Notable Actions

At this point in the summer, a couple of things begin to happen at our house.  First, we are all getting very accustomed to sleeping in a little later and moving a little less.  Secondly, I am beginning to get that feeling that I need to be doing more to keep the kids stimulated academically during this break ~ where is that summer reading list anyway?  If you are feeling like me, here's a fun idea to get the kids moving and encourage language development as well.  Tomorrow morning when the kids get up and come to breakfast, be ready with a big notepad. Then let them in on the plan.  For the day  you will all work together to keep a list of all of the "actions" you do during the day (they are actually "verbs" but you don't have to divulge that info - sounds a little too much like school).  You can start with "eating" and "chewing"; hopefully "laughing" and maybe even a little  "eye-rolling".  As they begin to get the idea, encourage them to add to the list all day and let them know you will do a final tally at dinner.  You might be amazed how active the kids become trying to add to the list throughout the day!  You can then take the language stimulation a step further by letting each child pick their favorite activity and draw a picture and write and story or sentence about it.  Or if you are the "techy" type, you can snap photos during the day and then play them back having the kids make sentences about their activities such as "I had fun climbing the tree in the park" or "It was funny when mom was dancing".  Have fun with it, let your imagination soar and know that you are back on track!