Home-School Your Kids This Summer

Summer is looming. It may not seem so with the lingering cold temperatures and the constant rain in the East Coast, but it’s coming. While summer is fabulous in many ways, those of us with children at home understand the challenges that 3 long months with no school can present. Especially this summer.

Like many of you, I have to cut back this year on summer camps, babysitters, and vacations. So how do we get through this summer without going crazy? Without our kids dying from boredom, atrophying in mind and body, and feeling every pinch of the economic crisis?

Ladies, it’s time to home school. Just for the summer.

And like any good teacher, you need a Plan. A Lesson Plan. Just as a teacher prepares for a successful semester in the classroom, you can be preparing now for a full, enriching, fabulous summer with your kids that you will always remember.

So let me dust off my old teacher’s hat and share my strategies on how to prepare a lesson plan (or “Unit Plan” would be more accurate, for you teachers out there):

-State your objectives. What is your goal for your kids this summer? What kinds of things would you like your children to learn or develop? Reading? Manners? Social skills? Empathy? Nature Awareness? Concentrate on just a few and write them down.

-Set up “classroom rules”. All good teachers are able to get their students to behave much better than they normally do at home. They set high standards, and have clear consequences and rewards. At home, we can (and should) raise the bar, too. If the rules are coupled with a fun weekly reward, the kids should rise to the occasion.

-Do your research and grab your calendar. This is the fun part. Go online NOW and read your paper. Write down anything and everything that sounds interesting and fun that’s coming up this summer. Where we live in Virginia, there are tons of outdoor festivals, state parks, free concerts, library story times, pick-your-own blackberry farms, you name it. Not to mention all the regular museums and tourist attractions we tend to ignore. If you write these things on your calendar, you will avoid having to think when asked the question, “Mom, what are we doing today?”

-Team Teach: Let some of your friends in on your new strategy, and work together. Invite other kids along on some of your adventures, and allow other parents to reciprocate. Ergo, your free babysitting.

-Have an “emergency lesson plan” folder. Veteran teachers always have a backup plan for when the VCR breaks, the activity ends early, or something just plain doesn’t work. At home, we also need to have some contingency plans for rain, illness, or just miserable humidity and heat. Start a file with ideas that appeal to you.

-Read. Every teacher will tell you that this is the key to success- not fancy camps, exotic vacations, golf lessons, or tutors. Just read. Go to the library. Have a set time the kids read each day, with and without you.

We can all have a wonderful summer, despite (and I argue, because of) our lack of economic resources. By taking action now, we can ensure that our kids will want for nothing in terms of education, activity, and attention – even without spending a dime.

-TWM

Wasteless Birthday Parties for Kids

My daughter brought up the subject of her upcoming 4th birthday on the very day that my husband was laid off from work. Perfect. Now, as I was desperately trying to scrape together a revised, even-more-stripped-down-than-usual budget, I had to add “fantastic birthday party” to the extra column of our budget spreadsheet dangerously labeled “miscellaneous”?

How could I pull this off without letting someone down: my stressed-out husband, my trusting daughter, or my own conscience that rebels against the abhorrent waste that surrounds the mega-business of the party industry?

My salvation came from 2 unexpected sources: my grandmother’s estate, and my daughter’s words.

First, my daughter. Far from being immune to the Great Marketing Machine, my daughter wanted a “Barbie Rapunzel Birthday” with all the little girls in her preschool class. Here we go- the plates, the dream castle, the plastic and goodie bags and themed games and on and on and on…right?

No. When questioned further, my precious 4-year-old-to-be clarified that a Barbie Rapunzel Birthday meant that you had a Barbie candle on your cake.

Seriously? That’s it? CAN DO, sweetie. One Barbie candle. Check.

The second lifeline came from something I initially begrudged: my inherited “demitasse set” from my late grandmother’s estate- you know, those tiny, tiny little fragile teacups you never see anymore. Too nice to give away, too fancy for my usual style, too small for my monstrous caffeine requirements.

But quality. And fancy. And completely useless unless used. Even if it’s by clumsy little hands that may break one or two in the process, these cups were meant to be used, and now they will be, in my daughter’s Barbie Rapunzel - Fancy Dress Birthday Tea Party. It’ll be fabulous, fancy, and completely free of waste. And free of destructive boys.

My daughter’s true wishes revealed and the gift from my grandmother provided me two lessons about how to avoid wasteful spending, energy, and consumption in children’s parties: 1) Our children’s wishes are simpler than we think, and 2) the best inspiration for a party can come out of desire to use something great you already have.

What do you have at your disposal that would make for a great party? A huge sandbox in your backyard for a beach party? A chef’s kitchen perfect for a cooking party? A large garden for aspiring gardeners? A trunk full of flowered hats? A collection of old 45’s for a sock hop?
Give your possessions a new life rather than condemn a bunch of paper and plastic to an instant eternity in a landfill. The only person that will notice the lack of costly disposable extras will be you

When kids need to HAVE something when they DO something

I never feel deprived when I can’t have something, but I feel ridiculously sorry for myself, or my kids, when we can’t do something.

Back when we were dating, my husband and I agreed that we would always choose doing over having, when it came to our spending priorities. So, we do lots of cool things, in my opinion, without having to feel like we have to also buy things to have in the process.

For example, we ski all the time, but with pretty old gear. We travel the world, but camp, stay with friends, or choose “quaint” over “fabulous.” We go to concerts, events, day trips, even theme parks, without having to get the t-shirt, the poster, the expensive lunch, or the souvenir.

Then along came our kids. Of course we want them to see and do, and so they have.

But….kids seem to need to have when they do. And there is a multi-billion dollar industry that knows this. Everywhere we go, we have to walk through a gift store to reach the exit sign. At every outdoor event, there is someone selling a $12 balloon or $15 spinny light thing that will break in the car on the way home, and every other kid has got it. And in addition to the spinny thing, they need the sugary thing.

What starts off as a quality, affordable family outing can turn into a depressing pile of plastic, sugar, and credit card debt, just so the kids can “get something.” It’s enough to make you not want to go anywhere at all.

Then one day, a friend of mine brought along a bag of lollipops to keep in the car after a day at a theme park. Low and Behold, the promise of that one lollipop at the end of the day allowed my kids to turn a blind eye to every “make your own sand sculpture out of colored edible sugar” stand we passed.

Could it be this easy? Are kids that cheaply bought off? The answer is YES, and the younger they are, the cheaper. They just need Something, and if you bring that Something along with you instead of buying it there, you will spend almost nothing.

Here are the Somethings that have worked for my kids, and I encourage you to stock up now for your next special outing. Just DON’T give these things to your kids all the time, or the magic will be ruined:

bag of lollipops
bubbles
glow sticks
stickers
popsicles (for when they get home)
a turn taking pictures with your digital camera
a turn holding the flashlight
a wrapped toy from the dollar store (lifesaver at Disney World!!)
their own notebook and crayons to keep a journal

Yes, it would be great if kids didn’t need these things every time they got to do something, but they’re just kids, and I myself am tired to trying to completely fight that concept.

When they get older, I am going to give them a set amount of money to blow at the beginning of every season, and when it’s gone it’s gone. They’ll learn quickly.

But right now, I love being able to spoil them with a 20-cent glow stick when we’re out late at night. They couldn’t be happier.

-TWM