Thursday, April 4, 2013

Planning for the Summer

I have been trying to start getting my thoughts in order for the summer this year.  Last year was a bad summer for the kids.  I was pregnant and miserable.  It was hot outside and so we did a whole LOT of nothing.  So this year, I want to work on a few things to help the kids not be so bored.  I am starting a little early, but this way, hopefully, by the summer I will have it all ready to go!  4 kids at home all day for the entire summer could get overwhelming for everyone!  So here are a few things I am doing right now:

Chore Charts

I created these chore charts to start using now.  Hopefully by the time summer rolls around, we will be well into a good habit of doing chores and keeping the house clean that a messy house won't be an obstacle to having fun. They are basic chores and some are things they should be doing anyway (ie brushing hair and teeth) but sometimes things get away from us in the summer and we might forget... Each child has their own chore chart.  It is inside a Reusable Dry Erase Pocket.  Then they have a dry erase marker that they will mark their chores done.  If you want an editable copy of my Chore Charts, I can send you the Publisher file... Just let me know if you want it.

And Mine will be JUST AS CUTE as this one... HAHA!

I'm Bored Jar

I have seen this idea A LOT on Pinterest.  So tonight I sat down and started typing up a whole lot of ideas of what I can put inside my I'm Bored jar.  For those who don't know what it is, it is basically a jar or bucket or whatever container you have laying around, that you fill with random things to do.  Some are fun, some are chores, some are just time fillers.  But if you say I'm bored, you pull an item out of the Jar and you have to do that item. Sometimes its going to get ice cream, or going to the sprayground. Sometimes its doing a chore of Mom's choosing.  I'm pretty excited about this because I hear I'm bored a lot in my house.  Hopefully we can cut down on that. Here is the list that I compiled...It was from a bunch of different websites, all of which I forgot to save.  But if you do a search on Pinterest you will find a WHOLE bunch and that is where I found all of mine.  It could be fun and interesting and maybe I will find myself pulling ideas form the jar!  That would get a laugh from the kids huh!  I created a Google Drive File that has everything in it, that way if you want to create your own tags, you don't have to retype everything...

Schedule

Two years ago, I came up with a schedule for the entire summer.  MWF we had something to do to keep us busy at some point in the day. Going to the zoo, spraygrounds, Pelican bay, just random activities that I tried to space throughout the summer. We also did library days.  I am going to work on getting another schedule together that I can use as a guide to keeping us entertained. My schedule is a very big work in progress...but it is a start.  At least I can see when all the birthdays are. 

This is a start and I have a ways to go before I can say I am ready for summer to begin.  There is a reason that I am not a homeschooler and a big part of that is my sanity.  So I am hoping that these steps I am starting now, will help save my sanity and my kids' sanity.

Do you have any great tips for filling your time in the summer? I'd love all the ideas I can get, so please share them in the comments! :)


2 comments:

Michelle said...

This looks great! I need to do something for my little ones too, they do better with some sort of schedule. Is Collin reading or will you just tell him what his chores are each day? I'm tying to figure out a good chore chart for my 3.5 year old that he can manage all by himself. Also, where did you get the little packets they're in?

Pokeyann said...

I just set up a standing park play date with some friends. Basically we picked a day and time, then whoever can come, comes. With standing info like, day, time, if it's raining then it's cancelled, email/text which park we are going to. This is actually with our large homeschool group - the more the merrier!
On a daily basis we have a standard schedule. I made a cute subway art plaque to display it.
Eat Breakfast
Brush Teeth
Get Dressed
Family Prayers
Make Beds
Chores
Snack
School
Lunch
Screen time
Free play.
I wrote different chores on ping pong balls, each day they pick 4 balls from the bowl and do the chore on them, then put the ball in their own jar when completed.
They get 30 minutes a day of screen time (xbox, ipad, computer, movie). Some days (like today) everyone was done and ready for screen time by 10! So as a reward they get to watch the whole movie Alice picked for her screen time- not get stopped at the 30 minute mark.
Other than that I just compile a bucket list and then we try to do those things. We are members of our local Botanical Gardens, which is huge and has tons of water features - biggest bang for our buck, we spend the day and pack a lunch. Then there's the zoos, aquariums, library, parks, bike/hike trails, flying kites, Temple trips, camping, backyard fires, etc.
Now if I could just get the shopping with all 4 kids part down.