Do you have a summer schedule/routine/rhythm?
 

I keep alternating between thinking we need more structure and thinking imposing it would just stress me out. Every time I try any form of schedule I fail at it. But having my kids run amok has its drawbacks. They get out tools and leave them in the yard, make huge messes and don’t clean them up, fight, etc. But schedules make me twitchy and I don’t know how to follow them loosely enough that they don’t. Baby’s naps are not at set times, either. I think I need a nanny to do set activities with the kids while I take care of baby.

Re: Do you have a summer schedule/routine/rhythm?
 

My baby naps at a set time everyday so that helps with planning the day. We don't have a strict schedule but the kids have a list of things they have to do before they can go play outside or watch and hour of tv. I'll post a picture. (Sorry it's sideways.)https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...210c96755c.jpg

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Re: Do you have a summer schedule/routine/rhythm?
 

I try to plan an outing or two a week. Not too much but enough.

The kids each do a chore after every meal. We also do a small tidy before DH gets home from work and a bigger tidy as part of getting ready for bed.

We do a lighter version of our daily gathering during the summer. We usually do that after breakfast. DD naps around 12-2 or 1-3, during which the kids have quiet time or play outside.

So we don't really have a schedule, but we have things throughout the day to keep us on track, usually tied to meals. Breakfast, chore, gather. Lunch, chore, quiet activity. Louder free time, tidy. Dinner, chore, play. Bedtime routine. It can look pretty different day-to-day, but it gives us something of a rhythm throughout the week.

Re: Do you have a summer schedule/routine/rhythm?
 

This is why I started schooling year round way back when my oldest kids were 5 or 6. When we stopped "school" (which had only been things like art and nature and reading stories together) in the spring, it was horrible, my kids were "bored" and at loose ends, instead of having more time for my projects like I'd hoped, I was constantly breaking up kid bickering or cleaning up messes, etc. As the summer progressed we did fall into a new routine, and then in the fall when it was time to start back up with school, we had more struggles as the routine had to change, AGAIN! I swore, never again, and we've schooled year round ever since. We're super laid back about it, and I am much more willing to BE laid back when I know that it all averages out. We make sure that school is following their interests and learning styles, so it's not at all a "burden" on them. In fact now, when people ask "don't you get a summer break?" they're just confused . . . so I'd stop reading the books I love to read and stuff in the summer? why? (year round, if they start to burn out on a specific subject, they set it aside for a few days or weeks, as needed and then jump back in, refreshed from their break). . . .Obviously, over the years, routines and schedules have changed, but it means we make changes when they're needed, not arbitrarily twice a year. I wouldn't have it any other way! :)

Re: Do you have a summer schedule/routine/rhythm?
 

Nope. We have a few activities that give some external structure a few times a month. This year it was swim and now ballet, and then a lake trip.



Generally the neighborhood kids all get out and play in the evening as it cools down and sometimes the kids get together mid day but that's less often. They tend to do bikes and scooters and when I need to mow I make them go gather up toys they don't want mowed over.



Otherwise it's just day to day as we feel like. Swimming with friends or playdates at a friend's house or home and work days.

Re: Do you have a summer schedule/routine/rhythm?
 

My kids are ages almost 10, just 6 and 4. Oldest and youngest are Level 1 ASD.

What a been working for us is rough blocks of time for activities. They know that if everyone is up and ready by 8:30 we will go to a park before it gets hot. We come home by 10:30. 10:30 to 1:30, they have various chores to do, and after that family games or free time but no screens. We usually watch a few shows or a movie in the afternoon and then might get in the pool before dinner or vice versa. We start getting ready for bed around 7:30.

The blocks of time might be rearranged if we have appointments or special events planned, but his is our baseline.

Re: Do you have a summer schedule/routine/rhythm?
 

This is what my experience has been this past year when I tried to take brakes, it was horrible.

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