Summer To Do
I know most people really love the summertime. There are things I like about summer, but it is probably my least favorite season. I'm hot-natured. I live in a place that is hot in the summer. I sweat. I don't like to swim. I don't like to show skin. It's just not my idea of a good time! Honestly, I think we should homeschool all summer and then take the fall off!
Regardless of my personal feelings, my kids are kids. They totally buy into the hype of summer. They know they're supposed to be excited it's here. The reality is, they don't know what to do with themselves! "Mom, we're going outside to play!" Three minutes later..."Mom, it's too hot to play outside!" "Mom, I'm bored!" "Mom, there's nothing to do!" Seriously, they have a BAD case of the whines and we're only a week in! I cannot do this until August 22nd.
Today, I had all four of the kids sit down in front of me as I whipped out the dry-erase board. I had them come up with a list of ideas for the summer. [Mom and dad added a few in for good measure.] I do NOT want any of them to come up and tell me "There's nothing to do!" one more time! So, the rule is this: If you don't know what to do, look at the list. If you tell mommy or daddy "I'm bored" or "There's nothing to do." mommy or daddy are going to look at the list and choose an activity for you. The activity we choose might not be what you would have wanted, but you gave your chance to choose up when you complained!
So far, it's working like a charm. Taevy started to say something with the word "bored" in it tonight and stopped mid-stream. "Oh, I'm not saying I'm bored though." ;-) That's what I thought!
5 comments:
GREAT idea! I think I'll copy it.
Saddest thing ... it is my youngest Ghanaian beauty who is the QUEEN of BORED. She always has NOTHING to do. Now, it amazes me, because she has 1,000 times more things to do than she ever had when she lived in Ghana. But, sadly, she just doesn't seem to appreciate them. :(
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea Anita!!! I'm a summer girl at heart, but here in Buffalo we only get (at best) 2-3 months above 70 degrees, so I cherish every moment of it. That said, my oldest is not the best at entertaining herself & would sit in front of the tv all day, even int he nice weather...which I don't allow. So I'm going to try this to curb all her whining about boredom.
Thanks for yet another fabulous post! :)
Awesome! One question...what are Reading Eggs? Or am I reading that wrong? :)
ReadingEggs.com. It's a great program that my littles are doing to teach them pre-reading and reading skills. They *LOVE* it, and are really learning a lot. "T4L", the next thing on the list is Time 4 Learning--an online education program for the big kids.
~Love your ideas~ So far we've not had to deal with boredom...we aren't fully finished with school yet so our routine is still pretty consistent.
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