Building a Schedule.

With summer already underway for the kids and my course ended, it's time to catch up on my sleep and get going with our daily schedule, which will run throughout the year, not just throughout the summer.  You've already seen my (kind of ridiculous) summer schedule here.  Now, here is my (kind of ridiculous) daily schedule:

Wake up - 9:00: Breakfast and free play
9:00 - 9:15: Clean up
9:15 - 10:00: Craft
10:00 - 10:15: Snack
10:15 - 11:15: Active play (outside or inside, depending on weather)
11:15 - 11:45: Directed learning
11:45 - 12:30: Lunch prep with the kids, and lunch
12:30 - 1:15: Daily chores
1:15 - 1:30: Clean up
1:30 - 2:30: Quiet time.  For everyone.  Including me.
2:30 - 2:45: Snack, for those who are awake
2:45 - 3:15: Directed play
3:15 - 3:30: Clean up
3:30 - 5:00: Free play and supper prep
5:00 - 5:30: Supper
5:30 - 7:00: Free play or movie, and supper clean-up
7:00 - 7:15: Snack
7:15 - 8:00: Getting ready for bed
8:00: Bedtime!

Yes, I know.  Looks obsessive.  But hey, schedules work for me; and, with no one else to accommodate, we can change or completely drop the schedule as I choose, if something else more interesting or important comes up.  Like I said, though, schedules work for me.  I like schedules.  They make me happy, except for one thing.

If the schedule is going to work, I have to work.

Now, I am generally a highly unmotivated person.  I have great intentions, but very little initiative.  I love me my schedules, but I'm terrible at timing, and a schedule only works if you implement it.  That takes initiative and timing.  And work.

Do you have a daily schedule?  How in-depth is it?

Getting Ready for Summer.

Without the budget for summer camps, I've had to get creative this year -- and thanks to the teachers' strike, I've had to get creative even earlier.  So, Monday marks the beginning of the first year of Mama's Theme Weeks.  With the exception of VBS week in August, each week this summer has a particular theme.

Week 1: Dino Week
Week 2: Space Week
Week 3: Canada Week
Week 4: Monster Week
Week 5: Zoo Week
Week 6: Superheroes Week
Week 7: Wild Animal Week
Week 8: Nature Week
Week 9: VBS Week
Week 10: No Theme Yet Week
Week 11: Beach Week
Week 12: Back to School Week!  (Thank Heaven.)

I know it looks ridiculous (seeing it typed out looks ridiculous even to me) but honestly, I'm having tons of fun getting ideas!  I have a few crafts lined up for Dino Week already, and I've been to the library to pick up some books on dinosaurs.  Tomorrow I'll really buckle down while the boys are out and do the prep work for Monday's activities.

Now, just because every week has a theme doesn't mean that I'm going overboard.  Well, not too overboard.  Depending on whom you ask.  (Don't ask the husband.)  The Fantastic 4 will still get plenty of time to play on their own, but too much free play is as bad as not enough.  It's important that kids have some sort of direction and routine.

Here's the rundown:

Each morning will start with breakfast (of course) and free play, including colouring sheets related to the week's theme.  If I had the variety, I'd also have theme-related toys out, but that's just asking too much.  I mean really, if you want me to go overboard, that would be it.  Free play is followed by a snack, which is then followed by outside play (or active inside play, if it's raining), lunch prep, and lunch.  After lunch is learning and craft time, which is where the theme really comes in.  Craft time is followed by nap time and/or quiet time (necessary for both children and Mama), which is followed by a snack, which is followed by free play until supper time.

Phew!  I'm glad we got through that.

Maybe the schedule seems like a little much, too, but all this planning and scheduling helps me to function -- and with four kids home for an eleven-weeks-plus-two-days-long summer, I'll need to be able to function without frying my brain in short order.  It's going to be a cram-jammed summer of fun (I hope) and I'll keep you up-to-date with everything that's going on in our little world.

Cheers,

Kelsey