Summer Plans

This summer, I have three goals for my family.  We are going to work, play and learn together.

1.  Clean the house like it's never been cleaned before.  This includes daily "deep cleaning" in a specific area of the house and (hopefully) implementing a new chore chart/schedule for daily upkeep.  I want to teach my children how to do their chores correctly so that when school starts, they will know what to do by themselves.  This is going to be a big project.

2.  Every day, we will do something fun and out of the ordinary.  The activities will mainly be simple and inexpensive things, but I want summer to have a little extra excitement.  It may be going out for ice cream, making homemade playdough, or something more involved like having a "monster day."  If I focus on just one extra fun thing, then hopefully the kids won't feel over-scheduled and I won't get overwhelmed.  I'm also trying to vary the activities so that some can be done when Mike is home from work, that way, he can join in the fun as well.

3.  Do simple things to keep their minds active.  I'm thinking at least two "educational" activities a day.  One will be to read every day, and then hopefully find a little time to do a journal entry, writing practice, play a math game, count, or sort, etc.  I'm looking for some good read aloud chapter books for my boys as well.  Any suggestions?

Overall, I want to really enjoy being home with my kids and doing things together as a family.  I am excited to have them home full time for these next few months and looking forward to some vacation time in there as well.  I'm hoping to achieve a balance between structured and unstructured time for each of us.  Do you have any summer goals?  Happy summer!