Summer schedules bring a lot of excitement for warmer, well in Texas very hot, weather. Less rushing to get out the door by 7:15am to get everyone to school on-time. There is more time to relax after work and not have to rush home to get to practice and then complete math homework, shower, and try to get the kids to bed at a decent hour to rinse and repeat the next day.
For many of us, summer is a time to take a deep breath and enjoy the little moments. But while it’s more relaxed, when there is no structure or plan for the day kids tend to get “bored” and the house gets destroyed or the food for the week disappears in a matter of days. It also makes getting back into a routine for the fall more of a challenge. I have found continuing with a summer schedule is good for everyone. There are plenty of free printable available online to customize and make your own. Here are a few tips/examples of what ours looks like:
- Make it interactive. This could be on a phone, depending on the kid’s age, on a dry erase board, or a paper chart that they can check off each item and feel a sense of accomplishment.
- We have ours 7 days a week, but depending on what the weekends and extracurricular activities look like for your family in the summer, Monday- Friday is great too. Be flexible.
- Keep it positive. I like to add some rewards at the end of the week for a successful, completed chart.
- For the little ones I have the most success when the chore is more like a game. Setting timers, putting on music, etc. makes even a simple chore more fun.
- We have some daily, easy, items on our list just to keep the day moving and give the kids some easy “wins”. Here are some examples of the chores on our list:
- Brush your teeth AM
- Make your bed
- Get dressed
- Eat breakfast
- Empty the dishwasher
- Playtime for 1 hour
- Eat lunch
- Pick up your room
- Say something nice to someone
- Read to yourself or someone else
- Get a snack
- Playtime
- Eat dinner
- Get into PJs
- Brush your teeth PM
- Get ready to settle down/for bed
I hope this helps give you some ideas of your own for a summer schedule and allows you to create more memories with less stress of counting down the days for back to school.