Planning for the Summer

My Summer planning file.

This was originally supposed to post on Weds. June 2 !

Happy Wednesday! It's very warm, humid and getting windy here on our hill, and I'm taking a break from housework.

 It was a busy Memorial Day weekend for us with a fishing derby, lawn mowing and trimming, garden tilling and planting, and plenty of heat! But it was all time well spent, we had fish for dinner on Saturday, the lawn looks lovely and the garden is planted. It was very satisfying to put out the green pepper plants that I had started back in March! It seemed that we had seedling flats in the living room for forever, then they were on the deck for a couple of weeks. In the garden we also have zucchini, pumpkins, peas and green beans. I forgot about cucumbers, so those need to go out as soon as I get a chance. My darling husband wants to make a raised bed for our herb garden, so I'm hoping we'll get that done soon, as I have basil, oregano, chives, sage, parsley, thyme and catnip started.

My kiddos will be getting out of school on June 16, and my thoughts have turned to what we're going to do with ourselves. In the past, I've been (admittedly!) horrible about having a routine for weekdays, and felt rather distressed by the fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants-everyday approach. So, this summer, we are going to have a routine with plenty of free time, but also time for chores, learning life skills, (things that my children will need to know how to do when they are on their own), and some "school work". (No, I'm not a meanie, I'll explain soon!)

For planning purposes, I made a file folder to hold the info we get about summer programs, places to visit, summer camps, craft projects and brainstorming notes. The front of the folder has a pocket for important items like our membership cards to the Billings Farm & Museum. Then I went ahead and made some planning pages on my computer (yes, I'm a bit fanatical about planning!). The pages include a to-do list, brainstorming notes, a place to jot down summer camps and dates, skills the kiddos need to learn/work on, summer reading lists and fun themes and dates.

So, back to the school work. I have no intentions of having my children sit down for hours to do school work over the summer; however, I feel strongly that it is in their best interests to keep on top of math and reading skills. I bought some workbooks at out local Dollar Tree and plan on getting some worksheets on line to print out. We'll be taking time everyday to read, so I've stocked up on books for them. I've decided to do a "unit" on tornadoes and other weather extremes. We'll be reading Twister on Tuesday from the Magic Tree House series, and I have the research guide that goes with it. Along with learning about tornadoes, etc. I would like to do a fundraising project with the kids to donate funds to those effected by the tornadoes this past spring.

That is the start of our summer plans. I have some more research to do on "field trips", as well as getting dates for some of the camps that the kiddos have done in the past, but I feel pretty good about the start I've got now.

Have a great day!
Blessings,
Kelly