Oh the Summer We Will Have

I like to keep a schedule during the summer.  The kids are used to schedules during the school year, and I think it's good for them to stay on a schedule so that they keep productive.  So this is our schedule - In the morning they have to get ready, practice their piano lessons, do their chores and Steve has them doing Khan Academy each day.  Khan Academy is an amazing math program that is free and online.  The kids love it because they earn money from Steve for each module they complete.  Check out the site  HERE. 

After the morning routine, we can have fun in the afternoon.  I made long lists under five different categories, Oh the Food we will Eat, Oh the Service that can be Done, Oh the Places we will Go, Oh the Crafts we will Make, and Oh the Activities we will Do.

On Sunday we go over our lists together and decide which idea we will do for each day.  It's just one category per day, but some days we can combine a couple.  This last week as we were planning it was interesting to hear the kids.  "Let's do a food category on Thursday since it's a Screen Day" and "Let's go somewhere on a day that's not a Screen Day."  They are thinking, those kids of mine.  (Screen Days are days that they can watch TV and play on the computer.  They are on Tues, Thurs, and Sat.  Time on those are still limited though)

I like the advanced planning so that I can get everything ready for whatever we need to do.  Some are easy and we can combine a few ideas.  I didn't designate specific days of the week as specific days for each of our categories like past years.  We decide on Sunday what day will be what, this way we can plan with friends' schedules, the weather, etc.

I just know if I don't have my lists and get the activities on the calendar, they just don't happen and get forgotten about.  I'm excited to add service to our list this summer.  The  list contains ideas like taking balloons to the hospital and giving them to someone that the nurses say needs them - to passing out popsicles at the park. 

We have just compiled A LOT of things that we want to do before the summer is gone, AND I'm excited to say that we are already checking quite a few off the list.

Just send a dollar through PayPal with your email and I will email you the lists in a Word Document.