| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Dusky Beauty |
Posted - May 03 2012 : 7:08:41 PM
I have a lofty goal. School ends for us the last week of may and I have decided to take a proactive approach to switching up the whole summer dynamic of lazy kids, arguments, and the bored syndrome. (I'm sure you all know it.)
So here is my plan:
I am making a plan.
I am naturally a "let it hang loose and see what happens" kind of casual lady-- but this time around?
I am going to make schedules. Chore charts. Lesson plans.
I think our practice of pitching in with family chores is going great! (the Amish children thread.) So I'm going to end a lot of the arguing with outlining responsibilities and time lines. And shifting more personal responsibility in the process. MORE kids cleaning up kid messes. Refining those cleaning skills we've been building. (These girls will know how to keep a house by their teen years darn it, the cycle ends here!!)
Last year I initiated end of the year conferences with teachers for summer goals and materials and that went great. The girls started the year really sparkling with their reading and math skills. I'm going to do this again, and I think I'm going to do some kind of prize chart for summer reading. The treasure box system seems to work well at school, so I think we'll try that out too.
My kindergartner loves reading, but my oldest with poor eyesight gets bored easily... I think it'll take a reward system to keep her on task.
I'd also like to get my 3rd grader started on keyboarding-- it's a skill she will definitely need in this age.
I need ideas!! What are some things you want to do and teach this summer? Maybe some kind of crafty skill? I think weaving would work for both of them.
OOH! Maybe rag rugs on a simple loom?
God willing, we may be moving to a different house around the corner soon. (It's locked in paperwork purgatory right now.. waiting for us.)
Packing, moving and setting up new (seperate for the first time EVER) bedrooms should be great for about a month of busywork and learning!
OK! I'm not dreading summer vacation anymore!! :D
~*~ http://silverstarfamilyfarm.blogspot.com/ ~*~
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.”
~Erma Bombeck |
| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| FieldsofThyme |
Posted - Jul 11 2012 : 07:53:02 AM
I'm having trouble with my oldest and her ipod - ugh. Why did they have to invent those, and why did she spend her hard earned cash on such an expensive device? It allows her to text unlimited.....electronics and I are not getting along this summer. I'm about to shut off the Internet/cable and all the electricity and say the power went out.......for a week! Ack!
However, the oldest daughter is trying to teach herself French for fun. My second oldest daughter is teaching herself sign language. Luckily, I learned it back in my high school days, and have books here on that. The younger two are joining hubby and I at the gym for a good work out.
Other than that, we haven't done much more than keeping up with the milking, soap making, jelly/jam making, and garden. We are doing the Farmer's Market this summer too.
Farmgirl #800
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| Ca-Reds |
Posted - Jun 16 2012 : 03:11:20 AM
Jen, That is just what i am doing with the kids ( 8,6, and 4)this summer. I let them get up and lazy around till 10am, then T.v goes off and teeth have got to be brushed then hair combed. Then is "SCHOOL" time! :) we do Bible, math, spelling, and hand writing. Then it's time for lunch. On monday that is my day to do lunch, but tuesday and thursday i have maddie make lunch (kids choice) and help with dinner. Wednesday and Friday emma gets to do it. Then after lunch it's reading time. Emma reads outloud to us all, then i read out loud, then emma heads off to bed to read to herself. In the mean time i read to maddie and baby b. After we do reading it is cooking/ baking lesson and then CRAFT TIME! I made a whole list of this to do with the kids, ie sewing, painting (on different things such as boxes and rocks and then just plane ol paper), we have started scrap books and will be making "keep sake" boxes (out of shoe box) and just you name it we will try it! I am so excited about this summer!! Thursday is family game night, and friday when we are all done with everything we go do something. Usually swimming or hiking, depending on the weather... Oh oh oh also we have a family chore chart that gets changed every friday! :) And with the girls i have whoever cooked lunch also do dishes, why? That way they learn to cook without making a big mess. See my thinking on it is that they will dirty every dish in the house cooking just because sister will have to wash it. So this teaches them to use dishes that are needed only and to rinse a spoon off that you just used in the sauce pan to now move the pasta around with also! I used to dread summer break, now i just LOVE IT!!! I really love spending the time with my kids and we have such a blast together... I am hoping that soon i will get a bike trailer and we will be off for bike rides too! WOO HOO for summer!!!!
Best of luck to ya! Kristy
"Plan ahead, it wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark!" |
| Kelly Diane |
Posted - Jun 04 2012 : 10:58:07 AM
What a great idea! I think I'll try that with my girls (4 and 6 yrs.) A little more structured time during the summer might just be what we need to keep the "I'm bored" complaints, and the constant sibling rivalry at bay. Thanks for posting!
Smile always!
http://kschoff21.blogspot.com/ |
| MagnoliaWhisper |
Posted - May 10 2012 : 11:08:06 PM
You may want to check out CampGonnawannafly by Fly Lady too!
And yes I am doing the same Amy, the Primer. There is a few other "prairie" and home ec type books on Amazon I plan on buying and incorping in our family.
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
| MrsRooster |
Posted - May 09 2012 : 08:42:38 AM
I am starting Prairie Primer as soon as it comes. It is a study using the Little House series. That way we can do a project most days. Bri wants to make a cornhusk doll and a rag doll. So that should take us at least until Christmas.
Plus we leave open a park day and library afternoon.
www.mrsrooster.blogspot.com
www.flossesandcrosses.blogspot.com
www.morganicinstitute.blogspot.com
Farmgirl #1259
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| countrymommy85 |
Posted - May 09 2012 : 06:49:00 AM
Love the ideas! Creativity=cheap, educational fun! Love it!
Mothers are those wonderful people who can get up in the morning before the smell of coffee. ~Author Unknown
http://countryrenaissance.blogspot.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SunflowersAndHoney |
| Dusky Beauty |
Posted - May 06 2012 : 12:54:01 PM
THANKS Sheila! Thats something I've been looking for!
~*~ http://silverstarfamilyfarm.blogspot.com/ ~*~
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.”
~Erma Bombeck |
| SheilaC |
Posted - May 04 2012 : 8:42:44 PM
Jen, we used a typing program this year in our homeschooling which was called Typing Instructor for Kids (Typer Island) and my kids LOVE it!! All 3 of them beg to play it and have learned a tremendous amount of skill in typing! It's lots of fun for them and you can set it at different levels to alleviate frustration; and it wasn't super expensive--we bought it on ebay. Just a suggestion for your "keyboarding" segment :)
http://troutwife.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/brooktroutwife |
| musicmommy |
Posted - May 04 2012 : 07:05:49 AM
As a homeschooling and still working a bit mom, I have a fairly high structure to our days during the school year, but do relax a bit during the summer. DH always wants the boys to just have free time over the summer. He remembers his summer days fondly with nothing to do, but watch tv, play video games, sleeping in until noon, etc. However, after about two weeks of no schedules, he always ends up asking me why everyone seems to be on edge, why the boys are bickering so much and I seem so tense. It is because there was no structure to our days at all!
So now, we compromise. We have structure to our mornings. Getting up at the same time every day, breakfast on the table at 8:30 which is later than during the school year. Chores get done, a little bit of "school" type work is completed and by lunch, they are pretty much done and outside for the day.
We try to get one day of the week for field trips of various sorts. And this year, the kids in our neighborhood (which are all boys) will be working through a Vacation Bible School program which is called Mission Kids. It has a focus on compassion and mission mindedness. My neighbor and I are setting it up together. Going to be fun!
Last summer we did a little around the world study. Once a week, we would gather with the neighbor boys and play games, do some crafts, bake a treat, listen to music and learn about some other cultures. It was especially fun because two of the boys are adopted...one from India and one from Vietnam so we made sure to include those in our study.
Oh, and don't forget to play with the kids. I'm so bad at doing that part. I don't relax very easily so I have to schedule time when I just hang out with them.
One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.
Bob Marley
www.becomingwendy.wordpress.com |
| SpyChicken |
Posted - May 04 2012 : 06:45:17 AM
Kristina, "Mom's Camp" is such a great idea! I had been putting together some ideas for my son, but didn't quite know how to label it!
My son likes a little bit of structure, so I will need to also make a plan since many times it is just the two of us (with dd and dh working outside the home). He's 6 so I want to try and incorporate more "boy" stuff now that he is getting older. I think we're definitely going to work on chores, crafts, etc. and dh wants to take him fishing at our local lake once a week, so hopefully the little guy will have a fun summer. I'm still a fan of him figuring out how to entertain himself a good part of the time too!
Before we know it, the kids will be out of school! |
| FieldsofThyme |
Posted - May 04 2012 : 06:05:14 AM
One year I did a "Mom's Camp" for my kids.
We planned out meals, fun cooking with recipes, field trips, crafting, bible reading, outdoor fun, physical fun, etc. I planned it out with a 2 week fun schedule. It all tied together.
For example, over July 4th, we made our own decorations, cooked up a fun kid's recipe (measuring is math, learning to cook, etc) and more.
I think we did volunteer work too.
We tied it in with kids baseball games as a field trip too.
For several years, we did "Pioneer Day" where we did not use electricity, cooked outside, washed up in a bucket, had corn husking contests, etc. It was a blast!
Farmgirl #800
http://pioneerwomanatheart.blogspot.com/
http://scrapreusedandrecycledartprojects.blogspot.com/
From my hands: http://pioneerpatchworkhomespun.blogspot.com/
From my Camera: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pioneerwomanatheart/
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| City Chick |
Posted - May 04 2012 : 05:53:00 AM
I have 2 girls 14 & 11 who are motivated by $$. I've begun my chore chart writing down different jobs and the $$ it will pay. .25 for dusting the blinds - things like that. My girls do their own laundry, take care of the pets and help with big jobs.
I found a list online, that I can't find any longer. But it came from this book: http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Your-Children-Merrilee-Boyack/dp/159038878X It has listings of things your child should be able to do at every age. Example - An 11 yo should be able to: Clean refridgerator, clean cupboards, straighten drawers & closets, bake pies, bake bread, beginning meal planning, cook several meals, mow lawn, basic knit/crochet, use camera. Now some my dd can do with ease. But others and some from the other lists will be incorporated into our daily living/learning this summer.
I'll keep looking for the list online or else I could scan it and email it to you if you like.
Edited to say - I'm a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of girl. I'd rather be out in the woods or visiting a nature center during the summer. Many times I just chuck the work and go have fun. My girls need to pitch in more if they want to have fun.
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My new blog - http://citychickadventures.blogspot.com/ Come visit me!
Farm Girl #790
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