Summer Program for Teens

Summers used to be filled with play volcanoes, doing jumping jacks and workbook pages.  But– now my oldest takes summer school, my middle one is so ahead in school, he needs his brain challenged in other ways and while my youngest could still easily get along with worksheets and play volcanoes — I’m changing.  I want more out of the summer.

{you can see my last summer schedule posts here & here}

I just realized I have 2 summers left with all these kids.  Soon my son will serve an LDS mission and be gone.  Just like that, in the blink of an eye.

So I vowed to make this summer different.  Here’s what’s on tap:

Summer School for a 16 Year old

Well, he will be 16 within a few months.  This summer we’re working on some personal goals.  Things like getting his learner’s permit (which, his mean mom is requiring him to call our insurance, schedule his own DMV appt, etc), finding out about checking accounts.  Of course, he also gets to spend a few weeks at summer school.  He has to take it because he takes seminary during one class period/day at school.  Lucky dude.

Along with that I plan to get some ACT/SAT prep books & apps and have him do a few questions/day in each of them.  He did really well on the PSAT and we’re excited for what his future holds if he can get it all together.  I actually cleared off an older tablet we had and it only has SAT/ACT apps for him to use and learn with.

The main goal is helping him get it together.

I’m proud to say I employ him to do some graphic design here a Pulling Curls.  He does a great job.  I won’t pretend that the delicate balance between mom and boss hasn’t be a tough transition at times. {sigh}

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Summer School for a 12 Year Old

This kid’s smart.  I’m not sure that any workbook is really engaging his brain like I’d like to see happen.  He’s starting to have teachers who do that at school and I’m excited for this one’s future.

Instead of Summer Bridge books (which I think are great, I just want to go different this year) we’re going to be doing some Math puzzle books.  Here are a few I found that look good:

Total Brain Workout — this one seems to have a lot of different activities he can try.  He is basically in pre-algebra in school, so I am hopeful that the math isn’t too hard.  The book is big enough I think he could do the easier ones this year, and then progress next summer.

The Moscow Puzzles — kind of cool how old this book is.  It looks small enough to easily stow in a bag if we’re on vacation or at an appt.  Big fun.

We also plan to read a good book/week with this one.  I think we’ll start out with Vodnik.  For us, the key is going to be finding books he might not normally read, but he would still really like.  I’m open for suggestions. 🙂

I am also proud to say I hire this one to do some spreadsheet data entry for me.  He does a really good job at that type of thing, and I think it will help his typing skills.  Hurrah!

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Summer School for a 7 Year Old

This one loves to draw, color and do all things worksheet (when in a good mood).  I found some Kaplan books at Goodwill that had only been used a couple of times.  So, for the bargain price of 4 dollars for both books we’ll be doing those.  Each day she’ll get a bit of math, english, writing, etc. {btw, goodwill is an awesome place for workbooks!}

Writing has not worked out well for us in the past.  I sometimes think our school is so extensive on writing they just need some time off.  I do plan to get her a journal to record our summer travels, but other than that, I just want to keep it low key.

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I think now is a good time to say that the summer really scares me.  I spend 3’ish hours/day working on this blog and all the things associated with it.  I really need that time to concentrate and get stuff done.  I’m not sure how that is going to happen with extra kids at home, but I’m excited to see how we can all make it work together.

I also (as you can see) am hiring out a bit of my work (to them, and others) so I can spend more time with them.

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Beyond all that we have some other crafty plans.

I really want to do this fancy string art that has like 9 million pins on my board.  I figure that will take a couple of weeks to figure out a design, head to home depot, get the wood cut, drill the holes, find string, etc.

I have found a few fun crafty things to do with Princess P (if I can pry her off Speakaboos).  I do plan some fun science experiments and of course we’ll still be getting our Tinker Crate and Kiwi Crate.  Mr Middle hasn’t had a lot of time to work on his during the school year.  He’s excited to have some longer timeframes to work on it.  Be sure to check out this post that has tons of cool subscriptions in it)

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One of the MAIN things I want to work on is responsibility, especially for the older boys.  They’ve had issues all school year with turning in homework and being on top of their studies.  I have adjusted our allowance spreadsheet a bit (over-riding concepts are still the same) and plan to pow-wow with them each after dinner to just say how the day has gone, things we’ve both done well at — and things we could do better at.

Between blog jobs and the jobs that we pay for in their allowance, they do have the chance to earn some good money for school needs in the fall.  I hope they will.  But, it’s going to be up to them.  I’m excited to see how they rise to the occasion.

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There’s one other thing I’m afraid of, and that’s electronics.  Both boys have a smartphone-esque device, a tablet and we have a computer for their use, and it’s not secret that they could easily be on those 24 hours/day.  Even with our contract.

Our main electronics rules that oversee our summer days:

1.  There is one hour designated for electronics time in the afternoon.  It must be earned by doing their jobs and studies without complaint (you can see that below!)
2. Electronics used outside this time frame will be eliminated.

I’m just so, so, so tired of them.  Always on a device.  We do have a charging slot for them in the kitchen that they can answer a text from a friend before their hour of free time.

{sigh}

I just wish I had some magic to fix that one.  I know my mom felt like TV was wasting my days, but if she only knew….

I know a lot of you are going to say that I should have never allowed them in my house, but I just don’t find that response to something they’re going to have to/get to deal with the rest of their lives reasonable.  I need to show them how to not be consumed by them (says the mom who’s on her laptop a lot — #badexample) 🙂

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Of course, in addition to all of this we will be heading to the library every week and we do have a fun trip planned.  The two younger have an intensive swim class.

I am excited to be able to share with our family summer schedule which you can download and update to create your own daily plan:

I only have two summers left with these kids.  I’ll be dang’d if they spend it with their nose to a screen (and I am aware that there are many days I will “be danged” — but I’ll work on it)!

I am really working on having more fun, excitement and enthusiasm with our day.  What are your fun plans?

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