Next Year's "School" Calendar

Like most things "homeschooling", it's taken me a while to catch on to the fact that I really do need a set calendar for the year. That is, unless I want to be frustrated and guilty every time we collapse from overdoing, only to realize it's because we haven't taken a much needed breathing break.

So what does the "perfect" calendar look like to me? It starts early. Ends early. Has plenty of kid and mommy breaks. Allows for "surprises". Fits with holidays. And did I mention, ends early? As in May?!

So the plan is to start the first Monday in August and be done by Memorial Day. In between, we'll have one-week breaks every seven to eight weeks. We'll also schedule every other Friday as a M.U.D day. Make Up Day. As in buffer. As in "I'm on my period" day, or we're going to the zoo. Know what I mean?

I printed out this wonderful blank calendar from Donna Young, and marked it up first with holidays and birthdays that we take off. These include the biggies and a couple others. Then I went through and counted weeks to see where week eight would fall. On the second eight week period, the break would fall the week after Thanksgiving week, so I adjusted the period to seven weeks so we can have Thanksgiving week off. I did this for the rest of the year, watching my holidays.

I then counted up my days to be sure we would meet the requirements for our state. We have 9 extra days. By the way, a lady who works with my husband told him that her neighbors had to spend the night in jail because their son had too many absent days at school, not meeting the "requirements". I'm not sure I believe it, but it wouldn't really surprise me.

With that done, I turned my attention to the fun stuff. That would be the Fun Days Calendar. I only have the rest of this calendar year available, so I went through it picking fun days to remember or celebrate in some memorable fashion. One example of a fun day I shared was this. Here's what I'm looking at:

August
5: National Friendship Day
17: Davy Crockett Day
19: Potato Day (I'm picturing hash browns for breakfast, french fries for lunch, and Crash Hot Potatoes for dinner!)

September
3: Wizard of Oz (published) Day
13: Chocolate Day
17: Constitution Day
18: National Play Doh Day
22: National Elephant Appreciation Day
23: First Day of Autumn
24: Dr. Seuss Day
26: Johnny Appleseed Day

October
10: Pac Man Day
16: Dictionary Day
21: Apple Day
22: Nut Day
25: Make a Difference Day
31: Reformation Day

November
3: National Sandwich Day
11: Mayflower Compact (signed) Day
14 Teddy Bear Day; & Claude Monet Day
17: Homemade Bread Day
19: Gettysburg Address Day
24: Creation Day (in response to Darwin Day)
26: Charles Schultz (Peanuts) Day

December
2: International Day to remember the abolition of slavery
4: Monopoly Day; & National Cookie Day
16: Boston Tea Party Day
17: Maple Syrup Day
21: Pilgrim's Landing at Plymouth Day
22: Beatrix Potter (death) Day
28: Pledge of Allegiance (recognized by Congress) Day
30 Rudyard Kipling Day

BTW, August 31st is International Blog Day!

As you can imagine, some will only bear*** mentioning, while others will be "celebrated" (Cookie Day!!! Mmmm!) We had a lot of fun with these, this past year. They don't take much time and we all enjoy them. I have some we'll enjoy over the summer as well.

So that's how my next year's calendar came to be...and before the year even starts! Now that's progress!

***FYI:

BEAR/BARE

There are actually three words here. The simple one is the big growly creature (unless you prefer the Winnie-the-Pooh type). Hardly anyone past the age of ten gets that one wrong. The problem is the other two. Stevedores bear burdens on their backs and mothers bear children. Both mean “carry” (in the case of mothers, the meaning has been extended from carrying the child during pregnancy to actually giving birth). But strippers bare their bodies—sometimes bare-naked. The confusion between this latter verb and “bear” creates many unintentionally amusing sentences; so if you want to entertain your readers while convincing them that you are a dolt, by all means mix them up. “Bear with me,” the standard expression, is a request for forbearance or patience. “Bare with me” would be an invitation to undress. “Bare” has an adjectival form: “The pioneers stripped the forest bare.”