Now that it's summer children need structure. Like hardcore. If you don't things can get boring fast, maybe kids end up watching too much t.v. and the learning ends up stopping. But it is crucial you keep some type of schedule. Kids thrive on it. And it keeps them prepared for the school year and makes the transfer to fun summer much easier.
The best thing about summer is that is is fun! You can do outdoor activities, take "field trips" and just get to spend more time. Obviously it's hard for working parents to plan a full day, but that's fine, it just makes your free time that much more special, so don't worry about that!
Here is our schedule for each week.
I had the kids be involved by helping with picking the topics they wanted to do. That way they knew we were going to do fun things, not just me telling them what to do. I think it helps get them excited for all of our activities! Every day for a few weeks this summer Bridget and Jack have swim lessons then I pick them up. So they are always hungry afterward from their big work outs. They eat breakfast usually around 8 am. So their snack is around 10 am.
Since it's summer I like to get the kids out of the house and stay active instead of being glues to the television, they really do turn into zombies... kinda freaks me out! I'll try to talk to them, it's like I'm not there. So we are cutting the t.v. in half! So we will hang out outside and play baseball or shoot hoops. I prefer chalk drawing with Bridget! Sometimes we like to eat outside on beach towels! Make sure the kids drink plenty of water, especially if they are running around. Some days it's too hot to stay out long so we figure out something to do inside.
Monday
It is math day! Bridget loves math, and I swear these kids are geniuses! I realized I still count on my fingers, they just spit out like it was nothing! At the dollar store they so many teacher things, we bought these dry erase books for all different subjects including math. Also I use Pinterest for EVERYTHING. I highly suggest if you don't use it already you get on that. You won't regret it! I print out little lessons, and when we don't have ink I just hand write it on paper for them. We we'll be working on addition and subtraction skills. They know the basics so that's awesome. But I'm also watch a new kids Peyton but he knows almost nothing! So I have to cater to each child. A little hard since their are 3 kids and only 1 me, but I'm up for the challenge!
Also every Monday I have a planned craft. That helps with learning instructions and as I say "using our listening ears". With the younger kids that really helps. It can be frustrating not knowing how to do stuff. So can work on motor skills, holding pencils properly, using scissors, and it's fun to make something. Bridget loves it, crafts are her favorite! This week we did a Fourth Of July lanterns. Of curse I forgot red paint........ but I had red contrsution paper and cut out circles to glue on. They ended up not looking holiday themed but they love using paint! And since we love paint so much we made fire works too, but I wasn't planned for that so I didn't have black paper! Oh well, we still had fun. Afterward is free time and just play whatever we are feeling like, outside or inside, and sometimes Bridget and I play Barbies or make believe. The boys play sports outside, sometimes inside, haha!
That's Peyton on the left and Jack on the right. And Bridget's fireworks are below.
Tuesday
Science! What a cool topic every kid should learn. Some ideas to study can be weather, ecosystems/animals, the ocean and earth/space. This upcoming week my boyfriend, Sean is treating the kids and we are going to Dinosaur State Park (It's little CT museum with real fossils they found on that actual spot! How crazy is that, it also has an arboretum and little hiking trails that are easy for the little ones to walk. It's going to be an entertaining day, that's for sure! I plan on doing little craft and science experiments outdoors! I also will be finding an educational program on youtube. And we have tons of books. Sometimes we do music day and learn a group song or just Bridget and I do karaoke!
Here is just one website I found to help you. It's a good one, with games, experiments, quizzes, videos and an array of topics, some I didn't even think of!
Wednesday
Reading is so important. I can't stress that enough. It helps expand their vocabulary and they will read for the rest of their lives. Bridget can read know and jack is 4 so he's on his way, he is advanced and went to a private preschool that he got a scholarship too! I just went to a the town hall when I was a kid. They taught him so much there. Each week the kids can take turns picking a book for me to read. Then we will do private read, either they can read to us or read by themselves. She wants to read chapter books with me. I'm excited to read the books I did when I was her age. Miss Piggly Wiggly, Junie B. jones, and The Magic Tree House. Jack will read pre-K level books that he can help read and learn basic words.
Then we do free play and free crafts were they can use their imagination to create anything they want and pick whatever mediums they want to use. I'm going to try and show them more then just crayons and paint! Oil pastels and chalk pastels are great, loved when we finally started learning about different artist and recreating their masterpieces. Bridget learned about them this past year in first grade and says she wants to teach Jack. Too adorable!
Thursday
Movie day! Exciting for me as well. I love Disney and I'm looking forward to showing them the classics. They know all the new stuff like Frozen, Cars, Monster's Inc. All fantastic Pixar movies. I want to show them all my old VHS tapes, 2 years ago I played Snow White, the original OG princess and first full length picture by Walt Disney. My favorite. She was like why do we have to rewind? She couldn't believe how big it was, I was like omg, am I that old?! We are having a bucket of different themes and every week they will take turns getting to draw a paper. Such as Disney, Pixar, Classics such as Wizard Of Oz, Pippy Long Stockings, and Annie. Musicals will be a fun one. When they get the theme we will pick a few options of that and then the person who pulled it out will get the finally say.
Also it's group game day, we have puzzles which is good for thinking and motor skills. Board games like classic shoots and ladders. Or we will play a game like tag. So Thursday's are pretty chill days. Kids need a relax day too as do we adults! Check out goodwill and savers if you can't afford games, but the $1 store has puzzles and you can stock up on any supplies you can think of for crafts!
Friday
History... my favorite subject. My brother is the smartest guy I know, he can memorize dates and details of everything. I basically can only remember the key parts. So bad, but I love learning about it. We're going to start will American history. The basics though because they are only 4 and Bridge is about to be 7. War can wait... If I decided I want kids I'm going to be pretty open, well to an extent. But they are not my children so it's not my discussion about those kind of topics. I figure we can learn some key dates, American symbols, and presidents. Other little stuff like that. We will do little projects, once again Pinterest people! So much to choose from. There are good books at the library and if you don't have time to go there you can actually find many books or short videos on youtube. Bridget and I watched Liberty Kids, I was addicted to that show. You can find almost all the episodes on Youtube. We watched "The First 4th Of July" so she learned about the Declaration Of Independence and the people who helped make it. It was a little hard for her but she did retain some of the knowledge. Jack and Payton ended up leaving after the crafts but did learn about the American Flag before we started that. We also make sure to have outdoor play and free time along with arts and craft. They can decided what they want to do or I can plan something if they want me too, if it's raining I help out more with planning activities so we don't get bored. But they can watch t.v. I'm not a total monster, haha!
Liberty Kids < -- click for a youtube playlist. I suggest you keep it 7 & up. Too much for little ones to grasp or even be able to follow along. But you can find more simple stuff if you search a bit for them.
I hope this schedule can guide you to have a wonderful and active summer with your kids! And don't worry I will be showing you some of the stuff we do and even DIYs so you can try too. I can't wait to show the kiddos new things and share the stuff I enjoyed learning as a kid.
Thanks for reading, hope this helped!
- Christina
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