Crossing the Finish Line!?!

This is the time of year we are all sharing a common experience. School is out! We finished - and we feel good! And we should feel good. You have guided your child through the shark infested waters of state work samples, scantron tests, unit assessments and spelling tests! You did well - and should celebrate your achievements - and oh yeah, your child's achievements.

I hope that you have plans for park lunches and play dates, for swimming lessons and summer movie trips. You have all earned a break. There are lots of local summer lunch programs throughout the tri county area. Many of these lunch programs incorporate crafts, games and activities for your kids. It is a great time for your family - and lunch is totally free for kids from 1 - 18. Theses programs are generally supported by the Federal School Lunch program so please remember that the food is generally reserved for children. Many of the programs need volunteers - and we would encourage you to get involved with your community and volunteer. This is a great way for you and for your children to build relationships. There is also a link on the website for a summer movie festival at Regal Cinemas that feature totally free, family friendly movies all summer long! Make plans and have fun this summer. You have all earned it!

There is, however, an interesting phenomenon at play here. Once you cross a finish line - you need to get ready to start the race all over again. And the starting line may seem to come faster than you can even imagine it! I read a Facebook post today - a friend was sending her oldest son off to his last day of Kindergarten and most of the responses were, of course, "It seems like he just started yesterday..." Time does, indeed, often seem to fly!

Why not slow time down a bit by doing the good "coach" thing and encourage your team to stay in shape. There are a lot of fun ways to keep hard earned skills honed and stretched over the summer. I have a soon to be fourth grader who is practicing her multiplication tables this summer with a totally cool, totally awesome, totally free downloaded game. She loves the graphics, the game and the fact that she is doing math without "doing math". Check out Timez Attack at http://www.bigbrainz.com/. The kids also like to challenge each other to one minute math drills - and you can print out free worksheets at http://www.themathworksheetsite.com/. For those who need to keep handwriting - and composition skills - up, a simple lined notebook and a fun pen may be just what the doctor ordered. My kids have a book that I write ten words a day in - and they copy the words five times each. They also have a notebook that is just for them to write whatever they want in. A couple of summers ago they enjoyed writing the "grocery list" as I was figuring out what we needed to buy at the store. Last summer they seemed to like to write names and phone numbers. This summer I hope we may see some poetry or even a real story! Wow! Anyway, it is great fun for them and an easy way to maintain some skills you don't want them to loose touch with over the summer.

Please take some time to enjoy all your accomplishments over the last year. You have earned the privilege. You may also want to keep your team on track and remember that our starting line is right around the corner. We are working on some ways to help us all do our job a little easier next year - please feel free to share any ideas, concerns or questions you may have. We look forward to hearing from you - and maybe seeing you at the Park this summer! Enjoy.