Embracing Now, Anticipating What’s Next.
By Chelsey Dankert
It is still July right? I don’t *really* want to be thinking about the school year already but somehow plans and ideas have crept into my brain and it’s been hard to try and keep them at bay.
I absolutely love summer and even in Michigan, it never feels long enough. That being said, I am not one to jump in and start school too early. I love when the kids get excited to go outside before breakfast and their ambition to start fires in the pit, save insects, read in the hammocks, or ride bikes up and down our road like a gang of blondies that are likely too loud for our neighbors (sorry, not sorry!). I want to draw out as much of this summer magic as possible because it’s such a special time to be a child!
This summer is unlike many we’ve experienced in recent years,
because we’ve been present.
Last week our oldest decided to pull out a 2-wheeler for our youngest. I thought for sure she would get her foot run over by his awkwardness and the excitement of the possibility would wear off. Oh silly me for underestimating our feral fourth child! He jumped on that big boy bike and literally took off. A few troubling dismounts and several gasps from me later, he was riding by himself. The look of sheer joy on his little face was priceless.
And I was there to see it. I was present and available and we celebrated this huge victory, all six of us together.
Maybe that was the big milestone moment from Summer of ‘25, but I’d like to believe that there is more in store for us over the next few months while we squeeze the warm mornings and bright evenings for everything they have to offer us.
However, we do have a look back a bit to make sure we are on the right path going forward. I have been considering what has worked well for us and where in our school plans we can adjust this coming year. I think I’ve said it before but I usually try to plan our school in quarters throughout the year. This mindset helps give us more control and flexibility to pivot in smaller increments. I find it less overwhelming to look at three months at a time than having a huge vision for the entire year. I love that Q3 is July, August and September, because there are still great opportunities for adventures while also getting all of us into more routined habits for a successful transition into the cooler months.
Quarter Three goals:
Clean and organize our game closet. For my sanity, yes. But also for us to know what resources we have and be able to grab them quickly. Learning is fun and we have a ton of games that can help embrace and encourage learning mindsets as we start to transition into a slightly more formal schedule for school.
Purchase unit study material. This would be the first time that we will tackle an “all inclusive” unit study from Gather Round. I have explored the curriculum before but didn’t feel ready to take on the commitment myself. Knowing that we have a 5th grader has triggered something in me to take some studies more seriously. I am excited to try something new that hopefully all of them will enjoy and be challenged a bit with new learning materials
Determine weekly check-ins for the school year. Last year we attempted weekly “summeries” - a form I created to review the week's studies and ideally indicate areas that the kids might need more attention in. In theory this was great. In reality this was clunky. We don’t really “do tests” but I can acknowledge that there should be something in place to serve as a checkpoint. I have a few ideas but need to fill in some of the school-week expectations first to see how it all sifts out.
Purchase new books. We still intend to use BrainQuest books for the foundation, and supplement with separate math and social studies books, in addition to the unit study I mentioned above.
Plan field trips. I would love to make this more of a priority this year. Our schedule is generally too full for anything weekly, or even monthly, but I would like to plan for a field trip each quarter. In contrast to what I just said, I do intend to use more time in September for trips since I don’t plan to start our full school schedule until October. This is for many reasons I will dig deeper into in another post.
July was a great vacation month between the long holiday weekend, taking time off while the boys went camping and we updated the girls room, a trip for my husband and I, and an upcoming lake weekend but this time we are sharing it with friends! There has not been a huge expectation of daily school work. But when we were home for several days in a row the kids knew to anticipate the “Bridges and Bible study” to be written on our daily list. Summer Bridges have been an excellent resource that is a low pressure, easy open-and-go reminder of concepts they learned last year while introducing them to their next grade. We plan to finish out these workbooks through the rest of this quarter.
August has a week where I am away, and several work-travel-trips that Evan will be gone throughout the month. I want to spend this month getting things cleaned up and reorganized. This is the time I will likely spend sorting through our calendar for Q4 and creating our daily calendars.
September is a big marker for activities beginning - regular dance classes resume (jiu jitsu runs all summer) and our involvement with Community Bible Study two days a week will also pick back up. This is one of the months that Evan is working a ton and will be out of town the most. This is one of the main reasons that September will be a noticeably transitional month, rather than the full-on start of school. We are only a few months into my husband traveling more for work but I know that simplicity is best when I am solo parenting.
I feel like I am in a holding pattern - cherishing all the things summer still has to offer, while building anticipation for all that the next quarter will hold.