Are you home for summer with the kids? Good news– I’ve put together a Summer Routine to help get through the days without pulling out your hair!
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School’s finally out and it’s our official 1st week of summer! Woohoo!
Yes, it’s very exciting for us as teachers, because we can rest & relax, get some much needed work done around the house –you’ve seen my list right! 😉 — and spend quality time with the kiddos for the next 9 weeks!
We’ve been planning out our summer in hopes of making it one of the best summers yet- filled with exciting day trips, summer getaways, pool time, summer camps, and amusement parks too!
However, in between all of that fun, we have lots of home days too! As much as I want to have no schedule and just do whatever on those days, I’ve learned from the past that there needs to be some sort of purpose in each day. It’s so important to have a schedule!
We’ve been working on putting together a Summer Routine to follow in order to prevent absolute chaos from happening! It’s about the balance on these home days- getting jobs done and spending quality time as a family!
10 Reasons why Routines are Important for Kids:
Kids THRIVE on routine and summer isn’t the time to give in and let loose on expectations!
A summer routine will provide…
- expectations & stability
- guided times for independent play vs. family time (and prevent boredom)
- a sense of organization
- comfort & understanding
- guided times for food & snack
- better behavior, cooperation and control over personal behavior
- an opportunity to teach responsibility (with routines and chores)
- time for mom & dad to do their to-do lists 🙂
- independent tasks & decision making is easier
- less stress in the household
Here is our Summer Routine:
Here is our Summer Routine that we will be using with our 3 kiddos this summer. Feel free to save it or pin it for later to use as a visual reference for your family too!
Rise & Shine!
- The goal is to wake up naturally each morning and be able to enjoy some quiet time reading books & sipping on a morning coffee for mom & dad. This includes morning snuggles on the couch too!
Morning Routine/ Chores or Errands
- Our morning routine gets started. We eat breakfast, get dressed, make beds, and brush teeth.
- If there are any chores that need to be done, this is the time. We are a family and we expect each member to contribute. The kids have certain tasks assigned to them that could include tidying up from breakfast, garbage, folding laundry, running errands with mom/ dad, etc.
Free Time/ Family Time
- There is free time once all the chores have been completed.
- Typically, this is when I sit down and work on any blogging while enjoying my 2nd cup of coffee.
- We make sure to take some time to be with the kiddos before lunch. Some ideas that typically happen are bike rides, swimming, playing sports such as basketball or baseball, craft time, or Lego building.
Lunch time
- While lunch is being made, any messes from the morning are being cleaned up and put back away.
- We stress the importance of tidying up once you are done playing with something. If we take the few minutes a day to tidy then we avoid having to spend hours cleaning up the large messes later on.
Education/ Learning
- OK, so, we are teachers and we know the importance of continuing on the learning throughout the summer. We don’t want our kids to be affected by the “summer slide”.
- Seriously, check out the infographic from Kumon below!
- Every week day, we take an hour after lunch to focus on learning.
- At the beginning of each summer, we buy the kids each their own summer learning book in the grade level up.
- These books have reading, comprehension, math, fun activities, and more to help kids continue on with their learning and develop or maintain certain skills.
Free Time/ Family Time
- Afternoon free time! This is a couple of hours set aside for playtime together or individually.
Clean up/ I earned my Screen Time Today Time
- The final tidy of the day! Dinner is being prepped and cooked. At this time the kiddos tidy up their bedrooms, living room, and any other area they played that day. This way, we can start fresh the next morning!
- Once all cleaned up, the kids are allowed their daily screen time. We are strict on screen time and only allow a total of an hour a day- t.v., computer, tablet, etc. (exception is Movie Days)
- Sometimes, depending on the dinner, the kids even get involved in the prepping for dinner and it’s a great family activity!
Dinner
- Enjoy a family dinner together! Yum!
Free Time/ Family Time
- My favorite time of the day! The air has cooled a bit, the house is all tidy for the night, and now we can just enjoy each other’s company in complete happiness for the rest of the evening!
- As a family, our favorite activities at night include night time swims, bike rides, going to a park, playing sports together, watching a movie, going for an adventure walk, having a fire, and more!
Bed Time Routine
- Our summer bedtime is definitely later than our school bedtime, but a routine is a must. This includes shower (if necessary), pj’s, brush teeth, read books (if time), prayers, and hugs & kisses.
- The kids are usually exhausted from the summer heat, activities, and play all day that they usually go down to sleep right away. That still leaves a good couple of hours for quality adult time for mom & dad!
Using the Summer Routine
OK, so now you have the summer routine plan, but how do you implement it into their daily lives? Here is what we do…
- End the School Year & Celebrate in our Successes!
- Enjoy the long weekend and all the festivities too- late nights, fireworks, birthday parties, etc!
- Our first week is our stay-cation week! We take a few days to unwind from school & the long weekend.
- On the 1st week- Introduce and discuss the Summer Routine
- Put a Visual of the Summer Routine on the Fridge
- Role Model the Summer Routine and be consistent!
- Remind, encourage, and supervise while practicing the summer routine (the training phase)
Hopes for the Summer Routine:
It’s only been a couple of days and so far but things are going great! We have been consistent on our morning & night routines. As well, I haven’t heard any “I’m Bored” complaints yet- so this is a good sign 🙂
The kids have been tidying up their messes before screen time and the house looks immaculate before I sit down for the evening! Love it! It definitely is helping decrease my workload and the need to pick up after the kiddos ALL THE TIME!
Next week, they have Vacation Bible School in the mornings. I’m looking forward to this week because it will provide repetition and consistency every morning.
We will be introducing our education time next week too! We purchased our workbooks for this summer from Costco (love Costco!!!) this week and they are ready to go!
I’m thinking that I might put together a Summer Bucket List post…so stay tuned for that- especially if you need some ideas on how to keep the kids busy during the summer months!
In the end, I hope that you can incorporate this summer routine into your daily lives. It will provide both you and your kids a sense of organization & purpose throughout the summer weeks home together. OH…and perhaps keep you sane along the way! Enjoy 🙂
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So…inspired to start a Kid’s Summer Routine? Leave your comments below!
