Now that school is out and Summer is here, the kids still need to get their "education." I have come up with a plan for the kids to keep them entertained and still learning.
- The kids still do the calendar every morning. This teaches them numbers, days of the week, weather, colors, and words.
- The kids have to read for 20 minutes every day. Keira finds a quiet place (usually her room) and reads a couple of books by herself (I try and pick out a book that she has never read before because she has to tell me what happened in the book, so I know she actually read it. ) Aden and Taygen will sit on the couch between me while I read to them. We are planning on going to the library every week to get new books.
- The kids have to do their work books for at least 30 minutes each day. Keira has a kindergarten and 1st grade book that she does, (she will usually get bored with the kindergarten one within 10 minutes and go right to the 1st grade book). Aden has a preschool and kindergarten book that he does.
- Taygen and I color. While the other kids do their workbooks, Taygen and I will color. In doing this, she learns her colors, control, patience, what to color certain objects; example, grass is green, clouds are white, sky is blue, trees are green, etc., communication; please pass the green color. When she wants a color, I will lay 3 or 4 colors out and she has to pick it out; for example, if she needs green..I lay out green, white, blue and black and she has to pick out the green one.
- In between these activities we will go outside and play on the swings and slides. Just so they don't get bored, lose focus or lose interest.
- Just for something fun for the kids, we will have a scavenger hunt around the house. Example; Find 4 red objects, find 5 circles, etc. It's pretty fun and it's pretty interesting what the kids come up with, some things that you may not think of. Aden had to find 3 circles one time and he showed me the door handles. Pretty clever! I would have never thought of that. It's just something that you see every day, so you really don't think of them as circles, even though they are. You never know what you will learn from your kids each day!
These activities are fun for the kids and myself. It definitely keeps them active, but also ready for school. These activities do not 'weigh' down the Summer time fun and still keeps school fresh in their minds. A lot of kids lose focus in the Summer time, but isn't that what Summer is for, to get school off your mind....mmm not really. Kids still need to learn whether it is in a school setting or a home setting. Always try to find ways to keep your kids educated, whether it is going to a park; pointing out trees, animals, the swing goes up and down, you go down a slide, pointing out that the grass is green, etc... You can make learning fun!
