We’ve tried summers of total freedom and zero schedule and as fun as they sounded, we’ve learned we truly thrive with a little bit of structure, even if it’s loose and not always followed.
The kids LOVE their charts as a tangible way to see what is expected of them each day and to learn time management skills by deciding when they will accomplish each task for the day.
We purchased these cute, editable downloads on Etsy here. I’ve filled in the tasks the way that works best for us, but all are subject to change. You can click on each chart to take you to the Etsy shop that sells them.
Here’s a little breakdown of our tasks:
Morning List: Brush teeth, make bed, and tidy room
Prayers: Any type of prayer moment they want to have with God, just to help build the habit
Workbook Pages: We do 1-2 pages each day in summer, a total of 5 minutes
Writing: This is the school topic I chose to focus on this summer, so we will write for 5 minutes a day.
Rocket Math: We do Rocket Math daily throughout the whole school year (worksheets + the ipad app) so we just keep it going through summer as well. The worksheets + the app take about 15 minutes total.
2 Chores for Mom: These depend on the day and on what I need done, but it keeps us in good practice of knowing chores are part of everyday life.
Exercise: This usually comes naturally in summer, but they can choose to swum, bike, scooter, run…whatever! It’s just there to build the habit of moving their little bodies.
Bedtime List: Brush teeth, get pajamas on, put away dirty clothes, and tidy room (these two small tidy times a day in morning and night make a HUGE difference…cleaning there room is never a huge “to do” when they spend 2 moments each day doing it).
Rewards: We let the kids choose their reward. It’s never a toy or material object, but always a quality time moment with mom or dad. Some examples are: up 15 minutes past bed to snuggle with mom and dad, choosing the game for game night, eating ice cream with dad, having a special drink with mom, etc.
Of course there are many summer days of travel or fun where this schedule system gets thrown out the window, but to have it as our consistent structure that only takes up about 1.5 hours of time, spread throughout the day, benefits us all in many ways!
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