We wait so long for summer . . . for the freedom of long, lazy, sunny days with nowhere that we have to go! Summer can somehow slip by so very quickly though, that when the cold weather comes again, sometimes we don’t feel like we’ve accomplished very much. “Summer 4” to the rescue!
The “Summer 4” is an easy way to give a little structure to fun summer days without totally squelching the idea of summer vacation / free time that we all enjoy so much! Here’s how we do it: each morning we decide on at least one thing to do in each category of the Summer 4. It isn’t too much. It is just 4 categories, after all. And if they are all done when we go to bed that night, there is a great sense of achievement!
Here’s our Summer 4:
1) Work
2) Study
3) Service
4) Fun
I fold a small paper in fourths, and title each section with one of the Summer 4. Then we brainstorm how to fulfill it.
This is what my daughter Louisa’s “Summer 4” looked like on Monday:
Work
Dig thistles out of the orchard for 20 minutes
Study
Practice violin
Do a math lesson
Read
Service
Visit Mrs. Miller in the hospital
Fun
Sew peasant blouse with Mom (it turned out cute, huh?)
and yesterday’s . . .
Work
Plant melon seedlings in garden
Study
Practice violin
Read
Service
Mow lawn
Fun
Experiment with inventing a good recipe for peach milkshakes (yummy!)
Having the fun in there is pretty important, and we plan it for last. That way we have something to look forward to! Putting service before self is always a good lesson to cure the “me first” attitude.
If you feel like your kids aren’t getting much done, try the Summer 4. Works great!
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