Every year, about this time, for as long as I can remember…I start preparing for Mama K’s Summer School.  The kids usually get a week off just to relax, then we start in.  In the car yesterday, Carlos asked me if we were going to be doing it again this year.  Yes!  Then he asked why.  That’s easy, for us, it’s about routine and not getting out of the practice of working the brain.  It’s easy to get out of practice.  It’s not about us teaching new things, just keeping up with the skills they already have.
Here’s what we do – each child has a folder with 2-3 workbook pages in it that they need to complete each day.  They also have a journal that they do a page in, it could be a daily “what’s happening” type thing or a story, whatever they want.  Last is the reading, we do 30 minutes.
As much as I love the routine of the school year, I LOVE summer.  I love the time with my kids, love reconnecting with them on a daily basis and just knowing them better as people, love the weather, the fun outings, all of it.  I know it’s getting close, I’ve done my part, the folders are ready and I’m counting down the days…yay summer!

Carlos left on a trip to Eastern Washington on Wednesday with his 5th grade class.  It’s an amazing trip where they tour the Wild Horse Wind Farm, a potato farm and the Grand Coulee Damn.
A friend sent me this picture of him w his buddies at the dam.  It absolutely made my day.  It’s not just a picture of my boy, who I miss terribly.  It’s so much more.  That smile, that genuine “I’m happy” smile.   I needed to see that.
I think back to Carlos’ first field trip to Seattle without his mama.  He was so scared and we tried to make it better by me drawing a heart on his hand so he could look down and know I loved him and was thinking about him, even

 while he wasn’t with me.  It seemed to help and we did it every field trip from there on.  Even this year, on the way to the ferry, he asked me to draw him a little heart.  This time, small so nobody would see it but he would know it was there.
So, this picture that came yesterday really let me know that my little boy is growing up.  He’s about to change schools and be in a bigger pond.  The Island School has been such an incredibly supportive place for him to grow up, he’s become such a confident young man.  He’s ready for this.