a CALMER summer

Last summer I organized learning time for my boys and it was a great way to prevent "summer learning loss". We had a few lessons and camps and weekend vacations. However, despite all this we still experienced summer "boredom". Then, this past spring break I had nothing planned and the boys were, well, not themselves! They need routine and structure. (Some more than others!) So I set out to really plan for the summer.

A lot of my information is from a great website called Power of Moms There are two parts to my plan- sort of morning and afternoon blocks of time that can flip flop, or be adjusted during the weeks the kids are at VBS, camp, or sports lessons. So, the first part of my plan is CALMER. Every morning (unless it is a flip flop day) the boys will know that they have to complete the 6 parts of calmer. They will be rewarded a pompom to their jar, and each pompom is worth 25cents. Here is what calmer means:

C- chores. 5-10 minutes of a chore, from a list on the fridge and they write the chore they did on their chart.
A- author. 10+ minutes of writing in a journal or writing a story. An author corner will be set up in the house.
L- learning time. Like last summer I will have prearranged daily packets for their completion.
M- ME time/whatever they want. But they will learn to prioritize and save time to complete all of their morning tasks.
E- exercise, at least 20 minutes of activity. Some days we may do this together at Calvin or GRCES.
R- reading. 15+ minutes of reading in the reading corner. This will also help them complete all their summer reading programs from all the book stores and libraries (a great way to get free books!)

I know the first couple weeks they will need reminding, but my goal is to get to the point where they know they have 3 hours to complete all 6 tasks. In addition to CALMER, we also have fun daily "stuff". Again, another 3 hour block of time, and the days will look like this (again from that great website power of moms):

Masterpiece Monday - art and science projects together, I have a long list thanks to Pinterest!
Take a Trip Tuesdays - most of these ideas came from GRkids summer bucket list We already have planned with small group friends too.
Wet Wednesday's - this is perfect since I work on Wed. they will head to Nana's, who has a pool!
anyThing goes Thursdays - more fun ideas from GR kids bucket list
Friend Friday - out with friends or have friends over.

I have already told the boys all about this and they can't wait to start! Hopefully this organization and structure does indeed make a for a calmer summer!