Welcome Summer!
We have been into summer only a couple of weeks and it already feels a bit crazy. We have added six baby chicks to our family in the past month and it has been exciting to watch them grow. We have taken a trip to Blackfoot to see our son and our daughter came here for a visit. Our Pathway mission is keeping us busy and we love it. Our son Cory and his little family are living with us for a time and that has been such a blessing. Life is great!
My son Tyler, whom we visited in Blackfoot has five wonderful little children. It was interesting to see how they are already "bored" with the summer vacation. They are wondering what to do. I am sure that some of you are experiencing the same situation. I wanted to share a few thoughts about summer and how to make it fun for the children as well as mom!
Just a couple of weeks ago the children were in school and all their time was scheduled for them. They went to school and were told what to do. They find security in knowing what is expected each day. Now with order is gone, they are a bit lost. To help your summer run better I would suggest you sit down in a family home evening and make a schedule. This should include a schedule for daily routine as well as when a summer vacation may be or when some in-city fun activities can be planned. Children will be happier if they still go to bed at a reasonable time, get up early and get into the plan for the day.
When my children were young I tried to keep the morning pretty structured and the afternoon became their free time. We would plan a once a week outing that may be to the park, the library, the discovery center, a hike or bike ride on the green belt. I also tried to have time to teach them things that may turn into hobbies for them. Computer time, TV time, any type of electronic time needs to be limited and is an earned privilege for good behavior and attitude, not a "right" that comes just because it is summer.
It seems that during the school year, our lives are so busy that we often do not have time for real family bonding. Summer can be a great time for family projects. Not all free time should be spent with friends.
An idea of a summer schedule could be:
7:30 Get up
8:00 Come to scriptures dressed
Scriptures and family prayer
Breakfast
Exercise time (just in home aerobic fun)
Jobs
Lunch
Quiet time--reading
Activity time
Free time
Dinner
After dinner activities
Family prayer
Bed
The schedule is to guide your day, it is not to rule your day. Once a week I would schedule a "field trip" experience in the afternoon. Look at your goals for the summer. Think about what you want to teach your children this summer. This is such precious time to teach them things you do not have time to teach during the school year.
Next week I will post ideas of what to have them do during job time. This needs to be more than a 15 minute pick up of a bedroom. This needs to be a time to teach them to do hard things.
I loved the summer time with my children. I loved having them with me so I could influence them for good. I loved having them around me so I could help them know I loved them. These are such precious moments. Hope you have fun planning!
Post in the comments what your summer schedule looks like for your family. Also.....What is your biggest struggle during the summer?
Sister Tanner
6 comments:
Oh how I miss your sweet face!! Your blog is now my homepage so I think of you everyday! What an amazing lady you are!! I was just telling someone today that I have you to thank for saving my life! (and the lives of my children!!)
Since I homeschool, your summer schedule looks a lot like my everyday all year long schedule! The only difference is that we like to add a lot more water activities in the summer! So my biggest struggle is wanting MYSELF to stay on a schedule! But I know they need it!! So thanks for the reminder!
love, geri
Thanks for this post! We have a summer schedule that looks just like yours on our fridge...our challenge is that I have a "red", first-born child that doesn't want to conform to anything that she didn't create (her schedule would read: "I call the shots ALL day" ha ha) so its been tricky getting my powerful personality on board.
Thank you for the reminder that Summer IS my favorite time of the year because I can finally be with all the little people I love most.
Summer schedules like the one Sister Tanner told us about work really well for our family. The other think I do every summer is some sort of "new" job chart. This summer I bought a dry erase board and wrote their names at the top with "Jobs done..." and "To Do..." listed below. Then I printed out on cardstock a list of jobs with a point value. I think covered them with contact paper and put a small magnet on them. All the jobs that are available for the day live on the fridge. When they have completed a job it goes under their job points section. Once all their every day things are complete including their job points they receive 3 tickets. Each ticket is worth 20 minutes of computer time. They don't always get to use their time, but if they have tickets and there is free time in the afternoon they can play in 20 minute increments.
Basically the point value is that the harder the job or the longer it takes the more job points it's worth. Each of my kids has a list of everyday things to do. One of the everyday things to do is their job points. They have to do as many job points each day as they are old. Meaning that my 13 year old twin boys do 13 job points each day while my 8 year old daughter does 8 job points. They can do more and if they do. Usually for every 5 extra job points they do they get an additional ticket.
I have a red 13 year old boy and a red 8 year old girl, a white/yellow 13 year old boy and a 5 month old. We have a lot of fireworks at our house too. This summer while they were selecting their "everyday" jobs I told them to sit down at the computer and type what they needed to do every day. It still had to meet my approval, but I wanted to see what they thought their "everyday" jobs were. I was actually quite impressed. They put things on there that I wouldn't have even considered. My 13 year old twins put on their everyday jobs "Read 1 chapter in the Book of Mormon" and "Index 10 names" through Family Search. They have been doing those things everyday. However, if I had made the list and included those things on there we would have been at war every day, but allowing them to "choose" it then they don't have a problem with it.
My biggest struggle during the summer is finding "me" time. When my kids were at school I could have me time while the baby was sleeping. Now I find myself staying up WAY too late at night because that is the only time it is quiet at my house and I can have a few minutes to myself. We do have "quiet time" most everyday for at least an hour. The older kids get to read in their rooms or do puzzles or something alone for that hour. Quiet time usually starts when the baby goes down for a nap in the afternoon so usually I get to have at least an hour to myself, but I'm so exhausted keeping up with everything that all I do is sleep so I still don't feel like I get any "me" time. Any suggestions? How do you get "me" time built into your day without staying up too late and being too tired in the morning?
I have a question: how much friend time is too much (I have a red Teen son who thinks he should be with friends all day, everyday) & what do you do if your teens choose friends you don't like & don't feel good about?
Any word on if Sister Tanner will be teaching classes beginning in September? If so, when and where?
I am getting that information and will post it soon. My guess is the class will start Thursday September 13th. It will be on this blog and emailed out as soon as I know anything. Thanks! Andrea
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