Next on my to-do list for summer planning is to come up with 10 easy-to-make, inexpensive, quick meal ideas that all three of my picky eaters will try (and possibly enjoy).
I'd like each of them to help more making lunch and dinner, so making it like a cooking class in our home will get them more involved and excited about it.
But, my kids are picky eaters. Very picky eaters. For instance, the youngest insists on French Toast Mondays. He wants French Toast for dinner. Every. Monday. And I mean every Monday. My oldest won't eat meat unless it's absolutely plain chicken or turkey. Plain. No flavor. No seasoning. White meat only. He's never had a hamburger. The middle one will eat meat but no cheese or dairy product. At all.
Pasta is usually a winner, except for the youngest, who would do great on the Atkins diet. But he will eat it if it's covered in garlic butter. And, I can't eat garlic.
Yeah, I have my work cut out for me. I'm open to ideas!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Poem in Your Pocket
Did you ever hear of Poem in Your Pocket Day?
No, neither did I until researching summer poetry for the kids. The event is in April, so it doesn't help me for a summer activity. But, I think I can use the concept to help the kids memorize their summer poems.
I can print the poems they'll be memorizing small and encourage them to carry them around in their pocket for the week. I can also print the list of poems onto a pocket template like the logo here. As they learn a poem, they can cross it off.
Next April we'll have to remember Poem in Your Pocket Day!
I can print the poems they'll be memorizing small and encourage them to carry them around in their pocket for the week. I can also print the list of poems onto a pocket template like the logo here. As they learn a poem, they can cross it off.
Next April we'll have to remember Poem in Your Pocket Day!
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Poetry Game
While looking for poems for the kids to memorize over the summer (see previous blog post), I came across this poetry brown bag idea:
I think this would work great at the end of summer as a refresher for the poems they learned - maybe cut up and put two in each bag and have the kids create both originals from memory. Then, have them use the sentences, like the author suggests, and create their own poems.
I should mention, because I didn't earlier, that I plan on memorizing the poems, too! My father, when he was in school, had to memorize "Oh, Captain! My Captain!" In high school there were several poems we had to memorize - I'm not having the kids do any of them because they were rather lengthy. But we never had the Walt Whitman poem to memorize, and I've wanted to learn it.
I do know "Nothing Gold Can Stay" from memory, but like a good child of the '70s it was from watching "The Outsiders" and reading it in elementary school.
I think this would work great at the end of summer as a refresher for the poems they learned - maybe cut up and put two in each bag and have the kids create both originals from memory. Then, have them use the sentences, like the author suggests, and create their own poems.
I should mention, because I didn't earlier, that I plan on memorizing the poems, too! My father, when he was in school, had to memorize "Oh, Captain! My Captain!" In high school there were several poems we had to memorize - I'm not having the kids do any of them because they were rather lengthy. But we never had the Walt Whitman poem to memorize, and I've wanted to learn it.
I do know "Nothing Gold Can Stay" from memory, but like a good child of the '70s it was from watching "The Outsiders" and reading it in elementary school.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Summer Poetry
This summer, we're going to be trying something new. Every week, the kids are going to memorize a poem. Their reward for this hasn't been decided yet, but I'm thinking about ice cream or water ice. Maybe a "make your own sundae" treat at home.
I have to credit my son's fourth grade teacher for this idea. Last year, in fourth grade, his teacher had them memorize poems. Some were long. Some were short. And at the end of the year they had the option of memorizing a very long poem - Sick, by Shel Silverstein. Their reward, if they could do it, was breakfast with the teacher, her treat!
When my youngest was in preschool, they were asked to learn a poem a week. For the most part, the kids had no trouble doing it, and they enjoyed the thrill of reciting the poem to their teacher on Fridays. I think if they could do it they got a piece of candy, like a Tootsie Roll or lollipop.
I remember memorizing poems and other things when I was in school, and I'm shocked at how little kids are asked to memorize anymore. From Sunday School plays to introducing songs at concerts, the kids read their parts.
I vented to my husband about this, and I told the kids they were memorizing poems this summer.
Today, I had time so I did some research. I found several references to why memorizing poems is good for children.
Five Benefits of Memorizing Poems
A Year of Living Poetically on Mensa for Kids
A post about Poetry Memorization on a blog Walls of Books
12 Best Poems All Kids Should Know (these would be more appropriate for teens, but they might be good to read to younger children, especially "Casey at the Bat.")
I scoured the online resources, and I came up with 12 poems my kids are going to learn this summer. Some are long. Some are short. I expect my 11-year-old will have no problem, if he wants to. My nine and seven year old might find it a little more difficult to memorize the longer ones, but I'm sure they can do it.
Here are our poems:
The Arrow and the Song - Henry Longfellow
Oh, Captain! My Captain! - Walt Whitman
My Shadow - Robert Louis Stevenson
The Spider and the Fly - Mary Howitt
Keep a Poem in Your Pocket - Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
Sea Fever - John Masefield
No Man is an Island - John Donne
Hope - Emily Dickinson
Nothing Gold Can Stay - Robert Frost
It's Hot - Shel Silverstein
Wind on the Hill - A. A. Milne
One, Two - Shel Silverstein
I'm not giving links to the poems or reprinting them because of copyrights, but I did find them all online and I'm sure you can, too.
As far as the order of memorizing them, I think we'll start with "Keep a Poem in Your Pocket" because that sets the tone. I hope to visit a Civil War battlefield this summer, so that week we can do "Oh, Captain! My Captain!" We don't have a trip to the shore planned, but if we can go near the end of summer I'll save "Sea Fever" for then. Also, "It's Hot" would be a great one for August.
I have to credit my son's fourth grade teacher for this idea. Last year, in fourth grade, his teacher had them memorize poems. Some were long. Some were short. And at the end of the year they had the option of memorizing a very long poem - Sick, by Shel Silverstein. Their reward, if they could do it, was breakfast with the teacher, her treat!
When my youngest was in preschool, they were asked to learn a poem a week. For the most part, the kids had no trouble doing it, and they enjoyed the thrill of reciting the poem to their teacher on Fridays. I think if they could do it they got a piece of candy, like a Tootsie Roll or lollipop.
I remember memorizing poems and other things when I was in school, and I'm shocked at how little kids are asked to memorize anymore. From Sunday School plays to introducing songs at concerts, the kids read their parts.
I vented to my husband about this, and I told the kids they were memorizing poems this summer.
Today, I had time so I did some research. I found several references to why memorizing poems is good for children.
Five Benefits of Memorizing Poems
A Year of Living Poetically on Mensa for Kids
A post about Poetry Memorization on a blog Walls of Books
12 Best Poems All Kids Should Know (these would be more appropriate for teens, but they might be good to read to younger children, especially "Casey at the Bat.")
I scoured the online resources, and I came up with 12 poems my kids are going to learn this summer. Some are long. Some are short. I expect my 11-year-old will have no problem, if he wants to. My nine and seven year old might find it a little more difficult to memorize the longer ones, but I'm sure they can do it.
Here are our poems:
The Arrow and the Song - Henry Longfellow
Oh, Captain! My Captain! - Walt Whitman
My Shadow - Robert Louis Stevenson
The Spider and the Fly - Mary Howitt
Keep a Poem in Your Pocket - Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
Sea Fever - John Masefield
No Man is an Island - John Donne
Hope - Emily Dickinson
Nothing Gold Can Stay - Robert Frost
It's Hot - Shel Silverstein
Wind on the Hill - A. A. Milne
One, Two - Shel Silverstein
I'm not giving links to the poems or reprinting them because of copyrights, but I did find them all online and I'm sure you can, too.
As far as the order of memorizing them, I think we'll start with "Keep a Poem in Your Pocket" because that sets the tone. I hope to visit a Civil War battlefield this summer, so that week we can do "Oh, Captain! My Captain!" We don't have a trip to the shore planned, but if we can go near the end of summer I'll save "Sea Fever" for then. Also, "It's Hot" would be a great one for August.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Summer Calendar
We stopped at Michael's yesterday, and I got a nice piece of poster board on sale for .50. I asked my mom if she had any freebie calendars for 2012 she wasn't using and didn't want, and she gave me two. I think I'm ready to make our summer calendar.
I do this every year so the kids can keep track of time and so they know what's coming up in their schedule. The youngest learned how to read a calendar in preschool two years ago, but I still had to help him count down days to vacation. Now he should be able to do it all by himself just by looking at the calendar.
The calendar helps keep me organized, because on it I add birthdays, special events we want to attend, places we're planning on going, etc. And seeing all three months together is helpful.
I do this every year so the kids can keep track of time and so they know what's coming up in their schedule. The youngest learned how to read a calendar in preschool two years ago, but I still had to help him count down days to vacation. Now he should be able to do it all by himself just by looking at the calendar.
The calendar helps keep me organized, because on it I add birthdays, special events we want to attend, places we're planning on going, etc. And seeing all three months together is helpful.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Spending in Kid Terms
Two summers ago and last summer, we had something I called Fun Fridays. Every Friday I didn't have to work, the kids were home and it was our free time.
I confess I started doing this because I got tired of taking photos and scrapbooking every summer activity. By just focusing on the Fridays, I could schedule cool activities, take photos, pre-assemble a scrapbook and have it done at the end of summer. It was a great momento of their activities (and great to have on hand for the teachers they gave the first-week-of-school assignment "Tell us about your summer vacation!")
On one trip two years ago, we visited an old railroad car museum. It was just a sidetrip for our activity of the day, but free and fun. BUT, like kids often do, they began pesting for me to buy them a souvenir. One wanted a model train. One wanted a toy. One wanted something else. And I had to say no. Again. And again!
When we were outside the train I explained to my then 4th, 2nd and kindergartener how I didn't have the money to buy them everything they want. But, since they knew or were learning math, I gave them the numbers.
"There are 12 Fridays in summer, so there are 12 Fun Fridays.
If we go somewhere every Friday and I spend $40, how much will I be spending?"
There were some wrong answers, but once we reviewed the math they realized that Fun Fridays would cost us $480. Woah! Even they realized that was a lot.
I explained that I could afford to spend $40 each week. But that included admission to places (which often eats up the $40 itself!), food, gas, etc.
That day we were going to a candy store and a pretzel factory. I explained that if they wanted candy and do to the pretzel tour, that would take money. Plus our trip to the grocery store that morning to buy the food and drinks for our picnic lunch cost money. I couldn't also buy souvenirs.
And, I'm happy to say, they got it. And they actually like calculating how much a Friday is costing us. They know that if the day's activity is free (hiking, swimming, going to the zoo where we have a membership), I'll take them somewhere at night and spend money (like Rita's water ice, ice cream or a local dairy).
Most of our Fridays came in on budget. When we were in Disney World I didn't count the ticket price (we had 7 day passes anyway), so the $40 was for ice cream and lemonade in the park. I didn't count the dinner at the park because we would have gotten that as part of vacation. And I gave each of the kids $5 to buy something in a gift shop that day.
You can be as strict as you want with the spending limit, but I think having a guideline is good for the kids. It encourages them to realize there are trade-offs when you're deciding what to buy. And it encourages them to do simple math to calculate what is spent for the day and the summer.
This would also work for setting a spending limit for a vacation, letting them decide what they want to spend from day to day when they know the weekly total.
I confess I started doing this because I got tired of taking photos and scrapbooking every summer activity. By just focusing on the Fridays, I could schedule cool activities, take photos, pre-assemble a scrapbook and have it done at the end of summer. It was a great momento of their activities (and great to have on hand for the teachers they gave the first-week-of-school assignment "Tell us about your summer vacation!")
On one trip two years ago, we visited an old railroad car museum. It was just a sidetrip for our activity of the day, but free and fun. BUT, like kids often do, they began pesting for me to buy them a souvenir. One wanted a model train. One wanted a toy. One wanted something else. And I had to say no. Again. And again!
When we were outside the train I explained to my then 4th, 2nd and kindergartener how I didn't have the money to buy them everything they want. But, since they knew or were learning math, I gave them the numbers.
"There are 12 Fridays in summer, so there are 12 Fun Fridays.
If we go somewhere every Friday and I spend $40, how much will I be spending?"
There were some wrong answers, but once we reviewed the math they realized that Fun Fridays would cost us $480. Woah! Even they realized that was a lot.
I explained that I could afford to spend $40 each week. But that included admission to places (which often eats up the $40 itself!), food, gas, etc.
That day we were going to a candy store and a pretzel factory. I explained that if they wanted candy and do to the pretzel tour, that would take money. Plus our trip to the grocery store that morning to buy the food and drinks for our picnic lunch cost money. I couldn't also buy souvenirs.
And, I'm happy to say, they got it. And they actually like calculating how much a Friday is costing us. They know that if the day's activity is free (hiking, swimming, going to the zoo where we have a membership), I'll take them somewhere at night and spend money (like Rita's water ice, ice cream or a local dairy).
Most of our Fridays came in on budget. When we were in Disney World I didn't count the ticket price (we had 7 day passes anyway), so the $40 was for ice cream and lemonade in the park. I didn't count the dinner at the park because we would have gotten that as part of vacation. And I gave each of the kids $5 to buy something in a gift shop that day.
You can be as strict as you want with the spending limit, but I think having a guideline is good for the kids. It encourages them to realize there are trade-offs when you're deciding what to buy. And it encourages them to do simple math to calculate what is spent for the day and the summer.
This would also work for setting a spending limit for a vacation, letting them decide what they want to spend from day to day when they know the weekly total.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Phineas and Ferb Were Wrong
"There's 104 days of summer vacation ..." is how the "Phineas and Ferb" theme song goes. But I just did the math, and this summer my kids will have 83 days of summer vacation.
83 days. That's not a lot of time to unwind from 182 days of school. It's not a lot of time to let them relax but still keep them busy, creative and learning.
83 days =
12 weeks (give or take-they end school on a Wednesday and go back on a Wednesday.
1992 hours (and about 664 of those they'll be sleeping)
or 119, 520 minutes
I was thinking of posting this on our summer bulletin board for them to keep in mind how they need to divide their time. For instance, if they played video games 1 hour a day, they'd be playing 83 hours. (That sounds like a lot, right?)
If they practice their instruments for just 10 minutes 3 times a week, that's only 5 hours for the entire summer - not counting vacation time. (That doesn't sound bad, does it?) If you add band camp, that's only 12 more hours for a total of 17 hours.
If they clean up 10 minutes a day for just the days we're home (not on vacation), it's only 9 hours for the entire summer.
Reading for 20 minutes a day, every day totals 27 hours. (Realistically, there will be nights we're out late and they won't read, but I'd be happy with 16 hours, which would be 5 nights a week. And if the older two are reading a good book they like, like any of the Harry Potter series, they might read for an hour.)
If we go to the pool twice a week and swim on vacation, like we usually do, they'll spend about 108 hours swimming.
Biking is more difficult to calculate, but if we go on a bike ride every other week (we have a great park nearby that has a nice circular trail), they should spend about 8 hours biking this summer.
We usually have a Family Movie Night once a week, so that would be about 20 hours watching movies (which I think is a great family activity and a good way to unwind after a busy day.)
Plus the kids are signed up for a week of science camp, which will be 32 hours. (I'm not going to tell them that one, because they'll think it's too many hours!)
I'm not sure how many of these calculations I'll actually share with the kids, but I think if they see how much fun time they get versus how much "chore time," they'd be happy.
83 days. That's not a lot of time to unwind from 182 days of school. It's not a lot of time to let them relax but still keep them busy, creative and learning.
83 days =
12 weeks (give or take-they end school on a Wednesday and go back on a Wednesday.
1992 hours (and about 664 of those they'll be sleeping)
or 119, 520 minutes
I was thinking of posting this on our summer bulletin board for them to keep in mind how they need to divide their time. For instance, if they played video games 1 hour a day, they'd be playing 83 hours. (That sounds like a lot, right?)
If they practice their instruments for just 10 minutes 3 times a week, that's only 5 hours for the entire summer - not counting vacation time. (That doesn't sound bad, does it?) If you add band camp, that's only 12 more hours for a total of 17 hours.
If they clean up 10 minutes a day for just the days we're home (not on vacation), it's only 9 hours for the entire summer.
Reading for 20 minutes a day, every day totals 27 hours. (Realistically, there will be nights we're out late and they won't read, but I'd be happy with 16 hours, which would be 5 nights a week. And if the older two are reading a good book they like, like any of the Harry Potter series, they might read for an hour.)
If we go to the pool twice a week and swim on vacation, like we usually do, they'll spend about 108 hours swimming.
Biking is more difficult to calculate, but if we go on a bike ride every other week (we have a great park nearby that has a nice circular trail), they should spend about 8 hours biking this summer.
We usually have a Family Movie Night once a week, so that would be about 20 hours watching movies (which I think is a great family activity and a good way to unwind after a busy day.)
Plus the kids are signed up for a week of science camp, which will be 32 hours. (I'm not going to tell them that one, because they'll think it's too many hours!)
I'm not sure how many of these calculations I'll actually share with the kids, but I think if they see how much fun time they get versus how much "chore time," they'd be happy.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Build Excitement
I love that the Goddard School calendar lists McDonald's Lunch as an activity for a day. No matter what your opinion of that particular fast food chain, I love the concept.
Imagine if you did a theme week on China and to top off the week you had "Chinese Restaurant" on the calendar? Or you ended a week learning about Mexico with a visit to an authentic "Mexican Restaurant." Imagine how excited the kids would be?
If money's tight for you and you can only swing one meal out a month, why not make it a reward for learning over the summer? Or look for a kiosk from that country at your local farmer's market or mall, where the prices would be cheaper than a sit-down dinner. And if you can't eat out, get cookbooks from your library or look up recipes online and have the kids help make an authentic dish or dessert from that country.
You could probably fill your entire summer doing one country a week. I have other things I want to focus on, so we'll probably just learn a little about two or three countries. But as much as my kids love visiting the local Chinese restaurant, I bet they'd be willing to do some learning.
Imagine if you did a theme week on China and to top off the week you had "Chinese Restaurant" on the calendar? Or you ended a week learning about Mexico with a visit to an authentic "Mexican Restaurant." Imagine how excited the kids would be?
If money's tight for you and you can only swing one meal out a month, why not make it a reward for learning over the summer? Or look for a kiosk from that country at your local farmer's market or mall, where the prices would be cheaper than a sit-down dinner. And if you can't eat out, get cookbooks from your library or look up recipes online and have the kids help make an authentic dish or dessert from that country.
You could probably fill your entire summer doing one country a week. I have other things I want to focus on, so we'll probably just learn a little about two or three countries. But as much as my kids love visiting the local Chinese restaurant, I bet they'd be willing to do some learning.
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