It is rare and most people never have one.  It requires sacrifice and dedication.  Also a summer + Shakespeare + a  Lincoln (a boy named Lincoln with properties similar to that ubiquitous 1970’s childhood toy, the Slinky).

We do summer homeschool.  It is a lighter version of our normal homeschool year, including math and a modge-podge of fun studies that I couldn’t get to during the year.

This summer, the kids and I are delving into Shakespeare and Chemistry.  Our Shakespearean studies inspire Lincoln’s slinky action.  I’m rather impressed that he is taking notes in this position.

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Surprisingly, Prairie has been the most excited about our Shakespeare studies.  She has waited all year for this and has been diligent in her note-taking and memorization.

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I am mostly reading aloud from How To Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ken Ludwig.  In addition to memorizing key passages that Ludwig recommends, the kids keep a Shakespeare notebook.  In their notebooks, they write down the memory passage, definitions of confusing words and other notes helpful for understanding characters and plot.

I also bought Lois Burdett’s Shakespeare Can Be Fun! for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, our first Shakespearean play and No Fear Shakespeare.  The plan was for us to memorize key lines from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, discuss characters and plot to give the kids background before diving into reading the play.  However, at least one child has jumped ahead and been reading on her own.