Summer Fun Reading Chart

Last year I saw a really cute little "bingo" type reading chart on a friend's blog.  She always has amazing ideas and I love her virtual space. (if you click on the bingo link she also has a great list of books) 

My boys did the reading chart and were all pleased with the new books they discovered.

This year as I was sort of loosely planning what we were going to do this summer, I asked my boys what they enjoyed most last year.  Of course they mentioned our Summer Fun Chart (which seems to look a little different each year!) and then they surprised me and said the summer reading chart.  Then they surprised me further and asked for another only with MORE books on it!  Knock me over with a feather!

This year I thought I would share with you what we are doing for our chart.  (and here is the chart just for you if you want it for your kids, just click on it for a bigger version)

There are 50 different words or phrases on this chart. 

The deal here is that they must cross off the ones they read.  For example, if they read a book like "The Red Pyramid" by Rick Riordan, there are a few things they could cross off.  Pyramids, A Boy Hero, A Girl Hero, Action/Adventure, just to name a few.  The trick is that they have to cross it off on their own.  They can not ask me what I think the book is about.

They must eventually cross off all 50. 

I am letting them do this from Mid-June until the end of September.  Then I will let them pick a large prize if all three boys complete their charts.  Last year they were trying to earn a trampoline but one of them didn't finish his.  I extended the deadline and made it so they could cross off multiples for each book.  Hopefully they can all complete their charts.

I hope your kids enjoy it.  I tried to make it friendly for both girls and boys and to make it all age friendly so your elementary and your high school children could all use it.  (of course rules could be changed for each age group as well)

Rules could change for your family too.  If you want to have the complete 20 or something, or choose to have all the blue colored words...the choices are endless.  You don't have to reward your kids either.  Make it work for you.

Please let me know if your children enjoy it.  I would love your feedback.

Cheers

Update...Black and White Version is here

Summer Camp - Summer Fun Chart

To kick off this series of Summer Camp ideas, I thought I would start with something my boys love.  I really hope that you are all like me.  I hope that when summer comes, you try to find things to keep your kids occupied because they need to have something to do each day!

My boys love looking forward to summer though because that means that I make up our summer fun chart. 

For the past few years I have been printing out a list of activities, putting it in a cheap frame (think dollar store) and each time they do one, they cross it off with dry erase markers.  The beauty of having it in a frame is that I can just wipe it off.  Easy Peasy.

This year I thought I would get fancy and make all of you (who want one) a printable list as well.  Just click the photo for a larger one to print out.

Coming up these next few weeks, I have some wonderful guest posts.  These ladies have some really cool ideas for you to try out.  I will be posting summer camp ideas every Monday and Thursday.   Come check them out, and...

Enjoy summer!

Some of these things are just links to a photo, or an idea on Etsy and I figured I could totally do it (without buying them) I hope you will also find them useful.

Make a Catch a Ball             Learn How to Embroider (this is a link for 100 Stitches)
Learn How to Quill            Make a Tin Can Mug
Fishing Tackle Bracelets (for a more "manly" version leave off the beads)
Yarn Dolls                        Salad Spinner Art
Yarn Book Worm               Play Tent (with a hula hoop) and here is another one
Family Dolls (Nesting)          Monster Pillows
Take Close Up Photos (then make a simple book out of them)
Monster Page Corner Bookmarks
Marshmallow Popper           Monster Dolls
Baked Marbles                    Province/State String Art
Bag of Toy Soldiers             Make a Fork Ring
Make Tie Tacks/Earrings out of the end of a spent bullet casing
Make a Giant Flower            Make a Flower Press
Make Rock Candy                Make Rubber band Guns
Tiny Bubbles with straws        Bath Boats with Ice Cubes
Catapult with Popsicle Sticks  Frozen Treasure Dig
Water Hose Gun                   PVC Sprinkler
Flour Tag                            Glitter Balloons
Clay                                   Sumo Wrestle with Cushions
Drums out of Cans                   Fabric Bowls
PVC Periscope                     Superhero Masks
Jellybean Bracelets               Make a Jellyfish in a Bottle
Lip Straws                           Redneck Waterbed
Tape Ball                             Laser Tag with Balloons
Shaving Cream War               Popcorn War
Bubble Wrap Hopscotch         Pudding Painting

Cheers

Packing List

This post is also appearing on Latter-Day Homeschooling today.

With summer fast approaching, and vacations coming up, I was fiddling around making packing lists for my boys.

I don't know about your kids, but mine seem to need a list when they pack or all of a sudden we don't
have underwear or something when we go!  :)

I made this one (boy list on the top, girl list on the bottom) and thought I would share.  I am going to print it off and then add numbers beside each item to tell them how many they need to bring.  Things like shampoo, deodorant, toothbrushes, etc are Mom's responsibility because they are packed just before we go.
pack list - boy

Pack List - Girl

Cheers

Creative Writing

This year for school I really wanted the boys to start thinking outside of the box.  I have some pretty creative boys, but right now they struggle with writing.  I really wanted them to start thinking of stories as things that take more than one paragraph to write.  (or more than a sentence!)

Enter the "Creative Writing Jar"

I have been collecting story starters, journal prompts, creative story starters and whatnot for quite some time.  Some I have found on sites, some I have thought of, some I actually got from our teacher facilitator this year...pretty much all over the place.  I placed them all together and ran them all off.

(AND I figured out how to embed from scribd AND upload so...I am sharing a copy with you!  YAY!)





I took all 22 pages of them and ran them off.  Cut them into strips and folded them.  I love giant pickle jars (and they are really easy to find at places that actually eat them, like seniors homes) so I figured one would work great for our project.

I am sure that some of you could make it WAY cuter, but this is my decorating of the jar!  :)  I figured after spending that much time cutting and folding that I was pretty much done with the stinkin jar! 

So far my boys have picked a few little strips out, they have ACTUALLY written stories/essay type things WITHOUT my help!  (Hey, this is HUGE)  I am so impressed with the stuff they are coming up with.  I guess we all might need a little bit of a nudge to start us off sometimes.  (for some reason though, I can always find SOMETHING to talk about...it's a disease I guess!  :D)

Now, a word for you who don't live here in Canada...there are some strips just for us here...change them for wherever you live and presto, they will work for you as well.  I know not everyone lives in Canada, has a Prime Minister, or even has provinces, so use what works for you.  (or just don't cut that one out...I did that for a few!)

Have fun, and share with us how creative you are.  (heck, I think I might even use one or two when I actually get stumped on what to write)  I would love to see your jars, or read some stories, or hear how you are using the list if you do download it.

Cheers