Summer Is Upon Us... Time To Make A Plan

As much as I am looking forward to slow mornings, second cups of coffee, not having to plead my child to be completely ready to walk out the door by 7:30 a.m....summer does come with it's fair share of challenges too.

The kids no longer have school, so it's tempting to just "let them relax and enjoy themselves". After all, they worked really hard all year long at school. However, numerous studies have shown that if kids don't do some sort of work during the summer, they loose a significant amount of what they learned the previous year.

Also, since there are many weeks when there's nothing on the calendar, it's also tempting to just let them watch TV and play on the computer while you get some stuff done on your own. Again, as tempting as this may be, it's not good for their little brains to get more than about 30 minutes of screen time at once.

So to help solve a few of these summertime "issues" I've done some research, created some documents, uploaded some free printables from other talented bloggers and tried to make it as convenient as possible to make summer break fun, and yet manageable at the same time. Some of the links I am posting here will lead you to my Dropbox folder. All of the files listed in there are down-loadable right to your own computer.

For starters, I have created a "Summer Electronics Rules" sheet. This applies mostly to folks with kids ages 6 and up. Once they get into that "Screen habit" it's hard to limit electronics during the summer. However, I have found over the past couple years that if I set the standards at the beginning of the summer and really stick to my guns, then there is very little arguing.


Our "Rules" are simple, yet effective. If he wants electronic time, he has to earn it. A few basic chores and 20 minutes of reading, gets you 30 minutes of video games, and so on. Click here to download the entire document and feel free to edit it to fit your own family.

One area that I really want Payton to work on this summer is his creative writing. He is one of the most creative kids I know, yet struggles to add detail and length to his writing assignments. To help him advance in this area this summer, I've put together a list of "Reading Prompts" that he can choose from when he is practicing his writing.
For example, "What is something you love about yourself and why?" or "You just won $1 million, what would you do with it?" You get the idea. They are all fun prompts that encourage creativity. Again, you can download the list of prompts here.

Of course I wouldn't be doing you any favors if I didn't also offer you a great calendar for your summer planning. 

The one pictured above, available here, was created by TomKat Studios, an amazing blog/website of a famous party planner/styler extraordinaire. Just click forward in the document to the months of June-August, print them out and write down weeks when you have camps, VBS, family vacations, etc. Then you'll have an overview to look at and see where you can fit in little daily excursions and other fun plans you want to do this summer.

Another creative idea I recently saw is making a weekly calendar for the kids where each day has a catchy title like, "Make something Monday" and "Time to Read Tuesday." Each day has a fun activity associated with it that the kids can look forward to and help you facilitate.
 
You can download the free calendar and read more about this plan here on the beautiful blog titled, "Somewhat Simple."

Okay, that should get you well on your way to planning some great things for the summer to keep your kiddos busy and help you keep your sanity.

Next up is some amazing FREE party printables for end-of-school parties, as well as some of my favorite Pinterest ideas for keeping the kids busy this summer. Don't worry... they're easy and totally do-able!

Happy Summer Everyone!