So I know today is neither the first day or our summer break nor the first day of the summer season ... but I'm still calling it the first day of our summer. We spent the last two weeks in Utah, which I will blog about shortly, so we haven't had any need to find a summer routine until today.
Yes, I'm a routine mom. I'm all about creating a regular routine my kids can rely on because I have found they behave sooooooo much better when they have a general idea of what might happen each day. And for the most part today was pretty great. Our only major mishap happened when I mowed the lawn, and that will just have to be a once a week blip in our routine.
We started the morning off with a bike ride to our neighborhood nature preserve aka Reid's school. I pulled the girls in the bike trailer and Reid rode himself over on his nice new bike. He mentioned several times how much he loves his new bike. I was impressed that the ride didn't seem to tire him at all. He still had plenty of energy for playground play.
Back at home we spent about an hour playing in the basement playroom. Then it was lunch and Coraline's nap. During her nap I mowed (most) the lawn, but I think she may have just been crying the entire time. Oh well.
After that fiasco we had our preschool time. This is basically the only reason I'm even writing this post, because it was so funny! Nell was clearly thrilled to be part of Reid's preschool, and then both of them kept referring to me as Teacher Liz. They even said things like "Teacher Liz, I need to go potty, can you show me where the bathroom is?"
Nell's reaction was the best (yes, they both asked me this question at one point during our "lesson"). I replied "Okay student, go down that hall and it is the first door on this side," as I gestured to my right.
She took the few necessary steps to reach the bathroom and peak inside, and then she turned back and asked, "So this one right here, with the toilet?"
"Yup, the one with the toilet!"
And of course, a few minutes later I hear "Teacher, can you come wipe me?" They were so funny! But they also kept slipping up and calling me Mommy. I suggested they just call me Teacher Mommy instead of Teacher Liz, and they decided simply "teacher" might be best.
The other adorable thing was Reid's request for a schedule. He wanted to draw it all out, but I wrote a couple things down instead. Then he reminded me I needed to write them as pictures so they could understand. I put little symbols by each thing and by the time dinner rolled around I asked them if they could tell Daddy our class outline and Reid listed it flawlessly.
1. Read from a chapter book
2. ABC or 123
3. Choice Time
My goal is to keep things simple this time around so that I don't burn out (which has happened with at home preschools of the past). I already have a list of chapter books we'll read. I have play doh mats, dot pages, and puzzles for each letter of the alphabet (plus a couple of alphabet workbooks). Our choice time activities will vary each day. Over the years I've participated in a couple of busy bag swaps and I've collected other quiet time activities that fit well into little storage boxes.
I've filled about four or five boxes and will pull out a different one each day. Today's box (pictured above) occupied them for more than an hour. I'm sure the novelty will wear off as the summer drags on, but for now it is a dream! Each box includes 6 to 8 different activities (thus the title: choice time). Today's box had a dino size sort activity, mini Frozen figures, a Plan Toys number puzzle, felt Mr Potato Head, and a color/count sort box. There was also a Brown Bear, Brown Bear activity and a magnetic pattern game but the kids didn't even get to those before it was time to clean up.
We'll usually aim to do preschool during Coraline's nap. It just didn't work out today due to the lawn mowing. After preschool we spent some time playing outside and going for a walk/bike ride down our street. Then it was time for Ben to come home and eat dinner. Nell was pretty excited to tell him all about our day. Hopefully this little routine will suit us well.
Happy Summer!
Yes, I'm a routine mom. I'm all about creating a regular routine my kids can rely on because I have found they behave sooooooo much better when they have a general idea of what might happen each day. And for the most part today was pretty great. Our only major mishap happened when I mowed the lawn, and that will just have to be a once a week blip in our routine.
We started the morning off with a bike ride to our neighborhood nature preserve aka Reid's school. I pulled the girls in the bike trailer and Reid rode himself over on his nice new bike. He mentioned several times how much he loves his new bike. I was impressed that the ride didn't seem to tire him at all. He still had plenty of energy for playground play.
Back at home we spent about an hour playing in the basement playroom. Then it was lunch and Coraline's nap. During her nap I mowed (most) the lawn, but I think she may have just been crying the entire time. Oh well.
After that fiasco we had our preschool time. This is basically the only reason I'm even writing this post, because it was so funny! Nell was clearly thrilled to be part of Reid's preschool, and then both of them kept referring to me as Teacher Liz. They even said things like "Teacher Liz, I need to go potty, can you show me where the bathroom is?"
Nell's reaction was the best (yes, they both asked me this question at one point during our "lesson"). I replied "Okay student, go down that hall and it is the first door on this side," as I gestured to my right.
She took the few necessary steps to reach the bathroom and peak inside, and then she turned back and asked, "So this one right here, with the toilet?"
"Yup, the one with the toilet!"
And of course, a few minutes later I hear "Teacher, can you come wipe me?" They were so funny! But they also kept slipping up and calling me Mommy. I suggested they just call me Teacher Mommy instead of Teacher Liz, and they decided simply "teacher" might be best.
The other adorable thing was Reid's request for a schedule. He wanted to draw it all out, but I wrote a couple things down instead. Then he reminded me I needed to write them as pictures so they could understand. I put little symbols by each thing and by the time dinner rolled around I asked them if they could tell Daddy our class outline and Reid listed it flawlessly.
1. Read from a chapter book
2. ABC or 123
3. Choice Time
My goal is to keep things simple this time around so that I don't burn out (which has happened with at home preschools of the past). I already have a list of chapter books we'll read. I have play doh mats, dot pages, and puzzles for each letter of the alphabet (plus a couple of alphabet workbooks). Our choice time activities will vary each day. Over the years I've participated in a couple of busy bag swaps and I've collected other quiet time activities that fit well into little storage boxes.
I've filled about four or five boxes and will pull out a different one each day. Today's box (pictured above) occupied them for more than an hour. I'm sure the novelty will wear off as the summer drags on, but for now it is a dream! Each box includes 6 to 8 different activities (thus the title: choice time). Today's box had a dino size sort activity, mini Frozen figures, a Plan Toys number puzzle, felt Mr Potato Head, and a color/count sort box. There was also a Brown Bear, Brown Bear activity and a magnetic pattern game but the kids didn't even get to those before it was time to clean up.
We'll usually aim to do preschool during Coraline's nap. It just didn't work out today due to the lawn mowing. After preschool we spent some time playing outside and going for a walk/bike ride down our street. Then it was time for Ben to come home and eat dinner. Nell was pretty excited to tell him all about our day. Hopefully this little routine will suit us well.
Happy Summer!
1 comment:
Gotta love summer!
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