We’re starting school here this morning. I know, I know. It’s JULY.

Yet, we’re starting. Andy’s entering 2nd grade, and Brady’s starting 1st. We see many advantages to doing school year-round, but we do like to give the kids a break that’s a bit longer in the summer. So, we take off for T-ball season.

We do the same number of days as our local public schools, but we spread them out. We essentially do six weeks “on,” then take a week “off.” Six on, one off. Six on, then two off for Christmas! The second “semester” looks a lot like the first. I tried to be less traditional, but I went to public school, and I just can’t get away from the structure! It helps me stay sane.

We like to do some special stuff to mark the beginning of the new year. When I was a kid, my mom and my aunt used to take my brother, my cousins and I to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis every year the day before school started. Great idea, huh?

We live farther away from Indy now, though. And I have six kids. My husband works a LOT. So, me taking the kids to a museum all by myself? Not so easy.

This year, we started a new tradition, thanks to a suggestion from a family friend: We had ice cream for dinner! YUM!

So, what about you? How do you “celebrate” going back to school? Any big plans?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 at 6:56 am and is filed under Andy, Brady, homeschooling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.