Dear Friends,

Take a look at your lesson plans and school days. Set the end of your school year, if you have not already done so. We will end our school year at the end of May.

It is important for you and your children to have an end in sight, even if you homeschool year round, you need breaks. Please resist the temptation to keep pushing through your homeschool books without breaks.

Over the years, I have seen my children grasp concepts they struggled with when I gave them breaks from school. Children are able to process a lot of information through play and being creative. A break can be beneficial to a child who has struggled with learning a new concept.

As a teacher, I also need a break. It helps me to get rid of materials we have finished and start thinking about the new school year. I generally start wrapping things up with the boys during the month of April. We do testing in April, and we see how much we have left to cover in each subject.

If you look at the end of your child’s math book, you will see that the last several lessons are teaching concepts they will not be covering for a year or more. It is more of an introduction to higher level math. You do not have to complete every single lesson in a textbook. Most of us did not finish all of a textbook, and you are not obligated to do every lesson with your child.

The end of year testing is used for me to see where they are, and it helps me determine if we need any remediation on a subject before the end of the year. I test because state law mandates that I test them, but I do use the results.

Tell me when you are ending your homeschool year.

Your Zone Mission today is detail clean around the baseboards and under the furniture in the living room.

Your Home Blessing for today is to toss paper and magazines.

My menu plan for Thursday is soup and sandwiches.

Have a blessed day!