Summer School with Mommy

The transition from any quiet hours (in my case 2.5 per day) to no quiet hours is a rough one. One solution is sit my boys in front of a screen, but we’ve found that this makes them nuts when the screen is switched off or when we say no to shows. They go into withdrawal and the addiction is real. So, we decided to allow shows for an hour on Saturday am only + Family Movie Night on Friday and occasionally we go to the movies on $5 Tuesdays. There are exceptions, but this is what we are committed to. The other solution i came up with is what I call, Summer School with Mommy. This is as much for me to give us structure as it is for the boys. It makes for relaxed and precious summer days with my little ones while they are still little. The following is a fluid guideline.

RHYTHM

8am-10am
Morning Meeting + Meditation
Learning + Activity - Subject: [ ]
10am Snack + Manners
10:30am Adventure:[ ]
12pm Picnic Lunch
1pm Rest + Downtime
3pm Play in the Garden + Unstructured Play time
6pm Dinner
8pm Bedtime

SUBJECTS*

We use creativity and learn via books, podcast, experience, and conversation - incorporating math, reading, writing, etc. We literary make it up as we go and choose subjects at random giving priority to fun, spaciousness, and spontaneity. We stay on each subject as long as it’s interesting (anywhere from a day to a few weeks).

I also add in the basics: reading, writing, math via workbooks and guidelines from the school district.

ENGINEERING

Book: Rosie Revere the Engineer
Activity: Design and Build
Podcast: This You Should Now - Bridges Abhore Nature
Adventure: Visiting the bridges of Oshkosh and learning about the parts of a bridge

ARCHITECTURE

Book: Iggy Peck the Architect
Activity: Draw + Design
Podcast:

SCIENCE

Book: Ada Twist Scientist

ART

Build + Make anything using found materials

ANIMALS

Amphibians - Read from Explanatorium of Nature
Activity: Find a Frog + Paint an Amphibian

MUSIC

*I plan to update this post as the summer goes on, so come on back if you want to see what we are getting up to or see my stories on Instagram