Moms of older kids...do you have a summer checklist for your kids?

[Corie]

I saw a daily summer checklist at my friend's house and I'm thinking
about incorporating some of it for my kids. In theory, I'd like
to have a daily checklist of things for them to do. A lot of the checklist
items would be academic and some things to do around the house.

For example:

1. Go through your entire stack of sight words.

2. Read for 15 minutes.

etc.


I'm just getting tired of nagging them to do some of this stuff and
I don't want their academics to completely slack off over the summer.
Especially for my 6 year old son who is a new reader.

Do you do anything like this? Any suggestions?

[artvandalay]

I don't have a checklist, but our library has a summer reading program for kids. I am planning on having DS (who is 6) do that. I'm planning on giving him some sort of reward if he reaches a certain number of books by the end of the summer.

[Raidra]

We don't have a checklist (and we homeschool besides), but during the summer, when the kids are acting listless because of the heat, we all get into my bed (we only have window A/Cs in the bedrooms) and read books until we're cool and happier.

We also have the rule that if they want to play Wii, they have to do two lessons first. My kids would easily play Wii all day if I let them, so this works out well for us. By the time we actually get around to doing lessons (we have to wait for the little ones to take their afternoon nap), they get an hour or two of Wii before dinner.

[Corie]

I don't have a checklist, but our library has a summer reading program for kids. I am planning on having DS (who is 6) do that. I'm planning on giving him some sort of reward if he reaches a certain number of books by the end of the summer.


Yes, we do this program too! Thanks!

[egoldber]

No. But older DD is an avid reader and we go to the library weekly as a family. She reads more in the summer than she does the rest of the year because she has fewer competing demands! For your DS, I would just get lots of library books and encourage reading.

We usually do the library and B&N summer reading programs, but mainly just to get the coupon book and the free book. :o

[Canna]

I have a kindergartener, and I'd say, no definitely not - at least not as you seem to be describing it. Maybe for kids who are older or struggling academically having an assignment list might be a good idea?

For us, one thing that I love about summer, and vacations is having less micro-structure. We tend to scale way back on activities (like gymnastics, art or music classes). DD will go to camp at a farm magnet school for 3 weeks. What I want her to do in the summer is follow her own muse. It's something she's good at in general and I don't like that being in school gives her less time to explore things in depth. Last summer she announced that she wanted to learn to sew and she worked on hand sewing and we did some machine sewing. This year she's really into birds and I'd like to take nature walks and have time to look for birds. She's also really been enjoying drawing classes and so I hope to have times when we can all go somewhere and sketch things together. But I think having a list that says 1. Draw a picture 2. Read a book 3. Look for birds takes some of the joy out of it and also some of the ownership out of the activity. I want her to read for the pure joy of it, whatever she wants. I want her to play with her sister, build things, get ideas and carry them out, jump rope, run through the sprinkler, help hang the laundry on the line, sing songs on car trips, go on evening walks. But I hope we don't have to make a list about it.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I have a "Ds list of fun things to do at home" tacked on my wall. On there I have a few academic things like read or do a math workbook (ds loves math). But, they are mostly things he should know to do but doesn't seem to think of:
bake
ride bikes
build Legos or trains
play with little brother
play pretend
go for a walk
play in playhouse
color with sidewalk chalk
paint outside
play-doh
crafts [we have a craft cabinet]
Wii
build a puzzle
read
math workbook
make a collage
build a pillow/ blanket fort
make an obstacle course
play a board game

Beth

[Seitvonzu]

i'm really curious about this.... did anyone do stuff like this when they were kids? besides normal weekly chores (cleaning our rooms, cleaning the bathroom, weeding, etc) and practicing piano (30 minutes a day, we had a kitchen timer)--- i don't remember doing "enrichment" in this way during the summer. my mom would take us to the zoo or museums or whatever, but we never had "15 minutes of math"or workbooks or any of that.

i would read pretty much constantly and was totally into school -- so maybe that's why my mom didn't sweat it? my brother wasn't as school-loving as me, but he's definitely a smartypants so she didn't hassle him either. i know my neice and nephew brought workbooks when they came here one year on "vacation"-- they LOVED working in them...they seemed to think of the workbooks as a "treat" almost like i would have played school as a child.... maybe that's the key? it's just really foreign to me.

of course... take this for what it's worth....my kiddo is only three :) and i have recently been sweating her not writing enough... (or coloring or drawing).... but not enough to "drill" her, you know?

[SnuggleBuggles]

i'm really curious about this.... did anyone do stuff like this when they were kids? besides normal weekly chores (cleaning our rooms, cleaning the bathroom, weeding, etc) and practicing piano (30 minutes a day, we had a kitchen timer)--- i don't remember doing "enrichment" in this way during the summer. my mom would take us to the zoo or museums or whatever, but we never had "15 minutes of math"or workbooks or any of that.

i would read pretty much constantly and was totally into school -- so maybe that's why my mom didn't sweat it? my brother wasn't as school-loving as me, but he's definitely a smartypants so she didn't hassle him either. i know my neice and nephew brought workbooks when they came here one year on "vacation"-- they LOVED working in them...they seemed to think of the workbooks as a "treat" almost like i would have played school as a child.... maybe that's the key? it's just really foreign to me.

of course... take this for what it's worth....my kiddo is only three :) and i have recently been sweating her not writing enough... (or coloring or drawing).... but not enough to "drill" her, you know?

I think we might have had a summer reading list but it was never a requirement (from school or my family).

No, summer was always about hanging out at the pool and playing. That is almost entirely how we spend our summers now too.

beth

[egoldber]

they LOVED working in them...they seemed to think of the workbooks as a "treat" almost like i would have played school as a child.... maybe that's the key? it's just really foreign to me.

My older DD is like this. She *begs* for workbooks. When she was little we used to go to a toy store that had a small workbook display. And she would gravitate to the workbooks, ignoring the toys, and beg me to buy one.

She begged me for 6 months recently for an algebra workbook before I finally broke down and figure out a good one for her. She'll spend hours of her own time choosing to work in math books. And then she won't touch them for weeks. And then she goes back to them. I gave her a workbook for her 8th birthday and she literally danced with delight.

Some kids find intrinsic joy in this.

[Gracemom]

So my 8 y.o. DD doesn't lose skills during the summer, I'm going to have her

1. Read something
2. Write something
3. Compute something
4. Learn something

Almost every day. She lost a lot of skills one summer (between K and 1st) so I don't want that to happen again. We'll make it fun, like helping me bake (use math skills) or play a game that involves adding. Or write a letter to her aunt. She loves to read, so that won't be a problem. I'm also going to have her "teach" her 4 year old brother how to read. She's been working with him on his letters already. I think that should be fun to watch!

[Green_Tea]

I think we might have had a summer reading list but it was never a requirement (from school or my family).

No, summer was always about hanging out at the pool and playing. That is almost entirely how we spend our summers now too.

beth

:yeahthat:

No checklists here. I will encourage daily reading, but nothing academic beyond that (unless my kids ask for it.)

[artvandalay]

:yeahthat:

No checklists here. I will encourage daily reading, but nothing academic beyond that (unless my kids ask for it.)

Yeah, I agree. We'll do the summer reading program but nothing really beyond that. Just some summer sports, swim lessons, park, playtime. I think that is the nice thing about summer - not really having to be on any sort of schedule.

[Roni]

I have a daily routine posted (an idea that I got fom Flylady). We don't follow it to a T, though. Academically, we do the summer reading program at the library, & I get them a summer bridge workbook (i.e., k-1, 3-4, etc.). It doesn't take a lot of time each day, & I don't sweat it if they don't get through the whole thing, but it prevents them from losing ground over the summer.

[bubbaray]

i'm really curious about this.... did anyone do stuff like this when they were kids?

Yes, definitely.


i know my neice and nephew brought workbooks when they came here one year on "vacation"-- they LOVED working in them...they seemed to think of the workbooks as a "treat" almost like i would have played school as a child.... maybe that's the key? it's just really foreign to me.



My older DD loves workbooks. My younger one struggles with them a bit -- she's a lefty and writing is a bit more difficult for her.

Corie, I don't have a list. We do camps, some of which are 100% French, so that is the kind of enrichment DD#1 needs to keep up her skills. I've got a workbook from Costco (summer skills??) that she'll do too. I'll also put her in a Science and Lego camp, which will do some science too.

ETA: Just to clarify, I'm not concerned with keeping up academic skills, per se, but rather keeping up *foreign language skills*. If my child weren't in language immersion, I wouldn't be concerned about that.

[billysmommy]

Ds1 loves workbooks so we got some more advanced math ones for him since that is what he likes. He is always reading so that isn't an issue.

We also have some "theme" weeks planned for weeks they're not at camp. The boys picked the weeks themselves and so far we have bugs, cars and trucks, cooking, dinosaurs and pirates/beach. On Friday afternoon or Sat morning we'll go to the library to get books for that week. And then everything we do that week will coordinate with that theme ~ museums, food, outdoor stuff, etc. I have some homeschooling units that I got the ideas from and they have things for younger and older kids. We did a couple of them last summer and the boys loved it!!

I'll find word searches, hidden pictures, word problems, etc online to go with that week's theme too.

[Gena]

Yes we do, but probably not the way you mean it.

DS loves checklists. We use them for all sorts of things: morning routine, daily activites, running errands, etc. He even has checklists at school. DS thrives on structure, schedules, and visual prompts. DS is even learning to write his own checklist as a way of planning his activities and learning how to anticipate what comes next. (He also is working on maintaining his own calendar.)

[Corie]

My older DD is like this. She *begs* for workbooks. When she was little we used to go to a toy store that had a small workbook display. And she would gravitate to the workbooks, ignoring the toys, and beg me to buy one.

She begged me for 6 months recently for an algebra workbook before I finally broke down and figure out a good one for her. She'll spend hours of her own time choosing to work in math books. And then she won't touch them for weeks. And then she goes back to them. I gave her a workbook for her 8th birthday and she literally danced with delight.

Some kids find intrinsic joy in this.


Sounds like my daughter too!!

Her teacher created a special math folder for her and it's just extra
math work that she can do on her own time.

[Corie]

Yes we do, but probably not the way you mean it.

DS loves checklists. We use them for all sorts of things: morning routine, daily activites, running errands, etc. He even has checklists at school. DS thrives on structure, schedules, and visual prompts. DS is even learning to write his own checklist as a way of planning his activities and learning how to anticipate what comes next. (He also is working on maintaining his own calendar.)


I love checklists! Your son and I would get along great!

We need to get together this summer! :) We are going strawberry
picking on Friday.

[purpleeyes]

I have a daily routine posted (an idea that I got fom Flylady). We don't follow it to a T, though. Academically, we do the summer reading program at the library, & I get them a summer bridge workbook (i.e., k-1, 3-4, etc.). It doesn't take a lot of time each day, & I don't sweat it if they don't get through the whole thing, but it prevents them from losing ground over the summer.

:yeahthat: If we don't have some sort of schedule/routine it all goes to hell-behavior, sleeping, you name it. So, I do set something up with big blocks of free play, some quiet/alone time, some TV time, and some "work" time. I usually let him choose-workbooks, reading to me, or a reading program on the computer.

When we have camps I don't enforce this as much. If he's been running around in the heat all day I don't make him come home and do "homework". Too much like school. So we would follow this schedule about 6/7 out of the 10 weeks of summer. I also include 'science' or 'art' time and we experiements and crafts or cooking together for some quality time.

[hellokitty]

OMG, all of you are too organized. I am just hoping I survive summer with all 3 boys at home w/o tearing my hair out.

I plan to kick them outdoors to burn off energy and when they whine that they are bored, I'll have math workbooks ready to go. Otherwise, we do the summer reading program, but my kids like books, so reading isn't something I really have to push much. I'm so not the tiger mom. My niece and nephew are both going to cram school camp this summer.

[YouAreTheFocus]

i'm really curious about this.... did anyone do stuff like this when they were kids? ....

Nope, we didn't either. Definitely no academics in the summer. Reading yes, but my brother and I both loved to read. Our summers were spent going to camp and staying at our beach cottage. So we were outside pretty much all summer long.

[rlu]

Yes we do, but probably not the way you mean it.

DS loves checklists. We use them for all sorts of things: morning routine, daily activites, running errands, etc. He even has checklists at school. DS thrives on structure, schedules, and visual prompts. DS is even learning to write his own checklist as a way of planning his activities and learning how to anticipate what comes next. (He also is working on maintaining his own calendar.)

I am a checklist junkie. I haven't made any for DS, but he also does best knowing what's coming - he'll often ask for a verbal timeline of the next day when he goes to bed at night and even happy surprises/deviations are still sometimes met with dismay, although not as much as when he was younger. I like the idea of DS making his own list of things he can do each day.

Last year I worked with DS to make a list of all the places/things we'd hoped we do over the summer, we did do some of them.

We have a few camping trips, trips to MIL, and Cub camp set up, plus one session of swim lessons (twice a week for 5 weeks). Two of the local libraries run reading programs (we lost our local Borders store) and I plan to sign him up for one and then the other depending on progress.

We spoke with DS's teacher yesterday to determine which skills we should work on over the summer that would be the most beneficial for 2nd grade. She also gave us some suggestions for working on those skills - for example, regarding formation of letters and numbers instead of having DS do a whole page of a letter/number have him write 3 "great" examples and move on to something else. I did save each weekly spelling and homework packets and we'll definitely review the spelling (sight words especially) but I want this to be fun, or at least tolerable and haven't come up with a system yet.

[m448]

Nah but we homeschool and although pretty relaxed do it on and off year round. We do have a "flow" to the day that's already our routine and the kids spend a good deal of time outdoors as part of that. My goal most of the day is to wear them out so they drop like flies in bed and my husband can immediately tell at night when they've not had a chance to get outside due to weather, going out to run errands, etc. Re: reading, they enjoy books and I'm not going to spoil that by adding must dos.

[KrisM]

Yes, definitely.




My older DD loves workbooks. My younger one struggles with them a bit -- she's a lefty and writing is a bit more difficult for her.



I was reading a review of a big drawing book on Amazon and someone said that since it was so difficult to use, they took the book to Staples and had them chop the binding off and spiral bind it instead. IIRC, it was about $5. Maybe you could get a few put together like that for her.

[brittone2]

We HS year-round and summer is even more relaxed. I would be hesitant to give a lot of worksheets, etc. unless your DC love them (and some kids certainly do). If I really felt it was necessary to supplement, I'd probably work more on playing math games, doing lots of read alouds, letting the kids see me reading a lot, keeping a nature notebook (science and writing), etc.

In nice weather we often do a "reading picnic" where we take snacks outside and eat under a tree in our yard while I do a read aloud, or we all bring our own books to read.

My DS1 is an avid reader and I don't "require" much from him in terms of reading because he devours books and tends to pick a nice mix on his own (history, fiction, etc.). He doesn't enjoy handwriting so we tend to look for natural ways to bring this into our day. Today he's making a card for his cousin's bday. We are keeping a journal for our sq foot garden (the kid loves gardening) so he's making notes, diagrams, sketches, measurements, observations, etc. That type of writing works well for him, as he enjoys it much more than some made up exercise, kwim? He writes thank you notes, letters to family/friends, etc.

I think family projects work well...letting the kids see you keep a nature sketchbook, a journal, etc. and everyone kind of doing a big project together can get some kids interested.

[g-mama]

No, we don't do academics during the summer.

My 4th grader likes to read, though, and he goes through periods of reading a lot and then not reading at all for a few weeks. He works really hard in an advanced academic program and has a LOT of homework all year long. I feel like he deserves a break and to just chill out.

I don't worry about loss of skills over the summer, maybe because my parents never did.

[bubbaray]

I was reading a review of a big drawing book on Amazon and someone said that since it was so difficult to use, they took the book to Staples and had them chop the binding off and spiral bind it instead. IIRC, it was about $5. Maybe you could get a few put together like that for her.


THANK YOU!!! This is a great idea! We've been tearing out the pages, but she isn't a fan of that.

The lefty thing is throwing me for a loop, but we are working through it. (left to right, LOL).

[urquie]

I have a "Ds list of fun things to do at home" tacked on my wall. On there I have a few academic things like read or do a math workbook (ds loves math). But, they are mostly things he should know to do but doesn't seem to think of:
bake
ride bikes
build Legos or trains
play with little brother
play pretend
go for a walk
play in playhouse
color with sidewalk chalk
paint outside
play-doh
crafts [we have a craft cabinet]
Wii
build a puzzle
read
math workbook
make a collage
build a pillow/ blanket fort
make an obstacle course
play a board game

Beth

great list, worthy of it's own thread!

[KrisM]

We make lists of things they want to do over the summer - certain playgrounds to visit, camp, bike for ice cream, etc and hang those up.

I like the idea of a list of regular things to do and will work on that, too.

I've already told DS1 that he's going to be learning new things this summer - some basic cooking, how to pack for a weekend away, etc. He's actually excited about it!

We did the libarary reading club last year, but never did anything with it. Maybe this year we will. But, the kids like reading/being read to, so it's not a big deal to be in an official program.

[SnuggleBuggles]

We make lists of things they want to do over the summer - certain playgrounds to visit, camp, bike for ice cream, etc and hang those up.



I have that list on the wall too. :)

BEth

[hillview]

This summer DS1 will have reading and writing to do every day I think (per his teachers). I am thinking of making a sticker reward chart or something like that. He likes them a lot. Also thinking I might do something similar for DS2 to make it "fair" as we are big into fair these days (maybe this is a bad idea...).

/hillary

[MelissaTC]

We are going to do Summer Bingo like this blog - http://ginger-snap-shots.blogspot.com/2010/06/summer-bingo.html .

He also really needs to work on his cursive this summer so he will work on that weekly. He will also need to journal and then do some fun things like play with his legos, origami, go swimming, etc... He reads like a maniac so I am not worried about that and he loves math so we will just continue to work on basic math facts to keep him fresh. He is already out of school and it won't start again until the end of August. He needs to keep up over the summer. It is just too long not to do anything.

[KrisM]

We are going to do Summer Bingo like this blog - http://ginger-snap-shots.blogspot.com/2010/06/summer-bingo.html .

He also really needs to work on his cursive this summer so he will work on that weekly. He will also need to journal and then do some fun things like play with his legos, origami, go swimming, etc... He reads like a maniac so I am not worried about that and he loves math so we will just continue to work on basic math facts to keep him fresh. He is already out of school and it won't start again until the end of August. He needs to keep up over the summer. It is just too long not to do anything.

I really like the bingo. I think we will do that here for DS1 and DD for sure. This morning, we were talking about how we can do things differently in the summer.

ETA: Looking for more on the bingo, I found this: http://yellowfence.blogspot.com/search/label/Summer%20Bingo.

[Elilly]

We are going to do Summer Bingo like this blog - http://ginger-snap-shots.blogspot.com/2010/06/summer-bingo.html .

He also really needs to work on his cursive this summer so he will work on that weekly. He will also need to journal and then do some fun things like play with his legos, origami, go swimming, etc... He reads like a maniac so I am not worried about that and he loves math so we will just continue to work on basic math facts to keep him fresh. He is already out of school and it won't start again until the end of August. He needs to keep up over the summer. It is just too long not to do anything.

Wow! That is an awesome link. Thanks for sharing!!!

[Corie]

We are going to do Summer Bingo like this blog - http://ginger-snap-shots.blogspot.com/2010/06/summer-bingo.html .

He also really needs to work on his cursive this summer so he will work on that weekly. He will also need to journal and then do some fun things like play with his legos, origami, go swimming, etc... He reads like a maniac so I am not worried about that and he loves math so we will just continue to work on basic math facts to keep him fresh. He is already out of school and it won't start again until the end of August. He needs to keep up over the summer. It is just too long not to do anything.


Love this idea!!!

Were you able to pull up the Bingo template? I can't get it to pull
up and I'd love to do this over the summer!

Thanks for sharing!

[Asianmommy]

I have a mental list of to-dos: bike, hike, swim, tennis, piano, library summer reading program, ice cream, playdates. I also bought some brain teaser type books for fun, but won't insist that they do them.

[jren]

No list, but DD (rising 2nd grader) will be doing schoolwork this summer. She's way behind on math, handwriting, and spelling, and can't afford to sit by 3 months and enter 2nd grade already failing. I didn't do any schoolwork during the summers growing up, but I was also a straight A student. DD has some learning challenges, ADD and other things going on. It sucks for her, but we just have to do it. Not looking forward to it b/c I know she'll fight me on it. Plus, all the tutoring and therapies cost $$$.

[MelissaTC]

I had trouble with the template too so I just made my own.

[lisams]

I made a summer reading chart for both (DD reads on her own, DS is read to) and am having DD practice her multiplication facts when I remember.

That's about it.

[kristac]

I had trouble with the template too so I just made my own.

Can you share? I'm not good at making templates :(

eta- I've googled but I'm having a hard time finding a bingo template that lets you type words- most are just for numbers or pictures.

[kboyle]

Can you share? I'm not good at making templates :(

eta- I've googled but I'm having a hard time finding a bingo template that lets you type words- most are just for numbers or pictures.

if you pm me your email address i can email you the template i've made up for my boys...i did a regular 5x5 template for my 8 & 6yr olds and a 3x3 template with clipart for my 4yo. i'm actually quite proud of myself, lol.

eta: Corie, i'm so glad you started this thread. i've been meaning to figure out a way to get more of these things in for Charlie especially since he loses so much during break, esp math skills and i'm HORRIBLE at making him do stuff...this way it's a bit fun!

[KrisM]

Can you share? I'm not good at making templates :(

eta- I've googled but I'm having a hard time finding a bingo template that lets you type words- most are just for numbers or pictures.

How about this one: http://print-bingo.com/bingo-cards-custom.php. You can put multiple items in each box as well.