I cannot believe how FAST summer is approaching!! I am SO excited...and a little nervous that summer is just gonna' FLY BY. We have SO MANY plans...and I've been working really hard with with our summer school lessons for this year. My first couple have passed the reviews by Yaya, the retired teacher grandmother-goddess, and my good friend Melodee, the young and glamorous local teacher. I'll be posting them in just a couple weeks, and hope you enjoy them.
But before all that, I thought I would post our summer schedule.
Now - this schedule is not die-hard, but we do stick to it pretty religiously. However, I never get upset if plans change or things don't work out...we just roll with the waves round here.
We do summer school Monday through Friday. Last year we had a theme every week...this year we're only doing 4 weeks of summer school, and we'll be alternating weeks. The other things we do in the "schedule" will happen all the time...whether it is a summer school week or not. Although I plan plenty of activities to keep them busy in school alone - we don't necessarily do EVERY activity. There are days that some things get skipped or replaced (or forgotten)...and that's okay.
In addition to summer school, these are the other activities that keep us busy...
...on Tuesdays we take advantage of the free movies that our local Regal Theater shows during the summer. The movies are shown Tuesday through Thursday, and there is a G-rated and PG-rated choice every week. Sometimes, if there are TWO movies we want to see, we'll go two days and see a different movie each day...but we usually keep it to one a week. The movies are past releases, and I can guarantee that my kids have seen them all AT LEAST once (several are in our massive DVD collection)...but there is just SOMETHING about seeing movies in a theater that is fun. I pack candy and snacks in my purse, buy a large soda (free refills), and we head to the theater.
Regal theaters host free movies all over the country during the hot summer months, and its a great way to give your air-conditioning a break and still keep cool. Check out the website for participating theaters and listings in your area.
Here in South Florida (specifically in Pembroke Pines) our movies are:
June 9-11: Horton Hears a Who & Nim's Island
June 16-18: Curious George & Spiderwick Chronicles
June 23-25: Mr. Magorium & Water Horse
June 30-July 2: Mr. Bean & Madagascar 2
July 7-9: Artic Tale & Igor
July 14-16: Everybody's Hero & Kung Fu Panda
July 21-23: Charlotte's Web & Shrek the Third
July 28 - July 30: Tale of Desperaux & Bee Movie
August 4-6: Space Chimps & Alvin and the Chipmunks
On Wednesdays - we usually hit the library. Every year we take part in the Library Reading Program. My kids LOVE earning prizes, and I love getting them to read!! There are several library programs throughout the summer that we also take part in...such as story times, chess club, and drama activities. Sometimes these alternate activities take the place of scheduled summer school lessons.
On Thursdays we have a playgroup. During the school year it consists of just those littlest brothers and sisters that aren't quite old enough to join the ranks of elementary-school-big-kids. But during the summer, the WHOLE family can come to playgroup. And just in time, too...because we switch locations from our local park to our local pool. The kids get a couple hours each Thursday morning to splash and play before heading off for other activities.
Of course, Friday is our field trip day - and we usually take off for some destination or another that correlates with our weekly summer school theme. But more on that later.
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Other fun things we do...
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The first Saturday of every month is Home Depot Kids Workshop day...where Home Depot provides a free kids workshop for the kids to build something great. On the first Saturday in June, June 6, the craft is a hardware sorter. And on July 4 (Independence Day!!! Hurray!!) they are making a cute picnic caddy!!
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Also, on the third Friday of every month, our local Childrens Museum is free from 3 to 9pm. And our local childrens art museum, Young At Art, is free the first Friday of the month from 5:30 to 8:30pm.
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And have you heard about The Summer Savings Pass? If you buy one general admission ticket to either The Miami Seaquarium, Miami Metro Zoo, or Wannado City...and pay an additional $19.95...you get unlimited admission to all three parks ALL SUMMER LONG. How cool is that? The cheapest way to do it is to buy a day at Metro Zoo...where tickets cost about $16.00 a person, versus Wannado or Seaquarium, where tickets are somewhere between $30.00 and $40.00 a ticket.
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And don't forget the Kids Fun Pass...which offers discounts and deals on admission to attractions all over South Florida. There are usually LOTs of free admissions for kids!!
As you can see...we have a very busy summer planned...and I can't WAIT for it to start!!
We'll see ya'all in a few days for our first summer school weekly theme...THE RAINFOREST!!!
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