Summer Goals

Enough of that fun stuff.  No, just kidding.  We have loads of time for fun, but after taking a week or two break and doing nothing.....I wanted to start some sort of work for the kids.  I don't want them to go back into school, having forgotten stuff or not knowing things they should.  If you've been around me lately, you know a big issue I have right now is the schools not really requiring kids to memorize multiplication tables.  HUGE pet peeve.  But then again, I could get on a whole soap box about Common Core and all that jazz.  Needless to say, it was my goal for Brooke to go into 4th grade, knowing her multiplication facts, memorized.  So we are starting now.  Also, in the past, she tends to slack off on summer piano lessons, thinking in her mind, they aren't that important.  Its also hard to stay in a routine when you are in 'vacation' mode.  Much easier to practice piano everyday after school than it is to set aside time in between swimming and iPods and camps and such.  So with those two thoughts swimming around in my brain, I wanted to create a Summer Goals list.  For each kid.  Brooke's was obvious.  She was going to practice multiplication daily until memorized.  Goal would be to know them backwards and forwards when school starts.  She was going to practice her piano daily according to her lesson plans (that is a big preposition there.  she likes to do things her own way...  uh uh.  not this time.)  Her other goal is just to read daily, at least one bluebonnet book every library trip.

I decided to just start a notebook for her (and then Brenna), charting her goals so she has something to check off.  Each day, she has to finish her goals before she can have free time.  So she can do them at 9a and be done.  Or she can wait till 9pm.  But she can't play iPods, swim or do lazy things until daily goals or done.  And its not hard.  Everything we do probably would take her 45 minutes.  Then she reads throughout the day to check that goal off.

The first part of her learning multiplication tables is I'm having her write them down from 1-12 every day for the first week.  Next week we'll start working each number one by one.  I think there's different ways that different people memorize.  Writing it is one way.  Visual.  Then trying to photograph it to her brain.  Step 1 - writing.  Luckily, she's been very receptive thus far.

Brenna, then, also needed a Summer Goals checklist.

She needs to basically keep up the reading.  She has really come a long way and I didn't want her to have another setback.  So she is required to read one book aloud to me a day.

Her first library book she picked out was a Dirk Bones book...an investigative skeleton.  Yea, don't ask.  Anyway, she read it all the way through by herself completely.  Then we get to the end and it had written in the back - AR = 2.3 (which means the level is 2nd grade, 3rd month)!  WOW!  Go Brenna Go!  She really has come a ways... Super proud!

The other goals are all kinda related - doing some form of lesson...writing, math, or workbook pages.  Then she also has her piano practice to do, which she does gleefully!