End of the year wrap up

I feel like the two weeks after Christmas are almost magical in their powers of renewal. The week before Christmas is always happy rush.  The four days "of" Christmas are exciting and filled with activity.

Then comes the quiet lull between the 26th and the New Year.  No school -- no practices.  No commitments of any significance.   I try to actually finish Christmas cards this week when I have time to write notes!  We always have at least one pajama day and I work on cleaning out a few clutter spots. 

A new year means a new calendar.  All those clean pages, open to possibilities and just waiting to be written in!  It fills me with purpose to clip then into my binder.

We'll start school on Jan 3rd, but outside classes will start no earlier than the week after that so it is a "light" week.  We have a couple of field trips planned and reading to start for the classes that meet the following week.

This is the time to ponder what is working and what needs tweaking in our school.  I try to dig out the piles that have accumulated and restore order to the notebook.     I'm still working on organizing an official school/office/exercise room, a task that really must be finished before next week ends.

I'll look ahead to our literature schedule and be sure I've got the right books on hand.  I used to pour over the library website and put the books I could request on the calendar as a reminder.  Now I mostly order texts or shop for them at the used book stores.

I also need to look ahead and start anticipating courses to enroll in for next year, camps to fill summer weeks and schedule time off with family.  We need to think about ordering the National Latin Exam and signing up for the ACT or SAT early this summer.  Most homeschoolers in our state also need to plan their testing option if they have waited until the spring to test.

Mid-year is also a good time to take stock of where we are are in various subjects.  It is obvious Ginger feel behind in math last semester so we need to schedule extra time and a target completion date for this course.  Same for history.  Its much better to take stock while there is still time to recover.  It feels like this is "half year" but really there are more weeks and fewer interruptions between January and June than between August and December.  

January is also the time to finalize plans for any homeschool convention in the spring or summer.   I've already reserved a hotel room for our state organizations conference.  For me it is worth the additional fee for the hotel connected to the convention hall because the teens are free to come and go to their own events - even after I've settled into my pjs.  These rooms go quickly so early confirmation is essential.

As you spend this "gap" week with your family I pray you will enjoy the relaxed pace and time for fun even as you think ahead to the spring schedule.