Fighting the Summer "Slide"

This summer, I was determined to give my almost-first grader and almost fourth-grader a daily routine that included academic activities to beat the Summer Slide.

Are you familiar with the "Summer Slide?" It is the concept that students forget valuable information over the summer, causing the teachers to re-teach concepts in the fall that were already covered in the spring.

Our daily routine combined academics with the opportunity to earn electronics. I asked my boys to complete 30-minutes each of math, writing, and reading (at appropriate levels) and in return they earned an electronic activity, such as a YouTube video or video game time. Each day they could also complete either the math (using IXL Math or ABCya) or the writing (using Scribblenauts) electronically. We went to library weekly to replenish the selection of books for reading time.

Overall it went well. My oldest would occasionally complain that summer was for "relaxing" and not doing school work, however the routine of the plan worked well for him. He's they kind of kid who would happily watch TV, play video games, or watch YouTube videos all day if we did not give him set guidelines. The youngest happily followed the routine and would often go to the schedule posted on the fridge to check "what's next."

School starts in just a few days for my kids, so we will see how much of the Summer Slide we prevented. How about you? What works well for you to prevent the Summer Slide? Comment with your ideas below.

Summer Goals - FINAL WEEK!!

It is officially the last week of summer break. Technically, it is the last few days since teachers officially report back on Thursday. As always the break has gone by fast. Even though we were fortunate to have 10.5 weeks of summer break in my district this year, time moves fast since I try to cram as much in to that time as I can.

Time to reflect...

Week One: I was super successful with setting and achieving goals the first week. It also helped that I was the only one home!! My husband and children still had one more week of school.

Week Two: Successful at setting goals, but not completely successful at achieving them. The house was full (everyone home), so distractions were constant!!

Week Three: Successful at setting goals, horrible at achieving them...

Week Four: Successful at setting goals...

Week Five: Oops!

Week Six: Doh!

Week Seven: Sort-of successful at setting goals, did not completely achieve them.

Week Eight: Completely successful at setting and achieving goals! Of course, this is simply because I was on vacation and the goals were beach and family oriented :)

Week Nine: Completely successful at enjoying every minute visiting my BFF/sister in California.

Week Ten: No goals set, however I did start a new fitness/meal plan with my husband which should help us both feel more fit and energetic. The challenge will be to keep up with it once our "normal" schedules begin again.

Week Ten and a Half: That would be this coming Sunday through Wednesday, the final days of my summer break.

• I need to paint the front railing. It is mostly prepped; I guess I should paint it :) 
• I need to convince my brain to focus on work tasks since there will not be enough time in the day to complete everything if I wait until the 4 days before students walk in the door! 
• I need to get my oldest son ready for First Grade, which he will start in 2 weeks (this just involves reviewing what he learned in Kindergarten and checking supplies).

I will start that list tomorrow. For now, I will enjoy the view out my front window:

Chore Charts

CT has hit the wonderful age of 6... and he is constantly asking for things. Squinkies... Nerf guns... Legos... video games... a basketball. Enough, already!

I did some research on ideas for allowance based on the ages of my boys. I know CT can handle many different tasks and IG, who is 3, will have a shorter list of tasks. I want them to learn the lesson of earning money and prioritizing how to use that money, however I do not want them to expect payment for every little task they do. Somehow I'd like to find the right balance.

Here's the plan:

I created a Chore Chart for each boy. On the left are the tasks they should be doing every day; these tasks earn the weekly "allowance." CT will be paid $6 per week and IG will be paid $3 per week as long as they are being a functioning member of the family and doing these tasks (put clothes in basket, straighten bed, put away toys, etc.). On the right are additional tasks that can be completed for additional pay; a quarter per task for CT and a dime per task for IG.

I created the charts using PowerPoint, printed them on regular paper, and put them in frames from the dollar store. Now I can use them as "wipe off" charts. At the bottom are spaces that I can keep track of their day to day progress: if they completed the allowance tasks and how many extra tasks they completed. Pay day will be Saturday morning of each week.

While at the dollar store, I also lucked out and found Piggy Banks (!) so I bought four of them, 2 for each boy.

The plan is for one piggy to hold "Savings" and for the other piggy to hold "Spending." CT will be required to put at least $2 of his allowance in the savings piggy each week, while IG is required to put at least $1 in the savings piggy. At the end of each month, we will go to the bank and put the contents of the piggies in to their savings accounts. The other piggy is for their spending money. CT already has ideas for what he wants to buy. Once he picks his first item, I will research it's price and create a chart so he knows when he has enough money to buy the item.



This Saturday will be our first pay day. I have no clue whether this will work they way I would like it to or not. Somehow there has got to be a way to teach children about the importance of working hard to afford what they want without creating monsters that expect payment for everything they are asked to do. I see both of those types of children every day: the ones that expect handouts and the ones that ask "what do I get?"

I'll let you know how it goes...