not shared our schedules yet but will try to do so during our exam week coming up soon. :)
DeleteThis is a timely post for me! We are on week 5 right now, and I'm waffling about whether or not to take a mid-term break. I think we will not take a break after term one exams (because our Thanksgiving week break will follow shortly after), so I might schedule a break for next week just to make sure I have everything ready to roll into term two smoothly.
ReplyDeleteHi Miriam -- Sorry, just seeing this! That was my thought process too. We will not take a break after Term 1 exams since we are close to the longer holidays... so the break after Week 5 gave me a chance to breathe before that long stretch. :)
DeleteGood to see what you & the family are up to, Celeste!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carol! (Sorry, Blogger had my comments set to moderate, so I didn't see your cheery note until now. :))
DeleteHi Celeste, I'm really curious about how you use Geography from A to Z. I picked that up for free this summer, but only really thought it good as a picture book for my little non-readers. I wouldn't have considered it a living book. I thought it might be a handy reference one day, but no more. How do you incorporate it?
ReplyDeleteHi Hannah! We use it as a reference for our sand tray work. We go through the different landforms, build them in sand, look for examples by our home and in our atlas, etc. It's a great resource for that work!
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