>Yawn…<……
That's the sound MamaBear's cubs make after being awakened at 6am to begin the glorious adventure known as Camp Ling!
Yes indeed, today I began the 6th year of the summer camp I run for my 4 kids. And let me tell you, exciting and dramatic and spine-tingling and otherworldly…..it was *not*.
But really nifty, it certainly was! 🙂
You see, while I do believe that having huge bunches of downtime during the summer is good, giving kids responsibilities and a schedule is also of great benefit.
The summer should be a time for excitement and health as well as decompressing!
So…for each kid, I've crafted out a schedule and projects that they'll complete as the summertime goes by.
Ideally, each week of Camp Ling will have:
- One afternoon field trip (probably Wednesdays, as that's the only day in which karate starts *after* 7pm)
- One afternoon walk to the library (probably Mondays, as there's no karate then either)
- One morning trip to the beach (we're about 10 miles away from it, you know…)
And each day of Camp Ling will have:
- Some sort of exercise/fitness (running the mooses, doing Dance Dance Revolution, becoming one with the iron at the gym, etc. – done in the morning)
- Big Huge Minds (the game I devised for my kids which makes them consider creative uses of common household objects – done in the afternoon)
- Algebra (HD1 has Honors Algebra 2, HD2 has Honors Pre-Algebra, HS1 and HS2 will focus on Mental Math)
- Special Projects (HD1 has a blog to maintain and also has to research college scholarships, HD2 also will blog and teach herself Korean, HS1 wants to focus on Science, and HS2 wants to focus on the Solar Systems – done in the afternoon)
Sounds peachy, no? 🙂
So!
As earlier mentioned, today Camp Ling started. Because I'm a sweet and lovable and gracious and genteel mother, I've decided to let this week focus solely on the fun/creative/fitness stuff, and will add in all the academics starting next week.
This morning, we did the first running of the mooses and kids at the local park at 6am. I learned that HD1 and HD2 have great endurance in running, while HS1 and HS2 might (might, I say) be able to outlast a drunk snail.
That's debatable, however.
Later on today, we're going to benchmark:
- Our weight
- Our measurements
- Our ability to do pushups and pullups
And we'll see how we improve by the end of the summer.
What are you doing for your kids during the summer? Ain't it grand? 🙂
Parent powerfully,
— MamaBear
