Summers

It's a nice sunny afternoon, and I'm enjoying a cup of hot coffee. It may be a little late in the day for ingesting caffeine, but I really need a mid-afternoon wake up! I slept well last night, but I've been yawning since lunch. It might have something to do with the heavy lunch we had.

There's about a week of this school year left, and we're at the point where you're not sure who's happier about that – the students or the teachers. I know older daughter has been counting down the days to her summer of freedom. She's not teaching summer school this year......she's been working so hard on developing the new Core Curriculum class material that she decided to give herself a break. We've been encouraging her and her hubby to take another vacation this year so we can stay with the kids again.

We didn't have summer school when I was a student. Come to think of it, my kids didn't either. I think at that time summer school was still for those who needed to improve grades before the next school year. Or maybe we were just in smaller school districts. I know locally they have an active summer school program for the elementary kids (and possibly middle school), and I know older daughter has taught summer school for several years. I know one year there was a new, innovative summer school curriculum being used. There was one unit of it that combined cooking and science for the students, and the curriculum included all the items needed for that subject. Several of us beefed up our supply of kitchen utensils after summer school was over. In fact, the last time we visited daughter, her counter was covered with funnels and basters she'd brought home from her classroom left from that summer.

For me, the big thing to look forward to in the summer was Vacation Bible School at the church. We held VBS in the heat of the summer, for one week in the afternoons. Every day we would line up outside the church and march in to our VBS theme song. We said the pledges for the American flag, Christian flag, and the Bible. Three people were chosen each day to lead the procession carrying those items. We would sing songs and have a general lesson, then we would go to our age-appropriate classes. We learned a lot, but we had the added stress of memorizing and remembering for the program at the end of the week. We always had crafts, and each age group usually did two crafts each. We would enjoy cookies and koolaid, and we had play time. There were always good games of Drop the Handkerchief or Red Rover. We would come together for a final song or two before being dismissed.

We always seemed to have a really large attendance for VBS. So many kids from the extended neighborhood would attend, regardless of where they normally went to church. It was always fun to see them. Some of those kids lived in another school district, so it wasn't unusual for VBS to be the only time I saw them.

Other fun summer activities I looked forward to was an annual church picnic at the Carrollton Park, where there was a swimming pool. Mom's homemaker's club also had a summer family picnic, either at the Carrollton Park or Simpson Park in Chillicothe. Both places had swimming pools, which were fun. And our family reunion was always the end-of-summer highlight. For many years when I was in elementary school, it was held on the third Sunday in August........and then after that long day of playing, I would have to be up and refreshed and ready to start school the next day. During those years, we switched back and forth between the Carrollton Park and the Richmond Park.

The end of the school year was always exciting. But for me, the novelty usually wore off soon. I missed the activity and the companionship of school. Some days it was just too quiet on the farm.