Preparing for Summer

The summer holiday is right around the corner.  Friday is the last day of school.  This year I’m meeting it with excitement and not just a little trepidation.  Summer means camping trips, picnics, and swimming at the pool.

But it also means kids who no longer have a schedule built in.  If I don’t get a working summer schedule put together, my kids will be bored, messy and driving me crazy.

I know for sure they are not going to watch TV all summer.  I also don’t want my kids brains to totally turn to mush.  A while back, I read the book Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.  It was an interesting book about success and one thing that interested me was the impact of summer activities on kids who are successful in school.  A bit of summer learning can go a long way.

So with all that in mind, here’s what I’m thinking we need this summer:

• Job charts- We already use them, but they need different job charts for summer, with more responsibilities.
• Summer “school”-  Even though I don’t want to do a full scale summer school, I want the kids to do a bit of math, writing and at least 20 minutes of reading every weekday.  I also think it’s fun to do a few science experiments here and there.
• A daily schedule- I don’t do well with a rigid schedule, I can never stick to it.  But the kids need to know what’s expected of them- they need to finish jobs and school work before they can run off to play with friends.
• A weekly schedule- This will include things like going to the library every Monday, doing a weekly activity like going to the Zoo or hiking to Timpanogos Cave, and a swimming day.

With a little planning, and a bit of luck, I hope this summer vacation will be good for all of us.