Anne's last day of forest kindergarten is June 24th-ish. I will be sad for her to be done. We've been needing to figure out what comes next. Jared and Anne and I have gone back and forth this year about what that should be. The plan is now as follows: We will start homeschooling at the end of June, and see how we like it. I've been collecting some basic curriculum ideas and keeping-kids-responsible-for-themselves ideas. We will give it an experimental run during the summer. If it flat-out doesn't work for our family, Highlands Elementary is a block and a half away, and we'll march right over and register her.
Currently being brainstormed:
A laminated chart with Anne's daily responsibilities, which can be velcro-ed on as they are completed for the day. Completion of the chart will lead to the possibility of screen time if she wants it. Exactly what will be on the chart is still undergoing brainstorming. It will include cello practice, some sort of spiritual component, reading, handwriting, math, some sort of ways of contributing to the household, reading together, and outdoor play. Still not entirely sure about the details.
While it seems kind of daunting, getting this child out the door to school, getting her home from school, getting her to do her homework, and managing the emotional fall-out of her long, exhausting school day while teaching after-school lessons, seems even more daunting.
Anyway, it's a good time to experiment, as you don't legally have to register for school in Washington until you are 8. The summer trial run will also give us a little lead time to figure out how to schedule (or NOT schedule) our lessons for the fall....
There are other projects going on around here, too. The big one is that I have a goal for myself of getting the garage cleared out to the point that we could use it for our group class workshop week July 8-12. It doesn't have to be remodeled or sheet-rocked or painted or heated or anything by then, but I can at least have it cleaned out, cleaned, and have the rug on the floor. You may recall that we moved in on a Sunday and started teaching in the house on Monday morning. In order to make that happen, all the boxes went into the garage, and only the basic furniture went into the house. Also, there *may or may not* be some pack-rats among us who have done several moves last-minute without cleaning out. So the quantity of boxes and STUFF in the garage has been somewhat overwhelming. Two steps in the right direction have happened since November. One is that Jared and his dad built a shed in the back yard, so I have been moving quite a few things over there and organizing on shelves and such. That includes all the tools, the camping gear, the yard toys and snow gear, the off-size clothes for the kids, the Christmas decorations, and the furniture temporarily out of use (e.g. toddler bed). Also, Jared has been putting bookshelves in the house up near the ceiling so we've been unloading boxes and boxes of books without using up our very precious floor space. I've been cleaning out. Boxes and boxes of things are going to new homes via Buy Nothing and Goodwill, and empty boxes are going to neighbors moving. It's getting down to the tough stuff now - construction debris, boxes whose contents have to be sorted through one at a time when my eldest isn't looking. Hundreds of tiny decisions I don't have the fortitude to make... But I'm doing it, because I want that space usable!
Also, I have some newly minted yard plans. I bought myself a rose bush and some flowers yesterday, and we have a bunch of bricks sitting by to make a new garden space as the former garden box is on its last legs... Need to finally get sand for the kids' sand box. And I have had a life-long dream of a laundry line that I'd like to build. (In all my spare time. Haha.)
Along with that there are a million more little projects, like hanging hooks for all the bags by the door, doing something about our litter box drama, finishing the baseboards and door frames... But who's got time for that?
Because there are OTHER things happening, too. Jared is teaching at a week-long program in Chattanooga. We both teach for a week at the Walla Walla Suzuki Institute and for a week at the Japan-Seattle Suzuki Institute. And we have our afore-mentioned week-long in-house group class workshop.
And the concerts... Jared and I are playing a pair of concerts in Bellingham the first week of September, the first of which is a subset of the second. Finding time to rehearse with just the two of us is not all that easy, despite the fact we live in the same house and work together. Additionally, we are playing a house concert in August, half of which is a subset of the same, but also contains a separate piano quartet - the Brahms C Minor, with Adam and Linda, which involves scheduling rehearsals around Adam's in-town dates and Linda's job. And in June, Jared and I are playing another subset of the same at a retirement home in Auburn. The complete program for the second September concert is:
Kodaly Duo
Lullaby and Grotesque by Rebecca Clarke
Mozart Duo in Bb Major
Rautavaara Ugrian Dialogue
Limerock and Emily's Reel by Mark O'Connor
Sibelius Nocturne
Louange a l'Eternite de Jesus by Messaien
Something TBA by J.S. Bach
Currently starting the summer lesson-scheduling process... And the lead-up to our end of year recitals. And keeping an eyeball or two on recruiting new students to replace those who are graduating, quitting lessons, changing teachers, or moving.
Last summer we did not go camping so that we could work on the garage. We ended up not working on the garage (due to concert preparations) and not taking any vacation. That was a mistake all round. This summer maybe we are planning to be doing both - I'll let you know how that goes. :-P Packing it in around nursing and diapers and Anne's cello practice and sunscreening and managing the visits with the neighborhood kids and the house cleaning and the meals and the practice and, and, and.
