Done

Last day of school! 
Here are my sweet kids this morning before school.

Here they are right now. 

We did the awards circuit, we partied at the park, we watched movies at school all week, we ate donuts and candy, we said farewell to our awesome teachers, we played at the pool with our buddies, and now we are having the two hour chopstick dinner.  life is good.

Our plans for the summer are pretty close to being set.  Between golf, wrestling, swimming, gymnastics, VBS, and day camps we will be on the go a lot.  But my goal is to make sure the summer learning gap never gets opened.   Summer is only 72 days long so it is important to be realistic.  So here are my goals:

1) Read READ read Read READ read READ

If we do nothing else, we will read.

This is Keith's stack of books for the summer.  We won't make it through all of these books, this stack is just his chapter book-read aloud selection (he's very proud of it).  All of these books were recycled from Patrick's personal book stash.

Patrick will likely plow through library books on his Kindle Fire again this summer.  Our library system updated the ebook website and it is really fun to use.  I love free.

Both boys will also work on writing.  Patrick at night before he falls asleep, Keith in the morning.

Lauren is going to start working on her Phonics.

2) Math

Welcome to laminated Math Facts.  Just for practice for a few minutes after breakfast.  Everyone loves using a dry erase pen.  Patrick still has a little work to do on his multiplication to make it stick and Keith is so close with addition.

3)  Art (aka teaching Keith how to cut)
Coloring, cutting, gluing, painting.  I love having these kids at the kitchen table together creating.  And Keith really does need to learn how to cut.

4) Quiet Time/Free Time/Individual Reading

This hour or so will be our break before heading out to the pool deck in the evening.   They can do what they want but reading will be encouraged.  This accordion file is full of easy read books for Keith, organized by level.  Mom will spend her free time enjoying the quiet.  Hopefully Lauren starts napping again.

5) Play and have fun
I know you don't think there is any time left but there is plenty!  All of this only adds up to a couple of hours.  The kids will be up later than their normal 7:30 bedtime.  Electronics and television time will be limited. Legos are at the top of the list for all three kids.

We also have some fun excursions to fit in.  The only thing that will slow us down is 100 degree heat.  Wish us luck!  Have a great summer!