Today I am participating in a new blog carnival hosted by my friend Kimberly from Raising Olives.
Tuesday’s Tips for Mom is a blog carnival created by Raising Olives to allow moms to share what they have learned along the path of motherhood. Join us every Tuesday as we learn and share tips and ideas for spending time with, encouraging, training or relating to our children.
Here is my Tip for Moms:
The Summer Schedule
I am by nature an organized, planning type person. So even when I have free time (not really sure what that is) or an extended break from homeschooling, I like to have a schedule. I spend time thinking about what I would like to accomplish during this time...projects, both creative and cleaning-related, that I don't have time for during the regular school year. I am currently working on The Summer List, which lists in great detail all of my goals for the summer.
When I make a schedule, I list times for the various activities, but I am not a clock-watcher. I will not automatically end an activity because the "schedule" says that it is time to, but I do list times when I am initially planning my days so that I won't try to cram too much into one day. The schedule is my guide, my goal, for the day. I am not a slave to it! Without a plan, our summer would waste away. The end of July would arrive and I would panic!
The biggest benefit to a summer schedule is the routine that it creates. The children know what to expect. For example, they know that each morning they will run, eat breakfast, do chores, work for 30 minutes on their "Productive List", then they are free until late afternoon. The older children are each making their own Summer List, so they have ideas for what to do during their free time this summer.
With a summer schedule in place, little by little, we will accomplish much! Our house will be cleaner and more organized, school will be planned and ready for the next year, creative projects will be finished, and lots of time will be devoted to old-fashioned playing!
Please visit Raising Olives for more Tuesday's Tips!
I love living with a schedule. Even in the summer, I find it's good or the kids will just sit and watch tv or play computer, etc. Great ideas!
ReplyDeleteThanks Roan! Even though I am also a "schedule" person, I have not historically scheduled fun activities for summer and as a result we don't accomplish the fun things that we would like to. Thanks for a great reminder. I'm think I'm going to do that this year and my kids will thank you!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Kimberly
I came to your site from the Raising Olives blog. I loved your post about a summer schedule. I, too, am a Type A organized mom & wife. I am lost without my daily planner and to-do list. Now that my oldest daughter is old enough to participate in more summer activities, I have her summer just about fully planned with main activities.
ReplyDeleteThe only exception is when we go on vacation next week to visit both sets of grandparents. The girls will be spending lots of time with the grandparents, so I'm going to have to give up a little bit of control! GASP!
Great blog!
~ Jennifer
http://thetoyboxyears.blogspot.com/
I, too, am a schedule person! We just seem to "drift" without one. Thanks for sharing your method. Believe it or not, here it is June 30 and I'm still tweaking our summer schedule!
ReplyDelete