I just love summer! I love the warmth and sun. I love the popsicles and trips to the pool. I love it all! What I don't love is thinking of ways to keep my kids happy and busy the whole time! Last year I made our Fun and Adventure JARS. Remember those?! They were a huge hit! It was great to have something to look forward to every day! We have the rule that you can't play with friends until 10 am, but my kids get up so blasted early that 10am seems so far away! This year I am adding some school work and chores to our summer morning routine. I found some awesome notebooks for the kids that look a lot like the papers that Noah and Zach were bringing home from school.
It has a place for them to write a few sentences and then draw a picture above. I got them at Target. I also picked up a few Math books for Noah and Zach. So here is a run down of our new schedule:
8:30am-Breakfast
9am-Write in journal or do 1 math page
9:15ish-20 minutes of reading
9:45ish-do chore
Chores with my kids has been hard for me to implement. I don't know why...I grew up doing chores, but coming up with age appropriate chores has been hard. So I plan on having Noah clean the kids bathroom and Zach clean the 1/2 bath down stairs. By clean I mean wipe down the counter and mirror and take out the garbage every day. On Saturdays, however, they will do the Saturday version of the chore by not only cleaning the counter and mirror and taking out the garbage, but cleaning the toilet and sweeping the floor too! "What about Bailey?" you might be thinking...In her journal I will have her come up with a sentence and I will write it for her and then she will draw a picture to go along with it. She starts preschool in the fall and so we will be working on her alphabet and writing her name. For reading time I will read to her instead and her chore will be to help keep the loft clean.
I am hoping that more structure to our mornings will help with the boredom that seems to always set in an hour after they wake up!!
4 months ago
9 comments:
i have good intentions for this summer also! i have put together an amazing chore chart that even my 2 year old can handle. each day they get a sticker and when the week is full of stickers, they earn a fun activity for the next week. i hope it works.... i have decided to limit the summer reading and writing to after pool time. they seem to be too anxious and wound up in the mornings, so i figure if i wait til after pool time, i can have some nice quiet time after "fun time", while they read. good luck this summer and be safe!!
Sounds awesome, I just have one question . . where is baby during this amazing morning. My baby always seems to put a kink in the plan, so I'm curious how you work it.
I love that journal you found. That is exactly what I am looking for. Every night Jenna makes up stories recaping her day. And that looks like the perfect thing to record them in. Then she could later illustrate the story.
Thanks!
And I am so impressed with your organization. Good for you!
Heather S.- Right now Max takes a nap from around 9am-10:30am. Who knows if that will change soon...i'm sure it will, but for now it is at the perfect time!
You are so organized! i love the schedule, i may have to copy you and adapt what i can to my kids ages so i don't go crazy looking for something to keep them busy, or i might just resort to T.V.
Will you move in with me please???
Impressive, can you set me up on a similar schedule???
What a good plan...I love summer too--I love how the nights are lighter for longer--good luck with the kids!
It has never occured to me to have a schedule during the summer.... no wonder it is always crazy and chaotic at our house! We may have to try something like this.
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