Summer Schedule

During this past school year I learned a few things about myself.  Apparently I do not like having a rigid schedule:  Be to bed by 8:00 or else, wake up at the crack of dawn, get homework turned in on Thursdays, books due back to the library Wednesday this week, Friday next week, track Tuesday and Thursdays, be home every day for the bus by 2:30, etc -- you get the idea.  I'm a very rigid person anyway, so apparently having a rigid schedule puts me over the edge.  And to think this is only with ONE school-aged kid.  I honestly have no idea how people with lots of kids do the school/activity rat race.  It drives me insane.  It puts me in a foul mood. 

However, I'm a very organized and involved parent, so I love having a plan for my kids.  Just a flexible plan, apparently.

So I made a flexible plan for our summer.  I made a list of fun things we should do, and I'm happy to report we've accomplished a fair amount already.

We made a goal as a family (well, those of us that can read) to read a combined 10,000 pages from chapter books during the months of June, July, and August.  With one month down, I'm very pleased to report we are right on track to accomplishing that goal.  (Luckily we have G on our team, who is a bona fide speed reader.  Thank you BYU Law School for requiring him to read hundreds of pages a night.  That degree has come in handy over and over again!)

And last, we are having another contest each month.  Every day we try to complete six different tasks:  Exercise, Service, Read Scriptures (Buddy's goal is to work on Articles of Faith AND scriptures both), Learn something, Read, and Work.  We each have our own chart and put a sticker on the chart for each time we complete the task.  If we are highly motivated and get our rear in gear, we could potentially get six stickers each day.  Whoever gets the most stickers each month wins.  The prize is $20 and G won for the month of June with 108 stickers.  Buddy came in second, me third, and Sambo fourth.  I've decided G has an un-fair advantage since I have the responsibility of doing my tasks PLUS helping the boys complete theirs.  But whatever, life isn't fair I guess.  There is no penalty for not doing the tasks and I don't beg the kids to do them.

If I do say so myself, this has been one of the smartest things I've ever come up with.  I don't have to hassle my kids (or myself) to get things done, AND we've been accomplishing a ton all at our own pace and according to whatever schedule we want.  All with a healthy dose of competition/money, which is a great motivator for my kids.  

Are you getting tired of my "I love summer vacation" posts yet?  Too bad because I have a few more in the works.  Including a pros and cons list of homeschool.  Feel free to start drafting your opinions because I want to hear them.