Summer Activities -- Tuesday

Today marks the official start of summer (although, unofficially, it started here weeks ago).  Tuesdays this summer are spent at home.  The girls awake around 7:00, and we have breakfast at 7:30.  Currently, their favorite breakfast is "panpakes -- no syrup," and some fruit. 


After clean-up, they climb back in their seats for more home school fun, and we work from 8:00 - 10:00am.  Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings tend to be very important in terms of making some progress so we try to make sure that time is well spent.  They just seem more eager to learn in the mornings, whereas Monday and Wednesday afternoons are more of a challenge.  We start off gently by reading a Bible story, a couple of poems and then sing a song or two.  After that, we complete pages out of five workbooks.  Then we have some dry erase notebooks that we use for writing.  When they aren't sniffing their dry erase markers, they enjoy the writing exercises.  Or maybe the marker fumes enhance the writing experience. 

Next we either review some rote skills (shapes, etc.) or work on sight words.  Then, as a wind down, I use the "What Your Preschooler Should Know" book to incorporate a history, science, literature or art lesson, depending on the day.  Today, for example, we learned about Betsy Ross and the creation of the American flag.  (If I had been thinking on my toes, I would have scheduled that discussion last week for Flag Day!  Alas, I am not a teacher; I am merely a nerdy mom.)  Usually an hour and forty minutes have elapsed at this point, and they are in need of some hands on, minimally supervised fun, usually consisting of painting, coloring, or rolling up their sleeves for some Play Doh action.

Free play lasts from 10am until noon, and they are usually occupied with their kitchen or doll house.  Having completed all of the above by 10am feels like such an accomplishment, and lately (due to my waning energy level) I find myself taking a break from 10:15 - 11am.  Today we had a visit from Grammie who arrived at 10:30 and stayed until the afternoon so that I could run some errands (CVS and Wal-Mart).  The girls had lunch at noon, watched an episode of Barney (oy!) at 12:30 and then had a nap from 1:30 - 3:00pm.  Due to rainy weather, we spent the afternoon playing in the basement with grocery carts, strollers, scooters, skates, etc.  Then, it was time for dinner and the nightly routine. 

And that is a typical Tuesday.