Skip to main content

Here's To Summer!

Let the games begin! Well, not quite. It's more like let the complaining, whining, hot tempers, and long days begin! On their first day at home, by ten in the morning I had already heard, "Can we get going and do something? We're way bored." I love how they pin it on me like I'm the 'Cruise Director' and in charge of their daytime happiness. This is when I start praying mightily and making sure to take my Confianza for beyond-my-capability-patience. On the flip side, Preston woke up happy, made his bed without being prodded and got dressed before ten. His attitude flipped when we started talking about the Summer time schedule and regulations. 

We're doing what we normally do in the summer, which is extreme structure. They are expected to practice their math facts three times a week (particularly multiplication and division) and to write in their journals or write a story two days a week (one day in print and one day in cursive). They will be reading two books a month and doing small book reports. There is the summer time chore chart and every time I hear the words, "I'm bored," they get to create a list of ten activities that they can do that doesn't include television or friends. There is no daytime television - the possibility of earning a movie in the evening which is dependent on good attitudes and a probable extra chore.

I'm going to do a trial run with Preston regarding homeschooling and tomorrow is our first field trip to an air force museum. We'll be learning about aircraft and the Wright Brothers, and how flight has influenced the outcome of wars. I plan on several trips the library, zoo and aviary, as well hikes and park time (although the park has to happen before the heat becomes unbearable for me) and picnics. I suppose I'll do a few trips to the pool but I admit that I'm just not a pool girl and the fact that my last few pool experiences disgusted me, I'm not going to go out of my way to get them there (and if you are curious - first pool-side experience was watching a kid barf in the pool from the side lines and my kids almost swam through it. Second time- we had to be cleared from the pool while the staff went fishing for floaters. Third time - my husband pointed out the swirling, foaming brown water pushed into the corner of the hot tub by the jets and the nasty film from the foam left behind on his swim trunks. Needless to say, public pools are creepy gross!).

I know, I know - I sound like the meanest mom ever. Little pool time, assignments in the summer. To that I say BAH! I know that my kids need the consistency and they both need that constant stimulation. My fourteen-year-old seems to forget information almost instantaneously (that is not a joke) and despite his grumpiness toward the summer regiment, he really does NEED it. I also read several articles last spring regarding keeping them working through the summer in that in that short, three month time frame they lose some crazy high percentage of information they lost during the school year. The brain is a muscle and it needs to be worked regularly to stay in shape! Here's to summer! Cheers!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ah The Joys Of Summer!

Life is nuts isn't it? And we all know that it never really calms down - the challenges simply change. School's out. Yay!! (No - that's not me talking, that's my kids). My two youngest are fighting like the world might end tomorrow and they need to let each other know how annoying and despicable the other one thinks they are. The toddler manhandles Preston's Lego car and Preston throws it in anger yelling that the toddler ruined it - and not just the Lego car - his LIFE! "This is the worst day of my life!" Sigh. I suggest a simple and relaxing game of Candy Land. They show up to the game table with their best of poker faces and they are not going to let anyone or anything steal away their chance at sweet victory. Accusations of cheating and board-manipulation fly, all the while the toddler simply moves his piece from one spot to the next which is simply just too much to take for the real players. The game is over and nobody is ever playing again. My mi

I Can Only Change ME

I CAN ONLY CHANGE ME Welcome my friend! I have taken some time-off (well, a lot of time off) but the break - and long awaited return - is over! And I figured there was no better way to jump back in to this than to re-state what the whole purpose of this blog is. (Are blogs on the out now? Do I need a .com address to be 'legit?' Well, whatever, this is where I'm startin'!) The crazy part is, over the years, this ONE key concept - I CAN ONLY CHANGE ME - is what I keep coming back to and what my ultimate fallback is. I may be a slow learner folks, but I'll probably never get it. Yes - that is not a typo - I probably will  never master this, but I sure can work at it every day! As I say that, I realize I need to offer my kids and my husband way more grace and forgiveness than I do because I am myself am a repeat offender in all things bad and luckily all things good as well. This right here is the foundation to this whole blog: You can't change anyone but your

Have a laugh!

I have a super simple short post to write today.  Now stick with me on this - you'll be confused for a minute... I can totally write this while I look at your cute freckled face. And your giggles make me happy! Are you impressed yet? You need a haircut. And your teeth to be cleaned - don't frowny face me young man! Your freckles will not make up for your nasty dirty teeth! And you have chocolate on your face. Stick your tongue back in your mouth and go wash it off your face! I just typed all that while looking at my son and he read it as I typed. He was of course extremely impressed with my mad skillz, but also got a good laugh out of it. Do you make your kids laugh? Every day? That's actually one of my biggest goals - to make everyone in my family laugh at least once! Not because I'm funny (although - here's to hoping!) but because laughter is good for the soul; on a physiological level - did you know that? When you smile and laugh, it releases the feel-goo