This is one of my favorite times of year.  It’s the time when parents throughout the state make the decision that they’re going to homeschool their kids next year and they start looking for information about the homeschooling support groups in our state and many of them find Summit View.

I love meeting new homeschoolers.  They are so excited about homeschooling and they are so full of hope about what it will mean for their family.  For those of us who’ve been doing this a while (this will be my 11th year), it can become a little “same old, same old.”  The thrill of each new adventure starts to wear off a bit and I can even begin to start complaining about homeschooling a little bit.

So, being around parents who are embarking on a new adventure and who are excited about each new math manipulative, each new workbook, each new field trip they intend to plan is the equivalent, to me at least, of finding an extra $20 in my purse — of being asked out on a date by my husband — or of having a good hair day.  Those things always make me feel really great.  They always give me a boost.  It’s the same with meeting new homeschool parents.

Being around them makes me feel so grateful for being able to homeschool.  They remind me of all the reasons I started homeschooling too.  Their enthusiasm is contagious and all of us homeschooling veterans need to spend some time around homeschooling newbies.  We need them as much as they need us.  They need us for our experience, we need them for their enthusiasm.

Well, the year is winding down and we are entering the last few months of the school year before summer hits.  Are we having fun yet?  I would have to answer with a resounding “yes.”  It was a fun year.  What are my goals for summer?  Let me make a list:

1. I want to read a great book together each month during summer — a book that doesn’t necessarily fit with any of our curriculum plans or anything.  Just something fun and informative.
2. I want to focus on doing some artistic endeavors that we can devote the whole day to — maybe learning to paint on canvas with oil, or maybe learning how to do some video editing for You Tube videos.
3. I want to watch one good movie every week — maybe even go to the movie theater a few times over summer.  I love the whole experience of going to the movies, so that’s high on my list.
4. I want to be totally prepared for the next school year with all my books and things organized and ready to go come August.  No more scrounging around on Veg Source in late July trying to find those last couple of items.  Nope.  I will be organized by August.
5. I want to go to a spa for a “me” day.  I want to have a facial, a manicure, a pedicure, and maybe even a massage.
6. I want to watch the NHL playoffs and keep up with my teams, as well as watching the French Open and Wimbledom.  I love hockey and tennis and although I don’t watch much TV, I will make time for my sports.

That’s it.  Not much of a “to do” list, but I honestly just need to relax.  Plus, it’s so hot here in the Phoenix area that summer doesn’t hold the traditional summer activities of other locations.  We just try to keep from melting while we drive with our oven mitts on (to keep from scorching our hands on the steering wheel) to the library.  What joy!  I can’t wait!  See you next time!

Nick and I have been making our way through Algebra I this year.  What fun.  lol  Math has never been my strong suit, so he’s actually teaching me Algebra I this year.  I have this amazing kid who figures out the problems in his head and tells me the answer.  I scramble to the back of the book to check to see if he’s right (which he usually is).  One of his biggest gripes about doing Algebra has been challenging me constantly with real life examples of when he will ever actually need to use it. 

 So, here I am, a middle-aged woman and business owner who, by the way, has never used algebra (that I know of) even once since I graduated from high school trying to find examples of why he needs to know it.  What I’ve actually learned is that some of the projects I’ve taken on around the house would have actually been much easier had I applied some basic algebra to them — instead of guessing. 

In all honesty, my public school education gave me such a fear of math that I never felt adequate to be able to teach it to my son beyond basic stuff.  However, as we’re working our way through Algebra I this year, a lot of the old mindsets are falling off me and I’m actually feeling like I get it this time around.  How wonderful is that?

I have to thank homeschooling (and all those brave parents who went before me and blazed this fantastic trail) and I have to thank my son, Nick, for my newfound understanding of Algebra I.

For Book Club this month, our Advanced Readers group read The Count of Monte Cristo.  When we had our parent meeting to decide which books to read for this block (September - November), I was initially not very excited that the group selected this book.  I think this was namely because I thought since it was old, it would probably not be very mature reading for my teenage boy.  Also, it seemed like it was more geared toward boys.  Boy, was I wrong.

In a few days, the UPS guy was knocking on my door, delivering my precious cargo (my books) for the upcoming three months.  We also picked The Book Thief and The Old Man and the Sea. 

My jaw nearly hit the floor when I pulled The Count of Monte Cristo out of the box.  At a whopping 1,243 pages, this thing could be used for a multitude of purposes:  door stop, paperweight, boat anchor, and my personal favorite (Nick’s idea) - it could be used as a building material.  He said we could make a house using copies of The Count of Monte Cristo as bricks.  While that sounds all well and good, the idea of ruining the books in the process was much more than I could handle, so we discarded that idea.

I quickly realized that Nick and I were going to need our own copies of the book, as we were to be found throughout the month with our noses buried in our respective copies.  We read in the morning.  We read at lunchtime.  We read before bed.  We read in the car on the way to Nick’s hockey games.  We read all the time…

And slowly - almost without realizing it - we fell in love with this book.  I liked different aspects of it than Nick did.  He loved the vengeance aspect, while I liked historical references and the way Dumas wrote about French society and the grittiness of the time.

By the time we were finished with it, we were sad to see our good friend, The Count, go.  But, it was a great accomplishment for us to have read such a long book (which, by the way, was very entertaining for both of us).  Nick said it’s his favorite book to date.

Now, on to The Book Thief, which is a mere 550 pages!  Whew!

This new year will see a lot of changes for Summit View.  For one, our name will change from Summit View Homeschool Cooperative (its name for 8 years) to Summit View Homeschoolers.  The reason is simple — the other name was too long for a website.  Who would have ever found us?

Another new thing for us this year is our website.  We’ve never had our own domain and website before, so that’s new for us.  Hopefully, the new website will help communicate to the community what we offer and give people a feel for our group.  At least, that’s the intention.

Another new thing is Gillian Whitney stepped down as the Director (due to her upcoming move to Idaho and cooler weather) and I’ve stepped back in as the Director again.  For those who don’t know me, I founded Summit View back in November of 1999 when I moved here from California and couldn’t find a secular homeschool group in the East Valley.  My son was almost 5 when we moved here and we’ve been homeschooling ever since.

I guess the bottom line for me is I love homeschooling.  I love the wonderful families and children I’ve met over the years.  I love the effect that homeschooling has had on our family.  I know we would never have the family dynamic we do if we hadn’t made this decision.  I’m kind of sad to be in my last 4 years of homeschooling as my son starts high school work this year.  It’s been a fantastic journey so far and I look forward to the new adventure that high school homeschooling brings us this year.