Mom Homework

During the summer, my kids get “mom homework”. It is not their favorite thing, but it keeps their minds working, prevents them from playing video games 24/7, and helps me keep my sanity while I am trying to work. “Mom homework” is something my mom used to do with us, and I adapted it with my kids.

There are many great camps and online course for kids that you can pay for which might work for your family. I try to stay on the cheap side and find as many free ideas as possible that I can. The key to keeping my kids engaged is giving them a goal to shoot for and allowing them to take responsibility for their own time. My kids like to get up early (lucky me), so this is our typical schedule: 8am – 2pm is chores and “mom homework” (I don’t care what order they do it in or how many breaks they take, that is up to them), but after 2pm if everything is done, then they get video games <— that right there, the “if everything is done” is what prevents you from having to follow them around the house asking, “Did you…?” For this to work, you must be consistent and stick with the rules. Every family and every kid is different, so what works for us might not work for you. Although, here are a few ideas that I generally use every year that can be used by anyone:

• Reading – I do not care what they are reading (comics, magazines, etc.), but reading is something that must happen every day at our house.

• Typing Practice – As much as all my kids use the computer, none of them know how to type properly so we work on it during the summer.

  • Education.com

  • Typing Club

  • Type Dojo

  • Kidz Type

• Worksheets – Every year we try a different book, when you get to the higher grades the selection starts getting limited, but they are still there. There is a great selection of free and cheap printables online, but it does take some time to dig through the content online to find what you are looking for.

• Library Classes – Our library offers a variety of different classes for younger children during the summer. From reading groups, STEAM projects, and other fun themed classes. These are great free classes that also are good for meeting other local kids.

• Varsity Tutors – We like their free Star Courses. These are online webinars led by well known figures. A few classes they are holding this year are: Interpreting History with Mr. McTikTok; Chemistry: Fireworks and Fun with Phil Cook; and Build Your Own Catapult w/ Liberty Science Center.

• Scavenger Hunts – Keep following us for some great scavenger hunts to keep the kids moving and getting outside.

• Chores – Record scratch…what? “Doing chores is not learning.” Yes, it is! Teaching kids to do chores is teaching them teamwork, cleaning up after themselves, and saving the frustration of future roommates.

• Important "Need to Knows" - These are things that they would not typically learn during the school year but are important to learn. Examples would be: address and phone number memorization, making a fire escape plan for the house, first aid, water safety, etc.

Throughout the summer I will share some other ideas, but this is a good start if you are interested in creating your own “mom homework” schedule.