if you don't school during the summer but do need some structure

[caedmyn]

What do you do/how do you schedule your days?  I don't want to school year round but things fell apart quickly during our 2 week Christmas break, so I know we're going to need some structure this summer if I don't want my boys turning into crazy little wild men (well more than they already are anyway) within a week or two.

[PeachyDoodle]

Things completely go to pot around here without some kind of schedule, so I'm adamant about keeping one.

 

We don't officially school during the summer, but we do incorporate some school activities to help us keep our structure. We start slightly later in the mornings, but everyone is expected to be dressed, beds made, teeth brushed, etc. by 8:30 or 9. (We are all early risers; I would be less strict on this if I had kids who liked to sleep in, but I'd still expect chores done within an hour or so of wake-up time.) Then we do our household chores, picking up toys, cleaning the kitchen, laundry, etc.

 

We spend an hour or so on school activities, like reading aloud, practicing the catechism, practicing handwriting, or reviewing math and Latin. Prior to summer break, I try to plan how much of each of these I'd like to get through during the summer and plan what we do on each day accordingly. It is a VERY relaxed pace. We also take at least a couple of full weeks off completely for travel and have some kind of trip/activity that keeps us out of the house for most of the day at least once per week.

 

When I had littles, afternoons were reserved for nap time, and then a limited amount of screen time. This year we'll be going to the pool most afternoons -- my bribe for getting the morning's work done. :)

[Garga]

Figure out what sorts of things you'd like to have happen every day. Then create a little schedule of when those things happen. Some examples of things you could do with the kids to keep the day flowing:

 

Everybody up at a certain time. Everybody dressed at a certain time. Meals at a scheduled time. Pick when they can watch tv and when it's quiet time. Pick when it's computer game time. Have a family cleaning time. Have them help prepare meals.

 

This year, I'm going to pull out the board games we never have time for and have Board Game time every few days.

 

They key is not to allow them 10 hours with nothing to do except aggravate each other. :) Come up with enough stuff that every hour or so, you can switch gears to something new.

Edited May 25, 2017 by Garga

[Hobbes]

I'm on my phone so I can't see how old your kids are, so this may or may not be helpful...

 

We don't school in the summer, but our overall home routine doesn't change. Breakfast is a bit later. Then we do a trimmed down version of morning time - Bible reading, prayer, hymn, very brief memory review of work during the year (Bible and poetry). Maybe a math puzzle book. Then read-alouds. Free play and projects all morning.

 

Everyone still has chores and a bare bones piano worksheet to practice at some point in the day (usually after quiet time). Afternoon always includes a quiet time (olders) and naptime (youngers).

 

We have a couple of set activities too - one morning a week with a friends group, one afternoon evening with grandparents. Planning this year to have a library morning and a field trip morning.

 

The rest of the days are free play or out on adventures. It works well.

Edited May 25, 2017 by indigoellen@gmail.com

[rebcoola]

Choosing a fun activity type for each day like Mondays we bake, Tuesdays art, Wednesdays board games, Thursdays Summer movies, and Field trip Friday

 

We wake up about 7:30 or so have a quick snack and head to summer swim team.  Than we come home and do chores,bible time and eat breakfast.  10ish we either go to our pool to swim more or they go out to play.  Noonish they are hungry we have lunch and they will do some light school review.  Than we do our fun activity for the day.

[2_girls_mommy]

Choosing a fun activity type for each day like Mondays we bake, Tuesdays art, Wednesdays board games, Thursdays Summer movies, and Field trip Friday

 

We wake up about 7:30 or so have a quick snack and head to summer swim team.  Than we come home and do chores,bible time and eat breakfast.  10ish we either go to our pool to swim more or they go out to play.  Noonish they are hungry we have lunch and they will do some light school review.  Than we do our fun activity for the day.

Similar here. I do a cleaning routine in the mornings after breakfast. Kids help with that. We declutter different areas throughout the summer to get ready for the school year- school areas like pencil boxes, change the bookshelves to this year's books, put the preschool books back in the right places, etc. Then we do things like the dresser drawers, one at a time, the closets, the kitchen tupperware closet, etc. After breakfast, daily chores and getting ready, the decluttering is really only about 2o min a day. Then we go to our morning activity- pool, library storytime, museum, whatever. Then home for lunch and afternoon reading/resting/or school time. We do some school in the summers. But if not, this is when we would do just read alouds or silent reading for library storytimes, and any art or crafts or movie times for the day. 

Later afternoons/evenings when it gets slightly cooler is then a good time to spend hours outside with neighborhood kids and such. 

[rutheart]

This year, I'm going to try enforcing some rules about daily activities before they get any screentime. Basically, everyday they will need to: read something, learn something, create something, and move their body. I'm going to post a few suggestions for each category, but they can do whatever they want within those limits (i.e. create = build Legos, write a story, draw a picture, etc). We'll see how well I'm able to enforce this plan. If they end up trying to cheat, I may just institute a "no electronics before 4pm" rule.

Previous summers, the kids have gotten too much screen time at our house while I feverishly planned the schoolwork for the next year. They usually do just enough for the library's summer reading program to earn the prize, but otherwise the summer has been a free-for-all. I'm hoping my plan will make for a more moderate summer.

 

Ruth

[Ellie]

What do you do/how do you schedule your days?  I don't want to school year round but things fell apart quickly during our 2 week Christmas break, so I know we're going to need some structure this summer if I don't want my boys turning into crazy little wild men (well more than they already are anyway) within a week or two.

 

We continued going to the library on Wednesdays and on a field trip on Thursdays, as well as house cleaning and laundry on Fridays. We also continued getting up pretty much at the same time and having breakfast together. IOW, we still had a routine.

[kristin0713]

My kids do review, reading, and whatever other independent work I come up with for the summer. It woks out perfectly because I get a break from teaching them new material and they are still keeping busy. They also seem to appreciate their free time so much more when they don't have hours on end to do whatever they want. I also give them more chores in the summer. Their schoolwork and chores must be done before we go swimming at my mom's which happens frequently in the afternoons.

[...................]

Vacation Bible School-sign up for more than one. Volunteer if they need you. Very low fee or free

Library Programs- mostly free

County Park Programs (ours has special hikes, nights under the stars, free paddle boarding lessons) mostly free

 

Season swim pass (our local pool is 300 for the whole family the whole summer)- still less expensive than one summer camp for one kid.

[...................]

Ps I agree about getting up, showers fed and and dressed at the same time you expect them to do so in the fall. It's nearly impossible to get them

Back into the morning habits unless you do it all summer.

[Coco_Clark]

It's important to my kids to keep our morning structure. So you have to be fed, dressed, and ready for Morning Meeting at 9am. We do a simple morning time: just prayers, hymn, bible, memory review, and a reading. Then we talk about our day. It takes 30 minutes but it collects everyone together and makes sure no ones still in pjs at noon.

 

They each have daily requirements of chores, math review, journal assignment, and reading time. Sometimes I'll toss out a bonus item onto the checklist like build an obstacle course, or make a giant domino line, or draw a comic strip. And we also have a weekly rhythm of activities- Monday pool day, Tuesday hiking, Wednesday library, Thursday lake, Friday park. I'll often allow movie time in that deathly 3-5pm period on the hottest days, as we don't have act but we do have a basement tv. Otherwise 3-5 is our quieter time for reading, board games, art, etc.

[fourisenough]

We have historically done a "power hour" of schoolwork after morning swim practice and before the free-for-all begins. No screens until after 3p. 1hour max. screen time per day.

 

Note: we don't follow this pattern on weeks where a child has a half- or full-day of camp. On those weeks, we don't do any school work. But I typically only schedule 3-4 camps per summer (generally 1 full and a few half-day camps). Also, no school on any vacation. Ever!