We have a week and a half until summer vacation...Here are our tips for keeping summer sanity.
SCHEDULE-SCHEDULE-SCHEDULE!!
I think this is key. Our schedule will look something like this:
Get Up: 8:00 am. Keeping sleep patterns the same is very important.
8-9: breakfast~chores
9-10: worksheets from workbooks, on-line on a variety of subjects. When complete my go outside and ride bikes, etc.
10-11: Journaling about feeling of the morning and how they hope their afternoon will feel, and then draw, Lego's, clay or other sensory activities we keep in a basket.
11-12: lunch and then read
In the afternoons I try to pick an activity we do together for each day some of these include:
Swimming
library
museum
YMCA to work out
go to neighboring town for activity
Getting out of the house and getting them moving is important. They really need to burn off energy!!!
Evenings:
Dinner
board games,
sit together out on deck and talk
watch very little TV
play out side with parent (according to child's age: blow bubbles, skate in driveway, play basketball, draw with chalk, ride bikes, go on a walk, hula-hoop, jump rope, play in sprinkler)
read a book together
Keep a regular bedtime that is appropriate for your child's age. We have an hour of reading before bedtime as well. We go through a ton of books in the summer which I think is great!! Change is tough for kids with RAD. I think a schedule is key to having a fairly smooth summer!
P.S. While I do believe it is important to maintain structure please do not mistake this for authoritive rigid parenting. I believe the kids should have choices as often as possible. They choose which chores to do first, they choose their outdoor activities, they choose which school work to do first. As long as their choices don't infringe upon the rights of others they are able to choose.
As for the different ages and abilities of the kids, we have five kids. You have to do what is right for each child. They need to be parented individually. Fair does not mean the same.
2 comments:
Thanks, this is what I am planning. My biggest problem will be I have healthy teens who love having unstructured time in the summer and spending time with friends and one is working evenings. Then I have a soon to be nine year old RAD son, who needs lots of sleep and is emotionally much younger. We had a long talk and he actually said he is fine with him having a written schedule that is different from the other kids schedules. He wants to learn times tables cause his sister knows them so I will give him time with flash cards and I got him books on dog training as he thinks he can train his dog (two year old mutt, not very smart, but we will see, he is gentle and wants to please) I will be using some of your ideas!
I so agree with both your schedule idea and the "fair does not mean the same" comment.
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