On New Beginnings

As summer winds to a close, our minds turn towards a new school year and fresh starts. Reawakened hopes and ambitions get us excited about learning together as a family and it’s easy to pile on the subjects and course load. Be careful to leave room to breathe and avoid overscheduling. Use this month to make your homeschool plans, focusing on rhythms you want to incorporate and ways you want to focus as a family.

This month can be an awkward time of transitions depending on where you live. Here in the south it’s back to school and activities that leave us longing for golden leaves to match our new stacks of books, but the reality is that it’s still so miserably hot some days we wonder if autumn will ever return. We make use of the dog days of summer and start back to school early. Getting a jump on the year while it’s too hot to be outdoors much (except for the last few pool days) gives us lots of margin and allows for plenty of off days when the irresistible autumn breezes cool the temps down to the lovely “outside all day” kind of weather. One of my favorite perks of homeschooling is arranging our year in a way that ebbs and flows with the seasons.

I’m academic by nature and I’ve always loved the back-to-school season; packs of highlighters, glue sticks, and colorful folders make me smile and loading our cart with them triggers the pondering joy that comes with a new school year. What will this year hold? What adventures will we take? Which books will we read together? Which ideas will amuse, surprise, confuse, delight and take hold of us? How will we grow as a family and as individuals?

At the beginning of each month, I send out an “Everything Guide.” The guide includes links to resources that will help you savor the month by sharing ideas about what to meditate on, read, listen to, sing, admire, watch, cook, make, freshen, and fragrance.

I also include a guiding quote, a rhythm to focus on, poetry & teatime inspiration, nature items to hunt for, outings to take, and tips on how to prepare for the upcoming season.

Paid subscribers can use the guide to enrich their homeschool and/or personal learning.

I hope this month finds you confident and hopeful and eager for new adventures. I hope your life is full of freshly sharpened pencils, clean notebooks, and expo markers with fine point tips. As you launch your school year, I hope you trust the Lord to make your paths strait and keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable. And come what may, I pray your family enjoys this season of new beginnings.

Until next time,

Cindy :)

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