A Summer Schedule

Summer has begun and I am proud of myself for starting it with a schedule in place that I think will actually work for us! Last year I spent time making an elaborate schedule that included times, and every moment of the day was assigned to an activity... I think it lasted ONE day before we completely ignored it (though it remained on the wall until school had started, when I shrugged my shoulders, took it down, rolled it up and tossed it.. trying not to feel too much like a failure.

Well, those trial & error moments actually are helpful! It may have taken me 7 years of parenthood to figure it out, but I think I'm on to a scheduling approach that will work for me/us!

Here's What We're Trying:

I ordered a Daily Schedule Pocket Chart by Scholastic (from Amazon).
Then I printed some adorable schedule cards (free from Cara at The First Grade Parade, here).



I'm not scheduling things by time- just by order (everything is less stressful in our world when we go at our own pace!) and the schedule changes every day! I printed a "field trip" card that gets used whenever we get in the car to go somewhere (whether it's something "normal" like grocery shopping or something exciting like a trip to the beach).

Morning 5

We have a "Morning 5" card that stays in place every day, right after breakfast. I heard about this from another blogger, but I don't have the link saved, so I unfortunately can't give her credit, but if I find it again, I will add it to the post! For our Morning 5, there are 5 things the girls need to do to get ready for their day. When they have completed their five things, they come & give me a hug. At that point, I will style their hair (they brush it themselves, but often I will do more to it ;) and check to make sure that their 5 things are done well enough.

When they are finished those 5, they get to play until I am ready for the day. (I'm usually the last one done since I'm helping them ;) We have our list of 5 things on a list posted outside the girls' bedrooms
(shown below).



When I am ready, we do a sort of "opening exercises" for the day. We start with a song and a prayer and read a story from the scriptures. Then we do calendar time. I will post about this soon.

That's the end of the "every day" stuff. The rest of the day will vary depending on what we have planned.
I bought some workbooks for the girls to do some "schoolwork" each day- they are actually having a lot of fun with it!



I am loving this schedule so far because the girls know what to expect, and so do I. I am much better at getting more done when I have something to follow (and the girls keep me accountable ;) I have a good feeling about this schedule- we've already been sticking to it longer than we stuck to last year's summer schedule ;)

Do you have a schedule (written or in your mind) for your summer days?
If you post it, what's your approach?
I'd love to hear your ideas & what has or hasn't worked for you!