Who Said We Don't Homeschool All Year!

We generally start our homeschool year at the end of August and run straight through until the last week of May. Then we all breathe a sigh of relief and say, "Let's just take it easy now!" The crazy kids (and myself!) anticipate lots of time lollygagging around, doing nothing and just relaxing. And then we make a list of things we want to do for fun over the summer (field trips!). And then I start reminding the crazy kids they should maintain the skills they learned with some practice each day(math and language arts!). And then the crazy kids want to join the summer reading program at the library (reading...every day!). And then, this happens:

A HUGE bald spot gouged out of the grass

CLB thought it would be fun to secretly pull out a mass of grass while both crazy kids were playing in their little inflatable backyard pool. I don't know how he managed this without our noticing, because we were right there! I cannot even describe the condition of the two of them when they were done. Absolutely plastered with mud doesn't quite do it justice! We literally had to hose them off! Now, CLB knows better. He just isn't thinking lately! I mean, last month, we sent him up to the bathroom to brush his teeth and five seconds later there was a crash and a new hole in my wall. Apparently, he had decided to hang off the shower curtain and pulled it out of the wall (it was a fixture original to the house). CLB had to help his dad fill in the hole, and I was able to buy a new curtain, but still, he needs to think about what he's going to do before he does it!

My old curtain before CLB got hold of it!

My new pretty one :)

Anyway, back to the bald spot in my grass. To help him try to think ahead before he acts, I decided, hey, since we're basically homeschooling during the summer, why not add a research project to the mix. So that's what we did. CLB destroyed a big patch of grass, so now he's going to figure out how to fix it. On his own! If he needs help, he will have to ask us for it, but we'll only be guiding him, not doing it for him. He'll have to use what he's learned about researching a topic to figure this one out. And CLG will have a part in this, too, since she had a part in tearing out the grass. But it's CLB's job to determine exactly what part she's going to play (within reason...she's not quite four, so I don't see her hefting up bags of grass seed, yet!). I'll keep you posted about how this one works out!