Editor’s Note:  Today, we’re revisiting Laura’s tips for getting the most from the summer break from homeschooling.

---

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Psalm 90:12

Does it feel like summer is slipping away? Are the days passing in a blur? When the calendar moves toward July, do you feel dread, discouragement, or even panic at the thought of the upcoming school year?

The frantic pace of homeschooling—the frenzy of full schedules, multiple subjects, and more-list-than-hours-left each day—leaves us grateful for summer and time to just … stop. Rest. Sleep. We relish days with no schedule and no demands, when our car stays in the garage, the alarm clock is not set, and the calendar space is white.

But July is almost here, and that means August is coming. Instead of the jolt of a hard start, have you considered a soft ramp-up? Perhaps easing everyone back into a routine will help get hearts, minds, and home ready to begin.

This month’s Top Ten offers a few ideas to help get everyone ready to launch the new school year and daily schedule well.

My plan assumes a 30-day countdown to launch—or four full weeks. Number those days. Choose to be intentional. The days will pass regardless, but if you choose to deliberately claim and plan them, you can look back in 30 days with a sense of accomplishment for what has happened, while being well-prepared for what is about to happen.

Just a few weeks from now, you will stand on the threshold of a new year. My challenge is to set yourself up to walk into it with peace and joy, with your heart and your home ready for a fresh start. We moms know a good day often begins the night before. We can extend the same truth to a good school year—substituting “30 days” in place of “the night” before. You may feel like you’ve squandered the first half of the summer, but there’s still time to redeem what’s left: to make a plan, implement it, and reap the blessings that will result.

Here’s my Top Ten to consider as you consider a plan that works for you and your family.

1. Make a list and make it realistic.
   Think about household, organizational, and school planning goals. Instead of setting yourself up for failure with a goal to paint the entire house this summer, consider painting one room. Rather than planning the whole school year, perhaps you can complete plans for the first 1-2 months.
2. Solicit some Family Feedback.
   Check with the rest of the family on what goals they might have for the summer. Maybe your daughter would like to get started on learning to use your sewing machine, or your son really wanted to visit the state capital. Does your husband want the garage cleaned out? Maybe everyone would love a family camp out or an evening with homemade ice cream.
3. Establish a Soft Schedule.
   Everyone may be up by 7 during the school year. Your summer schedule (so far) may have found them all getting up whenever they pleased. Perhaps a “soft” compromise for July might be for everyone to be up by 8 with daily quiet time and morning chores completed by 9.
4. Family Fun in Your Backyard
   Draw a one-hour driving circumference around your hometown and evaluate all the spots you’ve intended to visit, but just never made a priority. Hiking at a state park? Visiting a museum or monument? An historic home or battlefield? Maybe it’s a fabulous water park or canoeing spot. Don’t look back with a shoulda/woulda/coulda … seize the summer!
5. Consider a Mini Mission Trip.
   There’s nothing like serving together to create great memories and solidify your walk-matches-talk when it comes to the Great Commission. Could your family take a morning or an afternoon to paint, clean, wash, weed, mow, mulch, or serve at a local Crisis Pregnancy Center, youth camp, homeless shelter, or food bank?
6. Summer Reading
   The school year is filled to the brim with lots of books, but summer is a great time for pleasure reading. Many homeschoolers don’t need to be persuaded or cajoled into reading, but do encourage best-over-good choices. Check out these past posts for some recommendations of great books and ways to incorporate them into your summer:
   Laura’s Top Ten:  D.E.A.R. Time!
   Nothing Beats Bill Peet
   Poem in Your Pocket Day
   18 Ways to Build a Lifestyle of Reading
   Sneaky Summer Schooling
7. Summer School for Slackers
   Every family has a slacker—the one who falls behind in his math or grammar book, not because he’s challenged or struggling but because he simply doesn’t enjoy it. If his siblings note a no-consequence end to the year, you might have a full-fledged slacker epidemic on your hands next time around. Look at what’s unfinished and create a finish-your-work plan. The wailing and gnashing of teeth will be worth the lifelong lesson learned (and I’m not talking about math or grammar).
8. Do a Drawer a Day.
   If everyone in the family dumps one drawer in their room, or works together to tackle one cabinet or shelf each day, a surprising amount of clutter can evaporate in just a single month. This not only gets the house in order, but serves to train your children in Household Organization 101. It’s a good way to prepare them for managing life well when they’re the ones paying the mortgage.
9. Meal Planning/Refrigerator Inventory/Freezer Meals
   If you’ve strayed from planning meals, if there’s salad dressing that expired in 2013 in your fridge, if you occasionally excavate a freezer-burned, indiscernible (and certainly inedible) package from your freezer … it’s time to regroup. Bridgitt’s Meal Planning Strategies for Busy Moms post might be helpful.
10. REST!
    Please do not let the above consume you. There is no advantage in starting the new school year with an organized house and a full freezer, but a body zapped of energy. Guard your bedtime. Take some time each day to do what refreshes you: take a walk, polish your nails, read a good book, and/or go out for coffee. Certainly, make some time for dating your hubby.

These are just ideas—suggestions for you to use, tweak, change, and/or adjust to fit your life and your family. This is not a legalistic have-to, but just a handful of options to consider. After 20 years of home education, I know the peace that comes with having a plan and the blessing of a bit of order in my surroundings. Use one or use all ten … there’s still plenty of time to redeem the summer!