Hi friends! Hopping on to share our summer schedule and some favorite resources! I loooove summertime. Maybe that stems from my past as a second grade teacher - summer was the best! But, I know that 2020 has brought us a rollercoaster. Maybe you're beyond wiped out, maybe you're wondering what to fill the days with now, I get it! I hope you find some ideas here to lighten your load!

I'm just one mama, but I am happy to share what we are doing in our home. We have def loosened up and are enjoying the summer life. What I'm about to share is our "normal routine," but I'm quick to toss it out the window for a splash pad date, family in town, weekend trip, etc. I simply always have some type of daily routine so that we have tracks to run on. The consistency and rhythm it provides really calms the day and helps everyone know what to expect. Deviate whenever you want - you're the boss!

Here's what our schedule looks like.
Below it I'll share a few of our favorite learning activities right now!

First though, these are our routine cards! I hang them up so everyone knows what's going down each day. No real times, just rhythms. Click the picture if you'd like to download them to use!

7:15 Wake Up and have breakfast. My 5 yo has a"ready to wake" clock that we love. I try to get up to shower and read before my kids are up. It doesn't happen but I have a 100000% better day when I do! I turn on the diffusers, sometimes get a good playlist going, and then the kids appear and we make breakfast.

Get Dressed/Brush Teeth: The kids go play after we eat, and I slowly drink my coffee, unload the dishwasher, etc. After I've got the kitchen reset and some coffee in me, I round everyone up and get them dressed, brush teeth and hair, etc.

Clean Up Room: Once P is dressed she straightens her bed and anything major out of place. It just feels good to have a bed made!

Walk: We started taking daily walks during quarantine and are now obsessed. Fresh air, praise hands.

Learn: We gather up at our kitchen table and do some learning! Nothing too intense, just keeping our brains going. Scroll on down for some things we're loving lately.

Chores: I decided really quickly that I didn't want to use nap times for cleaning! So the kids help me. Yes, sometimes its a hot mess. But it works! And P is getting old enough that she is a big help! We clean one thing each day - and this is also muchhhh more flexible with summer right now. We rotate through bathrooms, dusting, vaccuuming, changing sheets, and then I mop when they're napping. It makes cleaning so much less of a headache!

Free Play/Nap: My youngest takes a little rest in the morning. Sometimes that's just a time out in his crib with books, other times he actually falls asleep. During this time P has free time and I get some work done! Her faves right now are things like Legos, Playdough, etc that she likes to do when her brother isn't crawling on top of the table to get into! I'm around to say hi, respond to a "Mom, watch this!" and supervise but I'm not actively playing during this time. Permission granted.

Lunch: Halfway home. Lunch time! One thing I do try to do during lunch is read a page from "Everything A Child Needs to Know About God" or some other devotional type book. I'm usually wiped out by bedtime and am way more on my game to pour in spiritually at this point!

Outside: Either before or after lunch we will play outside! (We live in TX so depends on the heat!) We don't have a huge yard but its enough to kick around a soccer ball, do the sprinkler and water table, etc. Sometimes I play and sometimes I read a book and eat my lunch in the sunshine.

Reset: Inside and time to clean up! I love a tidy house so I'd pick up after them all day if I let myself. But then I would go crazy. So before nap, we reset everything to where it goes, and off to naps they go.

Read: Before quiet time we do a little reading and snuggling! I have been enjoying picking lots of different stories and genres to read to them. Its a nice calm down moment. There are also 100% days where they watch a show while I get something done quick!

Naps: My 5 yo just does quiet time, but she's expected to be in her room playing or resting. She has a CD player in her room that is so helpful too!

Snack/Show: When her quiet time clock goes off, she can watch a show if her room is clean! Sometimes Hutchy joins in and sometimes he sleeps longer.

Activity/Free Play: Its hard to turn off the show, so I have an activity already set up for my bigger kiddo (Days with Grey or Busy Toddler are awesome resources for these!) Sometimes she chooses to do this and other times she just wants to play. This is what they do while I prep dinner. I love putting on music or a podcast during this time too! God's Big Story is our current fave!

And that takes us into dinner, clean up, baths if they need, and a bedtime routine! (Some ideas for that here!)

 

Now, for some activities!

I'll show you some of our favorites for "school time" and also free time!

For school, here are the basics we're rotating through. 

Reading: I love this 100 Easy Lessons book! It is short, easy, and gives such good foundational reading and phonics skills. We do a lesson or even a half as daily as we can. I also have BOB books - they are short little readers. Check with your library, they may have them!

Math: easy games are king right now! I just want my big kid to keep loving to learn, and to keep her brain thinking. We love games like

- "War" (split a deck of cards in half, you each flip one over, and whoever has the bigger number keeps both cards)

- Making patterns with random objects

- This dry erase dice game. You could make this up on a sheet of paper. Easy peezy!

Writing: I will link an old post about this journal! (click here) We haven't been regular with it since she went to prek last year but I've pulled it back out and its back in the game!

Misc: Like I said, we're just keeping our thinking going and it doesn't always look formal! One simple thing I love are these Building Thinking Skills books(pictured above). You can sign up for their emails and get a free weekly puzzle too! 

 

I do have a nineteen month old, so while sis does school he sits in his booster and will color, do stickers, read a book, eat a snack... it really resembles whack a mole if you will! He's branching into some dot markers and pom-pon sorting too! Busy Toddler has an awesome highlight labeled "taby" (toddler/baby) on her insta as well.

 

Beyond "traditional" learning, here's some other things filling our days with fun right now:

-sprinkler and water table

-going on walks

-painting

-playdough

-our summer fun box (use code KELSIE for free shipping!)

-facetiming family and friends

-local camps or activities as they are opening

-splash pads

-forts

-train sets and a train table (seriously, keeps them so busy)

We. Can. Do. This mama's! And on the days it feels like you can't, call your friends. No one moms alone. 

Sending you lots of love, hugs, high fives. Cheers from my coffee cup to yours!
-Kels