Summer Fun!

I love summertime! I also love spending time with my children. In the summer we join the local library's reading program and make reading everyday a priority. I also read to the children everyday after lunch. Some of our favorites have been;

A Single Shard By, Linda Sue Park
Fablehaven By, Brandon Mull
The City of Ember By, Jeanne Duprau
Castle in the Attic By, Elizabeth Winthrop
The Princess Academy By, Shannon Hale
Fairest By, Gail Carson Levine
The Wide Awake Princess By, E.D. Baker
Ranger's Apprentice By, John Flanagan
The Beyonders By, Brandon Mull

We also devote each day of the week to doing something semi-educational together.

Mondays we do arts and crafts. Some great ideas are at www.familyfun.go.com (I don't know how to do links, yet).

Tuesdays we cook something fun together. Some ideas are: pita pizzas (just pizza sauce and your favorite toppings on a pita, super yummy!), chocolate cake in a mug, indoor s'mores or outdoor s'mores using our fire pit, no bake cookies, granola, trail mix, peanut butter balls, smoothies, snow cones, homemade ice cream, different kinds of popcorn, and homemade lemonade.

Wednesdays we write in our journals. We can either write whatever we want or we can pick an idea from our journal jar that is filled with tons of writing prompts.

Thursdays we do some service. In the past we have made hygiene kits, recorded videos for grandparents of all our musical talents (I use the phrase loosely), weeded for elderly friends, or drop of a care package to someone in need, or just leave something exciting on someone's doorstep.

Fridays we go on a "field trip". Mostly we end up going on a hike, but sometimes we'll go to a museum, roller skating, or to the movies.

I find that my kiddos love the structure and look forward to the fun activities. Like I said, I love summertime!!