Twas the night before vacation

From My Side of the Desk:

Twas the Night Before Vacation

Twas the night school ended, and in all the houses
Not a child was stirring-all alarm clocks were doused.
The backpacks were stored in the closets ‘till Fall
While children slept soundly, no reason to stall.

Moms and Dads tossed in their sheet-rumpled beds
While visions of chaos caromed through their heads.
Facing weeks with no schedules, nor essays to write,
Joey and Jane would probably just sleep, eat and fight.

When from their computers there rose such a clatter,
Parents clicked on the Net to tune into the chatter.
Facebook pages, Twitter and Pinterest flowed
With kudos for a Bucket List they just had to download.

The URL they copied, then they clicked on the link
Hoping for ideas so their worries would shrink.
When what to their grateful eyes did appear, but
A Summer Bucket List with awesome choices to cheer.

The thirteen suggestions would spawn stimulation,
Chasing away boredom which breeds during vacations.
Their kids’ minds and bodies would be active and aware
Even without homework and school lessons to bear.

“We must call the Timms, the Taylors and Turners!
We can’t let this wonder stay on any back burners.”
Moms grabbed their Smartphones, their fears now abated,
While Dads sent emails and FB statuses they’d updated.

As the sun rose announcing a school-free June day,
Refrigerators, world-wide, this List did display.
Not summer assignments, Oh no, not this list,
But propositions to tempt, to engage-not resist.

This Summer Bucket List is offered for free
To parents, to children, to teachers, what glee!
When asked in the Fall, “What did you do this summer?”
‘Cause of the List, no kid'll reply, “Mine was a bummer.”

(I adapted the format for this from Clement Moore’s Twas the Night Before Christmas.)

Every summer, teachers wonder if students will retain the concepts, knowledge and understanding they learned during the previous school year, or if they will have to spend the first days of school immersed in the Dreaded Basics Review. Every summer, parents worry about how to insure that their children will not morph into the Abominable App Creature. Every summer, kids become bored with sleeping until noon, lounging around and texting their BFFs, and crave some mental and physical stimulation-those not taking classes, working or attending various camps, that is. No, they don’t want summer assignments heaped on them, but they do want to think, to be inspired, to go places and to see people. And they want these experiences to be fun.

Over the years, I have been a teacher, a parent and a child. In all three roles, I endured the same anxiety, concerns and lethargy as summer rolled from one steamy day into the next. I remember all too well tossing around my parents’ bed while my mother ironed the family’s 100% cotton clothes. Bored to tears, I chose to irritate her with my howls of, “I have nothing to do!” And it wasn’t even the end of June, yet! The other day I asked Mom whether she welcomed or dreaded summer vacations when my sisters and I were school-aged. She never replied, but regaled me with one of her Mona Lisa-type smiles. Ah, something else she wants me to figure out on my own, just like she wanted me to conjure up plans to fill those long-ago endless summer days.

Although my two children are now grown and I no longer have to deal with the Summer Doldrums, I do have two granddaughters who visit me often, so I always need ideas to make our time together fun. (On Memorial Day weekend, we designed tee-shirts with iron-on decals, decorated their legs and arms with washable tattoos, ran through the sprinkler, tried to hoola hoop and read books).  And although a year ago I locked the door of Room 216 for the last time, I cannot and do not want to turn my back on learning-not even in the summer.

That’s why I decided to create A Summer Bucket List. It offers young people from 6-16 opportunities to think, to sing, to write, to be physically active, to read, to use basic math skills, to experiment, to get involved in their communities and much more, but without the constrictions and restrictions of school. They choose, they do and they have fun. Check it out and maybe tape it to the fridge…just don’t tell your children that they will be practicing skills associated with school. Leave that to their teachers next fall.

A Summer Bucket List

Teachers/Parents: This handout insures that children will keep their minds and bodies active and alert during their summer vacation. The plus is- they won’t feel like they are completing an assignment or doing a task related to school while they keep their comprehension and their analytic and creative thinking and writing skills fresh. Although this list is best suited for children in grades 5-12, third and fourth graders will find activities that fit their abilities and skill levels, too. Many 6-10 year olds I know blow me away with their ability to text, use a
computer take pictures with a digital or Smartphone camera, play an instrument and cook, so they will find a number of suggestions to choose from. Ideas 8, 10 and 11 are more fitted to older children, though. Idea 13 is great for kids in grades 1-8. Using simple household supplies children can have fun with science experiments while learning chemistry, biology, physics and much more. Some parental or older sibling guidance will probably be necessary with the younger kids. Here is a terrific book to use: The Everything Kids Science Experiments Book by Tom Robinson for $8.95 ($6.12 Kindle edition). You don’t have to spend money on a book unless you want to, though. You can probably find similar books at the library. Best of all, you can find activities on-line using the search terms: kids science experiments. My granddaughters (8 and 5 1/2) and I have created lava jars with common cooking oil and food coloring, made a hard-boiled egg fall through the mouth of a bottle and crafted Coke volcanoes.

Be sure to give this bucket list to students in June. They will certainly have a lot to show and talk about in September when their next year’s teachers ask, “What did you do last summer?”

Note: you can download a copy of this list with graphics from my website:  http://teachitwrite.com/EnglishLanguageartslessonplans.php

A Summer Bucket List

Introduction: Ah, summer, those long days with no bells, no homework, and no schedules to keep (unless you have a job or summer classes to take). After a few days of sleeping in, relaxing and catching up on those TV shows that you recorded during the school year, the days start to stretch out into endless empty hours. What do you do to ward off mind-numbing lethargy? Below are a dozen ideas to push your energy and fun buttons. Select a few ideas from this List to add enjoyment to your days, or let them serve as starting points for spin-offs of your own. 

1. Facebook, Twitter and Texts: For summer memories, in chronological order, keep a file of all of your Status updates/Tweets/texts and friends’ comments.
2. Create a photo journal of your summer. Download pictures to a file on your computer, print them out and then make a scrapbook with captions. If you want, check out Shutterfly (or another online photo book site). Often, Shutterfly has 50% off deals, so for a small price, you can create a professional-looking album. Prices start around $11.00. This site has many options for captions and other embellishments to decorate your pages.
3. Keep a thoughts journal. Every day, write down one thought, idea, reaction to an event, a song, news story, TV show, movie, etc. Write each thought clearly and specifically in 50 words or less. Write on the squares of a calendar to keep to the word maximum.
4. Create a video of your summer, recording a number of events, get togethers, scenery, people, etc. that show how you spent your vacation.
5. Write a song (lyrics and music).If you sing and play an instrument, learn it.
6. Read something every day: a link from a Friend on Facebook or Twitter; an article in a newspaper or magazine (online or print edition), a blogger you like (or find a new one to follow), a book, poems…anything written.
7. Cook, bake or grill a favorite dish, or create one of your own. Use a cookbook in your kitchen, or search for a recipe on line. Find out the ingredients in a favorite food from a restaurant and figure out the proportions needed to make your own version of the dish.
8. Volunteer for a political campaign.
9. Try something that you’ve always wanted to do but never have, such as making pottery, learning to play a musical instrument, photography, jazz dancing, fishing, Zumba, yoga, painting, writing a book, hula hooping, canoeing, kayaking, skating, etc.
10. Volunteer at a veterinarian’s clinic, a child care center, a home for the elderly, a library, a newspaper office, a horse farm, a police or fire station, or a local museum.
11. Start a business: dog-walking, lawn service (mowing, trimming, weeding), running errands (if you have a driver’s license), creating websites, or tutoring.
12. Read to children or to people who are visually impaired.
13. Use simple household materials to boil ice, dissolve egg shells and much more. Do a search online with the terms: kids science experiments to find fun experiments to try at home.

Have a GREAT SUMMER!

Until next week,
Connie
www.teachitwrite.com