Summer Plans: Rhythms and Routines

Last summer we had the ‘summer of reading‘. I tried to incorporate as much reading, both on my own and, with the children as I could fit into those three months. It was a great turning point in helping me make more time for reading, which I enjoy, but had pushed to the back burner. I am pleased that the focus on reading has stuck and I find myself reading more and more. This summer I plan to still incorporate lots of reading, I will even have a post next week about our summer reading plans. Today, I want to focus on reestablishing rhythms and routines in our lives, just like how I reestablished reading in my life.

The devastation caused by Hurricane Florence, and the time we have spent focused on relief efforts, made this a year like no other.  I have no regrets about the time we spent helping with those efforts but it did cause us to lose some of our normal rhythms and routines. My goal this summer is to get those things back on track and well established so that it will be easier to stick with them when the new school year begins again. I’ve found that time management is much like diet or exercise. All are challenging to establish, but once they become a regular part of your life it is so much easier.

My Bible time has been more hit or miss than I’d really care to admit lately. I have been working through studies with the children, going to church, and such but my personal time has suffered from a lack of routine. Some weeks I did a good job being consistent and other weeks not so much. I’m really praying that I can be consistent this summer and make it into a firmly entrenched routine that is easy to carry over into next school year.  I’m looking forward to spending some time meditating on the word and using my coloring Bible. I also want to make sure I am working on helping my older children strengthen their daily quiet times. They listen to the daily audio Bible app but I plan to help them start journaling about what they are learning while they are reading/ or listening.

My children have had chores for many years and some of those chores have continued throughout this past year. The dishes have been done, toys put away, laundry turned, animals fed etc. However, I have found that as we got busy many of the chores started being done with less attention to detail and others fell to the wayside. We are going to spend some time during the first part of the summer re-teaching chores so that the expectations are clear. I am also planning to create a checklist to help me do a better job monitoring chore completion. I am hoping that by working on this, while not also balancing school, we can get back into good habits that are easy to continue once the school year begins again.

 

Finally, I have to get a firm handle on my fitness. I have been working on it off and on and I have seen improvements but I am still not as consistent as I need to be. While I have been walking three or four mornings a week with my younger two children (they get outside and I get exercise. Win, win!)  I need to be more consistent about adding in some strength training. I have loved the workouts that I’ve been doing with Fit2B. They have such a variety and I now just need to make sure I am utilizing them more frequently. I have set a goal of doing at least four of their workouts each week. I plan to bring out some special toys for the baby to play with during that time to keep him occupied and get my workout in before breakfast each morning. My children also enjoy the children’s workouts and I may try to join them for some of those to combine exercise and a bit of family fun! (They are having a 25% off sale through 5/18 with code mothersday25off.)

If we can get into the consistent habit of these rhythms and routines, it should make the 2019-2020 school year flow much smoother for our family. It will allow me to better balance schoolwork with the other important tasks for the day. I know that once something becomes habit it is much easier to maintain.

What rhythms and routines do you need to work on this summer? In addition to all the fun summer activities, what can you do this summer to make next year smoother?

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

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Resource Library 

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Deals and Freebies

Schoolhouse Teachers is also offering a great sale!

Fit2B just announced they are having a Mother’s Day sale! Use code mothersday25off for 25% off! We use this for both my personal fitness and some of our PE for the kids (all included in one membership). A great way to get you safely moving and incorporate fitness into a busy day.

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!