How To Give Your Child A Fun, Gadget-Free Summer This 2012

Today's guest post will be particularly relevant to our family this summer. We followed (more or less) the public school schedule this year. So, we have been looking forward to a summer break for quite some time. And since we wound up ending school a little early due to moving, we will probably end up having a couple of months of down time.

Apart from the sweltering weather, summer usually means family bonding, beach trips, and the kids running amok around the house. Well, they’re either tearing the house to pieces or spending the entire day glued to their gadgets.
Either way, it’s an annual challenge to keep the kids occupied during the six school-free weeks of summer. It used to be quite an easy task – until the laptops, Playstations, Xbox’s, and iPads came along.
Want to know how to work your way around this year’s summer ‘kiddie pre-occupation’, anti-gadget challenge?

 Here are four sure-fire tips:

1. Organize play dates with same-aged kids in the neighborhood.
Nothing keeps a child preoccupied better than another kid who shares the same interests. Contact moms around your area or within your circle of friends who have kids that are the same age as yours. Rotate your playdate gatherings for all weekends of summer, and prepare different activities for each playdate. Don’t forget to leave the iPads and handheld game consoles at home!

Sharing the ‘burden’ of summer planning with other parents make it easy for you to come up with more ‘detailed’ activities, like backyard sports matches, cookie parties, and a lot more.

2. Why not check out the village park and play with your kids?
The village park may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think ‘summer vacation with the kids’. But, thing is, the feeling between you and your child may not be mutual.

The park may actually be his or her idea of a great place to hang out in with Mom and Dad this summer!
Take a day off or two and head to the village park. Armed with a picnic basket filled with your family’s favorite snacks (prepared at home of course), relish the warmth of the summer sun and the beauty of spending quality time without actually shelling out money.

Taking the kids to the playground may be an ‘old-school’ way of bonding. But nonetheless, it’s definitely a great way to encourage more active play, interaction with family, and socialization with other kids.

3. Put up a lemonade stand, sell cupcakes, or just enjoy working on a summer goal together.
As an adult, you may not enjoy having all the responsibilities at home and at work. On the other hand,  your kid is actually thrilled by the idea of being given one! Capitalize on that childhood ‘desire’ and give your child a little goal to achieve for summer.

You can make it fun and let him share the responsibility with a sibling or a friend. Selling home-made products like cookies or cupcakes (which the child helped bake too!) are an amazing idea to tap their creative and entrepreneurial side. You can also give them the summer task of ‘renovating’ his or her room or help you find little ‘treasures’ from the garage or attic by helping you clean it.

These little projects would keep them so busy (and tired after a day’s ‘work’), that they won’t even think of reaching out for that iPad or Playstation.

Once the goal has been ‘reached’, don’t forget to reward your kid for a job well done!

4. Go on a nature adventure…in your backyard.

Kids love the thrill of ‘discovering’ things. And summer is just the perfect time to make use of your little piece of personal real estate to give them their dose of exciting nature discoveries!

 Spring and summer season are when beautiful things start growing from the ground – let your kid get down and dirty, and join them in welcoming new vegetable or flower sprouts.

When the heat starts to irritate your kid, don’t depend on the airconditioning system. Instead, head to your backyard and turn the sprinkler on! Make little mud pools, assemble kid-made waterfalls, and bask at the smiles of pure bliss from your children.

Yes, despite and in spite of the wonderful technology that surrounds the kids of this generation, summer is still made for fun in the outdoors. And to adapt to the challenging economic times at present, make the necessary adjustments by exploring the many amazing things that surround you and your home.

Deena Smith is a pre-school teacher, writer, and mom to two grade-schoolers and an adorably active toddler. She enjoys preparing activities for her kids when school is out, and also dabbles in crafts for birthday souvenirs and even graduation party favors!

Menu Plan Monday - 4/30/12

Well, our packing is progressing nicely. Of course, the kitchen will be the last room that we tackle. I am still planning quick, easy meals.

Menu Plan Monday

Our bread machine pan broke a couple of weeks ago. At first I found that a bit distressing. Especially since it didn't make sense to try to order a new one in the midst of moving. But happily I found a recipe for making bread in bulk. You can make six loaves of bread in the same amount of time that it would take to make one or two! The children and I used the recipe last week and it was fabulous!!

It's more of an all purpose dough, as we used it to make 3 loaves of bread, hot dog buns, cinnamon rolls, and calzones. Eventually I will divide the the dough into 5 parts because the loaves of bread were a little smaller than we prefer. But at the moment for economic reasons, I am sticking to 6.  I will use the dough to make 4 loaves for our sandwiches for lunch, hamburger buns, and pizza dough.

Also for the sake of time, I am going to cook some beans in the crock pot. I will be able to get 3 meals out of them.

Anyhoo, on to this week's menu.

Last week's wheat, apple, banana, honey, walnut, PB muffins

Breakfasts (served with fruit):

• a to z muffins
• cold cereal
• oatmeal
• pancakes and sausage
• egg, cheese, and leftover meat tacos with homemade tortillas
• grits

Lunches (served with fruit or a vegetable):

• PBJ x2
• vegetarian spaghetti
• leftovers x2
• ramen noodles

Dinners (served with a vegetable):

• barbequed sausage over mashed potatoes
• homemade refried beans on homemade tortillas, rice
• pinto beans over rice
• cornbread casserole
• crustless quiche - I use whatever cheese and green veggie I have on hand
• homemade cheese pizza

Special Needs Homeschooling

Today we have a guest post.

photo courtesy of agastecheg

  Homeschooling is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to take back time with our family.  Our world has become so busy and the time spent as a family unit has declined rapidly over the past 50 years.  I am a mother of 6 amazing and unique children.  I currently have the opportunity to homeschool 3 of my children and I do it specifically because they have special needs.  My daughter Grace is my youngest child and she was born with Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome), my son Ryan has a sensory disorder and my youngest boy Colin has a auditory sensory problem.  My experience homeschooling has been hard but so rewarding.

I received the diagnosis of Down Syndrome when I was 6 months pregnant with my daughter I was not sure what the future would hold for my daughter or my family.  I had no idea how I would handle therapy schedules and special ed programs, my head was spinning and I was scared.  It was not until I came across some literature supporting the homeschooling of special needs children that I ever even thought about it.  I then connected myself with other homeschooling groups specifically focused on special needs children and at that point I knew we were in the right place.

My goal for my children was not only to learn what was age appropriate for them.  I wanted to find a therapy program to help them progress and become the best they can be.  Through my research I was able to find a a therapy program through NACD - National Association for Child Development to provide me with a program to assist me with both of my goals.  Administering the homeschooling and therapy program myself with the guidance of NACD has been so beneficial to all 3 of my children.  My son who is at kindergarden age is reading at a 2nd grade level and doing math at the end of 3rd grade level.  My daughter is talking, can recognize over 100 picture cards and follows 2 step commands at 2 years old.  My son Colin has just started the program and already improved his speech and listening abilities.

Homeschooling gives you the opportunity to be the expert on how your child learns whether they learn typically or have a learning disability.  When you are aware of what is causing your child difficulty you can organize your plan to teach in a way they can retain and learn.  To be honest when planning the future for my family homeschooling was not a thought in my mind.  Since I have been participating in a homeschooling program for the past 2 years I am sold.  I truly enjoy the process of watching my children develop and learn.  I love being a part of their success and I would not change it for the world!

Katie Driscoll is a mom of 6 children and you can learn more about her family at 5boysand1girlmake6.com.

Good Bye House, Good Bye Texas, Good Bye Homeschool

Well, last month it became official that we are moving from Texas to California. My husband and I believe that the west coast is where the Lord is leading us. So, we are following. As with most things, life has not gone exactly as planned since we decided to move. But things are progressing none the less.

School is Out
I was wondering how I would manage packing up a house and homeschooling at the same time. But the principal (my husband) made it easy for me. School is out until....well....ummmm....... It may be out until next month or it may be out for a couple of months. Flexibility is the name of the game when you homeschool.

So, I have begun packing - getting the children's help whenever possible. And when they aren't helping they have been reading (our library books aren't due back for 2 weeks), watching something on Netflix, eating a meal, or drawing.

The Joys of Boxes
Thanks to my children I found out that if you put a white label on a box then you have an instant canvas. You can also take those same labels and make your own stickers; and then stick them where? Well, on a box of course! Boxes are also a great place to put a few rows of smiley face sticker, after smiley face sticker, after smiley face sticker....

And since life is school, I am having my 6 and 7 year olds label the boxes. Hey, you can't blame me for not wanting their handwriting to get rusty, right? And I must admit that I did consider having the children write out their additions tables on some of the boxes as well. But I know that would probably be pushing it since the principal declared that the official school year has ended.

Still Walking it Out
Despite the packing, we are still trying to meet our goal of exercise 3 times a week. That means that we walk to the park (that's 12 minutes), play for 30 - 45 minutes , and then walk back (another 12 minutes). Actually, the children play while I power walk around the park.

We got a poster from Subway Kids called "Let's Step It Up". It's part of the Random Acts of Fitness for Kids program that Subway had last year. We put up one sticker for each week that we meet our goal. It just so happens that we only have one star to go to meet our goal for this year. I thank God for the timing on that. This is the only poster that remains on the wall in our schoolroom.

It's OK to Let Go
Even though school is out, packing has turned out to be a great way to teach the children about purging. I explained that we will be donating items that: are in good condition that we never use anymore, we have outgrown, or that we just don't want any longer. I thought that the children would take it hard. But so far, everyone has been parting with items amicably.

I am not looking forward to leaving my church family. But I am excited about the next adventure that is our life.

Menu Plan Monday - 4/23

It has been years since I have participated in Menu Plan Monday. I have been planning menus all of this time. I just haven't seen the need to share them on my homeschooling blog. But today the thought occurred to me that pretty much everything that I do for the children is related to school. After all, life is school and school is life.

So with that said, here is my menu plan for the week.

Monday: b - egg, potato, ham, and cheese tortillas, biscuits (leftover) with jelly, bananas; l - leftovers; d - barbecued sausage over rice, Amish bread
Tuesday - b - egg, potato, sausage, and cheese casserole; l -pbj; d - oven barbecued chicken, cream style corn
Wednesday  b - apple scones, fruit; l - ham and cheese sandwiches, fruit; d- loaded baked potatoes
Thurday - b - french toast casserole, fruit; l - leftovers; d - spaghetti with whole wheat noodles
Friday- b - cereal, fruit; l - a to z muffins, fruit; d - hot dogs, homemade hotdog buns, home fries

a hotdog in our homemade bun

 Saturday - b - we usually sleep in ; l - Ramen noodles, green beans; d - chicken fajitas, homemade tortillas, corn

We are in the midst of packing to move out of state. So, meals are going to be as easy a possible during this time of transition. I will get back to well balanced meals as soon as we are settled. Also, I am sticking with tried and true recipes. There isn't much time for experimentation at the moment.

Teaching Children About Money

There is no shortage of free printable worksheets to teach children about coins and money. But since doing school in more of a Charlotte Mason style, I have been trying to stay away from worksheets and busy work.  CM believed that the best way to teach children money was to let them handle and count real coins and bills. 

Printable Coins for Kids

As I thought about this approach I realized that I rarely have cash on hand. I have been using my check card for most purchases for over a decade now. But I did find this realistic printable sheet of coins. There are several pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and one half dollar on the page. (This is not a free site but you can print out the first 5 printables for no charge.) 

I let the children color the coins themselves.

Then I cut them into strips like so.

And I folded the strips in half and pasted them, matching up the front and back of the coins as best I could.

 

I cut out the first penny and then realized that I was in for quite a task of cutting out all of those coins. Thankfully, my 6 year old daughter offered to  help. I knew that the coins wouldn't be as neat as if I did them myself but I didn't want to turn down her help and hurt her feelings (and create extra cutting for myself.) So, I showed her and my 7 year old how to cut right outside of the black line and to take their time. And you know, they did great!

The coins aren't perfect but the children had a great time cutting them out (I would not have) and they got very excited when I told them that I was going to laminate them with my handy dandy laminator so that we could have them for a long time. 

Printable Play Money

I also laminated the full size play money that I printed out. I was going to print out the different denominations on different colored sheets of paper, like Donna Young suggested. But instead, I decided to make the play money look as realistic as possible. I opted to use white construction paper (which is really off white) for all of the bills.

Money Board Games for Kids

What I was really hoping to find was a free printable board game about money, something similar to this one:

This game isn't that much at Amazon but I try to use as many free resources as possible. If I spent just a few bucks on every new unit or lesson, that would still add up to quite a bit over the course of the school year.

So I kept searching. I have yet to find a printable money game but I did find instructions on how to make a game myself. I plan on making and laminating one "board" for each child. And we'll use the paper coins for the game. It looks like it will only take a few minutes to put together.

An Online Game to Teach About Money

• Spending Spree 

     

Printable Money Games

These printable money flashcards  and money dominoes looked like they will  be very useful as well. Instead of laminating them I just printed them out on white card stock. They aren't as sturdy as the play money. But, I figure they'll last long enough for the children to master money.

Poems About Money for Children

Here is a poem about coins to help children remember them easier. 

Penny, penny,
Easily spent
Copper brown
and worth one cent.

Nickel, nickel,
Thick and fat,
You're worth five cents.
I know that.

Dime, dime,
Little and thin,
I remember,
You're worth ten.

Quarter, quarter
Big and bold,
You're worth twenty-five
I am told! 

Half dollar, Half dollar, 

giant size,
Worth 50 cents 

to buy some fries.

Dollar, Dollar, 

Green and long,
Worth 100 cents, 

You can't go wrong!!!


And my children always find educational rap songs fun to learn.


The Money Rap

Well, I know a song
It's really kind of funny
It's all about coins
And learning to count money.

Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters
Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters

Now a penny means one (hold out 1 finger)
And a nickel means five (hold out 5 fingers)
Dimes are worth ten (hold out 10 fingers)
And quarters twenty five (flash... 10 twice & then 5)

Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters
Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters

Five pennies in a nickel
(hold out 1 hand- fingers stretched)
Two nickels in a dime
(hold out 2 fingers)
Five nickels in a quarter
(hold out 1 hand - fingers stretched)
You'll know it every time!
(using both hands do a downward motion)

Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters
Pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters
Yeah!!! 

Playing Store

We will definitely be using Donna Young's suggestions for playing store. I printed out a sheet of price tags. The children cut them out and put string through the holes that I punched out for them. They already own 2 cash registers; so, we are all set. 

Fun, Fun, Fun

The play money turned out better than I expected. The children are having a blast learning about money.

 

Blogging at the Homeschooling Blog

For the past few weeks I have been writing some posts for The Homeschooling Blog. I have been writing 1 to 2 articles a week there. And that has been working out great. So, if you have a chance make sure to stop past and give a look see.