My Kind of Summertime Fun

So it is finally here! Summer vacation! It’s hot, the pool is open, and my schedule should be slowing down. As a teacher, summer vacation is a much needed rest from the day-to-day constant push to be on task and make sure every standard and need is being met by 15+ students. It will be a short-lived break, as trainings and classroom set up time will be here starting in July. For the next few weeks I get to just focus on being a wife and mom.

Spring Summer Cleaning

At the beginning of every summer I like to stop and take inventory of things that I would like to accomplish around the house. Usually people do this type of thing in the spring, but that just happens to be my busiest time of year at school, so my major clean out usually gets pushed to the first few weeks of summer, when I really have time to dig in deep and really get things cleaned out.

I am a list maker, so I start by making a list of things that I want to accomplish over the next few weeks, and then break that down into tasks that seem more do-able in an afternoon or over a couple of days. Things like deep cleaning the kitchen or the bathrooms usually get placed in the “get husband to help” column so that the task doesn’t become an insurmountable wall of demotivation.

Often my list will look something like:

• Organize playroom
• Clean out/organize crafting supplies
• Clean of desk in the office
• etc.

Then I will rank them in the order of highest need. Before I can organize my daughter’s playroom, I need to organize her crafting supplies, then I’ll be able to clean off my desk because that’s where most of her supplies have landed in the last few months. Then, depending on the size of the task, I will break that down into even smaller chunks. Section out the playroom to make organization easier. Start with dolls, and then move on to her kitchen, etc.

Summertime Fun

While cleaning is a very important part of summer, it isn’t all I like to do. Summertime is also when I get to spend the most quality time with my daughter. Now that she is three, life with her has become so much more fun! Not that the past two summers haven’t been fun, it’s a different level of fun. She’s past the baby stage and has move on to the little girl phase. I absolutely love this age! She is exploring her world and learning who she is and asserting her own opinions (sometimes quite loudly). While being three can also be a challenging age (I am learning where to set boundaries, just like she is learning where those are), it is also so much fun to watch her explore the world and learn new things each and every day.

I am a teacher. So guess what, a lot of the activities that I have planned for us this summer include a lot of learning opportunities. She isn’t in preschool at the time, so it is up to me to help her learn a lot of those early milestones that will help prepare her for Kindergarten in a couple of years (horrifying thought!). I want her to be prepared along with have a love and natural passion for learning. So all of the activities I have planned are geared directly to what she enjoys and can do almost entirely on her own.

Keeping Things Fun

Since my daughter loves learning about letters and numbers, most of my activities will include learning more about those. But we won’t be sticking to workbooks. The teacher in me won’t allow for it. Early childhood experts all agree that children age 0-5 learn best through exploration and play. It is why my PreK classroom was always a play based learning environment and why I almost NEVER did worksheets. The same goes for my own 3 year old. This summer you will be guaranteed to find us building towers while counting and looking at their shapes. Exploring the world through STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) activities. Doing pre-writing activities and practicing those skills. Alphabet and letter sound practice, reading nursery rhymes, and playing games.

And I can’t forget the most important learning experience, READING! If we don’t do anything else with our daughter this summer, we will be reading to her. Not only will it help grow her vocabulary and early concept of language, but it will also be a wonderful time building memories with her. We started with her when she was tiny, using short simple books, and now she wants us to read 4-5 books every night before bed. It is truly amazing!

I also plan on inviting over other friends for her to play with and to learn basic social skills, talking to and interacting with other children, not just her own age, but also older than her.

Swimming, jumping on the trampoline, learning how to swing, among other gross motor skills are all things that I hope to do with her this summer.

So What Now

So why am I writing about all of the things I plan on doing with my daughter this summer? Because I hope to take you on the journey with me. I plan on sharing just a few of the activities that we do this summer that you might want to try with your own little one at home. Your summer schedule may not look like mine, but if things work out as planned. You won’t need all day to do some of these fun learning activities. A few minutes in the evening or on a weekend may be all that you need to create meaningful play experiences for you LO.

These early years are some of the most important developmentally, and they go by so quickly. Take advantage of each and every moment you are given, and watch how they grow!

I hope to talk with you again soon my friends.

Peace and Blessings

Min. Max. Mom.