Summer Fun

Today, I'm taking a break from my usual "style" related posts and talking about our summer routine.  Even though we homeschool, and my kids are always home, I was still a bit anxious about having no routine or structure during our summer months.  While our daily schedule varies from day to day during the school year depending on the needs of the little ones, we still have expectations and deadlines that need to be met and a purpose to be fulfilled.  Last summer, was a bit chaotic with kids bickering about what they wanted to do that day, kids begging to do a craft but not having any of the correct materials, kids asking for electronics and so on.  So this summer after seeing Monica's post here, I was determined to create a similar schedule with a weekly focus.  I love how she chose a theme for each week and then planned a coordinating activity and field trip.  I stole a lot of her ideas for themes, and also based a theme or two off of what we were already doing that week.  I then went to https://www.education.com/ and printed off all sorts of worksheets related to the themes for my younger and older kids alike.  I placed all the worksheets in a folder for each of the kids and they were super excited.  We plan to go to the library on Mondays and pick out books that reinforce the topic, then do a craft on Tuesday, then go on a Field Trip to further explore the subject.  Here are some of my ideas: 

Week 1 Starfish, Dissect Starfish at Museum 

Week 2 Manners, Go out to "fancy" dinner 

Week 3 Sewing, Take a sewing class 

Week 4 USA Mock Interviews with US Presidents/Heroes 

Week 5 Government, Springfield, IL 

Week 6 Money/Budgeting, Bake Sale/Lemonade Stand/Bank 

Week 7 Art, Local Felting Class 

Week 8 Dinosaurs, Field Museum

Week 9 Egyptians, Field Museum 

Week 10 Rocks, Quarry Beach 

Week 11 Beach

 I included some pictures of our calendar and the workbooks for the kids below.  

By the time I finally completed this post, we had already finished our "Starfish" week and it was a lot of fun!  We created our own tide pools for the craft and the girls really enjoyed it.  (Now I am just trying to figure out what to do with all of them!)  We also had plenty of time throughout the week for free play and going to the pool.  Some of the kids were interested in the worksheets and some were not and that was totally fine.  I also have a couple of chores the older three kids are required to do before breakfast which has also been very helpful.  They do receive $1.00 if they do their chores without being prompted.  My 9 year old has to bring up any folded laundry, fold any clothes I did not get to the night before and begin making breakfast.  My 7  year old has to unload the dishwasher or load any dishes I did not get to the night before and take out any garbage or compost.  My 5 year old has to wipe down the bathroom counters and sinks (mainly just for the toothpaste that they manage to get ALL over!)  I am not an expert at enforcing this yet, but we are getting into a really good rhythm thanks to a good friend's advice!  Would love to hear your ideas on making your household's run smoothly! 

Thanks so much for reading! !