School in July!? Now, I am not what you would call a hard core home scholar. I do not have chore charts hanging on the wall, my kids don’t wear uniforms, and I don’t blow a whistle while my children sit in clean little school desks during a tightly scheduled day. So, when I hear other home scholars say, “we are doing school right through the summer!” I barf a little in my mouth. I’m usually the last mom sitting out on a rock in the park waiting for the leaves to actually turn color and frost to coat my hair before I will succumb to taking my kids inside and cracking a school book. But last winter, my kids petitioned me to consider letting them do some school during the unbearably hot days of summer so they could enjoy more vacation time in the cooler months. This, I am thinking is not such a bad idea after all

in light of the fact that this July has been the hottest July in the history of the universe. This took a little planning on my part, as I had to make sure I didn’t put off ordering our curriculum and got the school room organized for another year two whole months ahead of time. Heck, while I’m ahead, I decided to make my Christmas card list while I was at it. Those might actually make it to the mail box this year! While the grass roasts to a crispy yellow in the back yard all by itself, we have been in the nice air conditioned school room, happily doing arithmetic and spelling, waiting for things to cool off, and when they do, we’ll cancel school so that we can run outside and enjoy the nice weather. Funny, I have always been resistant to a year round school year, but my kids showed me a better way, just like they usually do.

Happy Fourth of July

" "Well, so here we are today," the man went on. "Every man Jack of us a free and independent citizen of God's country, the only country on earth where a man is free and independent. Today's the Fourth of July, when this whole thing was started, and it ought to have a bigger, better clelbration than this. We can't do much this year. Most of us are out here trying to pull ourselves up by our own boot straps. By next year, likely some of us will be better off, and able to chip in for a real big rousing celebration of Independence Day. Meantime, here we are. It's Fourth of July, and on this day somebody's got to read the Declaration of Independence. It looks like I'm elected, so hold your hats, boys; I'm going to read it." Laura and Carrie knew the Declaration by heart, of course, but it gave them a solemn, glorious feeling to hear the words. They took hold of hands and stood listening in the solemnly listening crowd. The Stars and Stripes were fluttering bright against the thin, clear blue overhead, and their minds were saying the words before their ears heard them. "When in the course of human events it becomes neccessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impell them to the seperation. "We hold these truths to be self'evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that amond these are Life, Liberty and the persuit of Happiness... "We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, "That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, Free and Independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full right to levy War... "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor." No one cheered. It was more like a moment to say, "Amen." But no one quite knew what to do. Then Pa began to sing. All at once everyone was singing, My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing..." Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little Town on the Prarie from the chapter Fourth of July.