Our Summer's Shaping Up!

I am a mama who likes to have a plan for summer. I am not a free-for-all type of gal. It makes me so agitated to wake up each day with an open day and no plans! That's because we end up staying in our pj's all day, doing absolutely nothing! There's nothing wrong with doing that every once in a while, but not every day! We don't have to do something every day, but I like to have a general plan to keep us moving.

This summer we have these things to do ....

Mondays ~ This is the one day I like for us to stay home. I tend to enjoy getting all of my housework and laundry caught up to give us a fresh start for the week. This is the day everybody can stay in the pj's.

Tuesdays and Thursdays ~ We have the options of going to our movie theatre for their summer movie program or going bowling for free (one game). While we are in town I also like to hit the library. The other option on one of these days is to go to Tulsa to the water park. We have season passes. And there's also the zoo, of which we also have a family pass.

Wednesdays ~ This year we will have playgroup with a small group of our homeschooling moms and kiddos. I am really looking forward to this because the moms are also doing a book study together!

Fridays ~ This day is usually reserved for the weekly grocery trip and other errands, although we could do any of the Tuesday/Thursday activities if a trip to the store is not needed.

A big emphasis for the summer is good habit forming and reading. Last summer I prepared an allowance basket and gave each of the kids a list of things they were to do each morning before they started their day. The older kids got a $1 a day and the little guys got 25 cents a day, if they did their list without being reminded. Then I paid them at the end of the month.

The idea wasn't to pay them for doing things they should already be doing. The idea was to have the money as incentive to get them to do something long enough for it to become a habit. And, it worked (at least for the little kids). They now routinely put their dirty clothes away and their dishes on the sink after meals without being told, as well as their other personal hygiene items.

This summer I am making it more enticing for the little two because Eli needs to do some reading reinforcement, and I'm going to "use" Brynne to help out with that. If they each read their Really Reading 2 sheet, a Saxon easy reader, 10 minutes in a book of their choice and do their chore list, they will be paid $1 a day. That will add up to a lot of money for a 5 and 7 year old. But, if they form good habits out of it, then the money is worth it! The older kids will have their chore list to do for $1 a day. But if I know them, they'll just forgo the money. The sucky part for them is that they have to do the chore lists anyway, they just don't get paid anything if I have to be the one to make them do it. Last summer they were broke.

We'll have our usual couple of trips to Missouri to see my parents, as well.

And then this summer will be over in a blink of an eye.