Camp B-mama

Well, the summer has officially started around here. After day one, I was feeling pretty good about how the day went when I was reminded, "This is only day one!" Ahh--how does one keep three boys and a little girl busy and out of trouble for three months?

Enter: Camp B-mama!

That's not really what we're calling it around here, but it sounds fun doesn't it? "Camp" is really just the ebb and flow of our home life, mixed in with activities and themes to keep us all focused and busy.

Our days start with waking, dressing, eating, and teeth-brushing. The boys checked dentist appt. off their summer lists already with a visit on Monday. Both came back with a thumbs-up on their oral hygiene and a reminder to brush twice-a-day. Oy! There is definite room for improvement on that one... So we're going to work on incorporating more teeth-brushing into our morning routine.

From breakfast, there are four options for our mornings: 1) free play in the house, 2) gym play at the YMCA while mom works out, 3) morning math and piano--the boys have math books they are completing and M is continuing to play piano throughout the summer, or 4) off on an outing!

We have set up our week to have a different morning activity depending on the day of the week. Mondays and Wednesdays are going to be a combination of 1 and 3. Tuesdays and Fridays are 2's thanks to some great classes at the gym I love! Thursdays are 4's and will be dictated by our weekly theme.

Monday lunchtime is when we'll head to the library to pick out books for our weekly theme. This week's theme: GERMS--viruses and bacteria! The boys have a Magic School Bus book on this topic that they love, so all of our resource time this week (silent and cooperative reading, computer time, etc.) is going to be spent learning more about germs. Unfortunately, the library offered few children's books on this topic, so we're going to have to be computer-reliant for a lot of our information. On the docket for this morning--germ books, where the kids will create their own germ reference guides and practice drawing and writing.

Afternoons will be spent in silent reading and media time (TV/Computer). I am desperately resisting the temptation to have any media in the morning hours. It is an extra that we'll save for when we're really strung out, tired, and exhausted by the morning hours. The babies will usually be napping during those hours anyway, so it will really be just the older boys getting some chill time.

Add in our trip to Ohio next week, two weeks of swim lessons, a week of Vacation Bible School in the mornings, and a week of morning art camp and we really only have about 8 summer weeks with which to implement our themes. Not too shabby! We will have a much better chance of surviving this way than without a plan.

I'm already seeing the fruit--it is apparent to me why homeschooling moms love the flexibility of their schedules. Not having to be in such a hurry in the morning has already been SUCH a blessing. We are all much more calm and at peace. My hats off to those of you who do this year round!