One of my favorite summer songs, “Summertime,” was composed by Gershwin in 1934 for the opera Porgy and Bess but it wasn’t until the first lady of song, Ella Fitzgerald, recorded the lullaby in Berlin in 1968 that the song came to be identified with the relaxingly smooth vibe that marks the three months between May and September.

Apart from the occasional summer camp and sports practice, the schedule that my children keep in the summertime is markedly different that our regimented routine of early bedtimes and even earlier morning reveille that is the norm in the school year. Though they love the “high cotton” of lazing about in their beds with a reading book or going to the beach as often as possible, I find that it is more difficult to maintain our habits of morning devotions and evening family suppers in the summertime.

But summer is a season and like all seasons, it will pass. It will eventually give way to the cooler temperatures (Thank the Lord!) and to uniforms, music lessons, recitations, and, yes, even homework.

To help you prepare for this inescapable transition, we’re publishing a short series the next two weeks intended to help you and your student prepare well for the coming school year. First, Mr. Gilley will share “Five Exercises to Prepare Your Grammar School Student for Returning to School” and then Dr. Hadley will share a similar piece for upper school students titled “The Sound of Summer Ending.”

I hope you enjoy these practical articles from two experienced writers who know a great deal about what it takes for students to not just survive the back-to-school season…but to thrive in it.

“One of these mornings

You’re gonna rise up singing

Yes you’ll spread your wings

And you’ll take to the sky”