It’s summer and while not much changes for my homeschool kids, the rest of the children in district schools are home for the summer. This could cause some rifts in your own home if the neighborhood children come knocking at the door to play during your school hours. Take time to set up a plan for your summer. The neighborhood children are going to want to come and play. Have a schedule in place for when this occurs. This way you can tell them when you’re free or not.

I trained the children in our neighborhood to know what time our children were available during the summer. Then I had planned activities so everyone always had something to do. This left less time for mischief making. It also gave the other children in the neighborhood a better chance to get to know our family.

Maybe you work from home and homeschool. Why not take summer time to lighten the homeschool load and plan for your children to entertain the others in the neighborhood while you get some work done. There is no better babysitter than other children to play with when Grandma is not available.

Lighten Your Summer Load
Homeschool

Plan at least one outing per week to get everyone out in the fresh air. Set up a schedule so everyone knows what to expect. If some of that time each day is free time, it becomes something everyone looks forward to. They can do anything during free time. So their more apt to do their chores, schoolwork, etc., if they KNOW they have free time ahead.

During the summer we had school until 12 noon, cleanup time, then lunch until about 12:45. We’d write on the schedule, free time from 1 – 5. Clean up for dinner was at 5. You get the picture.

There is a lot to be said for having a set schedule. Some say you’re a slave to your schedule. I say, “YOU make up the schedule. Set it up how YOU want it!”

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Copyright ©2004 Susie Glennan
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