what our summer daily schedule looks like

It's summer. That means school is out, but we still have therapy and doctor's appointments and all the rigmarole that comes with managing everyone's health.

Keeping routines is vital for our emotional health.

Especially mine.

Last year, I shared our plan for summer sanity. This year's is similar, but the boys are big enough to be included and the little girls are in on it to a degree (because they're little sisters who want to do what their older siblings do). 

Here's the list for the girls. (Note: I realize I switch between first and third person, alternating "myself" in the first with "your" in the next item on the list... and while it bothers me some, perfect is too high a bar to set for every task.)

The boys' list is more simplified, and I felt safe dropping play outside and do something creative because they'll choose those over the TV anyway. (Plus, as I'll describe below, their writing includes a drawing, so something creative is already built in.) I added hand-drawn illustrations next to each item after I printed and before I laminated them.

Each child has his or her own laminated list so they can check off what they've done as they go, with dry erase markers so they can start with a clean slate the next day.

The little girls don't have a list, but they each have a folder and a journal, like everyone else. I'll hang this elsewhere eventually, but here's all the basic set-up in an organizer I found on Zulily and hung on the mantle hooks we use for Christmas stockings.

For journals, I bought the primary composition books at OfficeMax (also available online). These have space for drawing above where the lines are for writing. They're recommended for grades K-3, but the big girls who are rising 3rd graders wanted more grown up looking notebooks, so I let them chose their own.

For folders, we took the kids to WalMart last night to let them pick their own so they could feel more ownership. (It was after bedtime, so we chose that store instead of Target, because our standards of behavior were more fitting for WalMart, if you know what I mean.) 

Last night was my first night of sitting down with the folders and putting in worksheets for each child. The little girls get coloring pages. The boys get one page each from a Handwriting Without Tears workbook, a Transitional Math K-1 workbook, and a 180 Days of Reading - K workbook. For the big girls, I pull from different levels to meet them where they're at, with one getting reading from 180 Days of Reading - 2nd and one from the same kind of workbook for 3rd. I liked those books because they have a passage and multiple choice questions (as well as some days with written responses), and that's similar to what they'll see on 3rd grade EOG tests next year. Both girls get Rocket Math worksheets (addition here and subtraction here) with the top half for practice and the bottom half for a timed one-minute speed drill. They did these same worksheets in their classes this year, so they already know the drill (no pun intended). Third grade kicks off with multiplication, so their teachers advised that subtraction and addition facts need to be as firm and fast as possible as they enter next year. The girls are also getting some time and money review worksheets, as they both struggled a bit with those last year. I put all the new work on the left pocket in the folder, and they move it to the right side when they're done (just like the boys did in school last year, so this isn't a new routine for them).

 As far as books go, I've leveled every children's book in our house, creating bins for the little girls, the boys, and one for each girl. (That task was a beast and would need a whole 'nother post to explain...) The bin of little girl books are for read alouds, but the other bins contain books that are only at that child/children's reading levels so they can be choosing just right books to help them become more proficient readers.

For Bible memory, we're using the Foundation Verses from Fighter Verses, which is from Children Desiring God. We use the app-based version from iTunes (also available for Android). I lock the iPad to only have that app available (here's how to do that) so they aren't tempted to cheat on taking screen time with any other activity before they've earned it. I'm ordering the verses on a keyring for each child too, but I like that the app includes not only the picture and words but also reads it aloud for them.

Songs for each foundation verse are available at Bethlehem Baptist's websites, which was linked to from the Fighter Verses page:

If you have older kids or ones who are ready for meatier passages, the app includes other verses and memory games for kids who can read. Our big girls could probably use one of the Fighter Verse sets and one could do the Extended versions, but it's easier to use the same verse for everyone. Every day, we do a different verse, so we move quickly. Later verses are longer, though, so we might take a couple days for some of those... it's summer, after all! We can be flexible, right?

As far as chores, zones, and magnets go, here's a description of those. For the Bible study magnet, I'm leading them in that for the summer, with a story from Mighty Acts of God (as we've read through the Jesus Storybook Bible and God's Big Picture Story Bible a few times already, so I wanted to switch it up) and then an activity to follow, like a game or acting out the story or something like that. Since we read the creation story and today's foundation verse is about creation, I brought out our new creation stacking blocks made by Melissa & Doug.

This morning went well, except that the big girls had a lot of work to do before their room is clean so they haven't earned screen time yet. But that should improve because it's a daily task so it'll be maintaining cleanliness after they get it clean today. Plus I'm hoping it will cement some better habits as we enter the next school year.

And if they don't do their screen time work?

No screen time.

That worked last summer, and I'm looking forward to keeping the same routine this summer too. It's the only way to stay sane with six little ones home for the next few months! This way, we can all enjoy each other, maintain a routine, keep forward momentum academically, and have sweet family time... and then have some media time too, if it's earned.