Includes a free PDF printable daily checklist!
Our family has a certain rhythm during the school year. Over the past 15 years of homeschooling our school year has included weekly classes, park days, activities, therapies, etc. We have a pretty full schedule while activities are in session. When summer hits, almost everything ends and we have a totally different rhythm. We love to have play dates, BBQ’s, swim days, and creek days, but those don’t happen every day. On our home days, I like us to still have a little structure and let the kids know what to expect. Many years ago I came up with a summer list and we still use a variation of that today.
I ask that the kids spend about 30 minutes on each item on the list. Even with everything that would only take a few hours out of our 12-14 hours of waking time, and leave plenty of time for summer fun!
My list includes:
Reading - whatever they want. We visit the library a lot over the summer.
Exercise - skating, playing badminton, working out, swimming, jumping on the trampoline, playing Just Dance on a really hot day.
Chores - this one often takes less than half an hour and that’s fine as long as they get their chores done well. We’re a family and in a family everybody helps.
Something creative - drawing, painting, building a Lego city, writing, playing guitar, creating clay figures, or however they want to be creative.
Time with others - playing a board game with a sibling, reading with a parent, chatting with siblings or parents. As the kids got into the teenage years and wanted to hide away sometimes, it was a good reminder to spend time with others.
Heart/Spirit - spending time in prayer, working on a devotional, reading the Bible, doing something kind for someone else (that could be a project a sibling or parent needs help with, writing a card to someone).
Homeschooling - we homeschool year-round because it takes the pressure off during the school year (and we have so many hours free during the summer)!
Online learning - many years I’ve incorporated some sort of fun online learning app or game. They’re still learning but having fun while they do it.
Outside time - going for a walk, playing in the backyard, reading outside, swinging, anything to get some time in nature.
Pet care - feeding, watering, cleaning cages, whatever needs to be done.
That’s our general summer rhythm. It helps keep the house running smoothly and helps us to still be productive, and not feel like we sat around doing nothing for three months. It also gives us a huge jumpstart on our school year by keeping our learning up. You can print off the pdf and laminate it, or use checklist magnets to move over once each task is done, or whatever works best for your family.
Download the Summertime Checklist by clicking the download arrow below.
Beth uses something similar to these magnets so the checklist is reusable daily:
Cute Checklist Fridge Magnets (affiliate link) https://amzn.to/3C4D2Ar
Comments