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Dear Friends,
Gearing
your Children up for the Summer…
In just a couple of
weeks, school will be out, and the inevitable question will be asked…
“How can I keep my kids positively occupied throughout the
summer?" As parents, we want
our children to resist the temptation of staying in all day and suffering
from “screen addiction (glued to the TV, playing video games, computer, etc…).”
Now that school
pressure is off you want to keep some of the routine in the life of your
child. This might be a great time
to establish a job chart. This project can be broken down into
three levels:
1.
Things to do before Breakfast.
2. Things to do before Bed
3. Jobs that need to be done once or twice per
week
Let’s look at these in
more detail. Before Breakfast could list tasks that need to be
accomplished before they leave their rooms in the morning. Routines like making their beds,
getting dressed, brushing their teeth, having devotions, etc… If a child gets into a routine in the
morning, he or she tends to be more productive during the day.
Next, Before Bed may include tasks like
picking up toys – both indoors and outdoors, reading a chapter a day from
a book, practicing their instruments, reviewing “school” subjects like –
flash cards, spelling words, etc…
Ask them to help you
around the house. Helping mom or
dad with chores around the house lets the child feel they are
contributing to the family workings (although they may not tell you
that...!).
And last, Once or twice per week
could refer to chores around the house – washing the car, taking out the
trash, cleaning the pet cage, mowing the lawn, practicing their
instrument, weeding the flowerbed, helping with laundry, etc…
If you have small
children, consider creating the chart with bright colors, and drawings on
them along with places for the child to mark off when the job is
completed. This way, it seems like
fun, and they feel a sense of accomplishment when the job is done!
Once the job(s) are
completed, let them choose the reward from a list (ie:
ice cream, allowance, 30 minutes of screen time…). This gives them the chance to express
what is important to them, and will offer more than enough incentive to
get the job done. If your kids are
older tie all of this into an allowance.
Celebrating Families,
Bruce
By the way, if you are interested in downloading a Summer Job Checklist, click here.
It is in an EXCEL spreadsheet, so you can modify it to suit your
family.
If you are looking for a great date nite, there is still time to join us on May 25, 2006
at the Acorn Farms in Mount Joy,
PA from 6:30 - 9:00p.
This will be our last Fan the Flame Date Nite until the fall. If you have never been
to one of these date nites, click here
for a money saving coupon. (Just mention the coupon when registering.)
We hope to see you there!
____________________________________________________________________
If you
found this information helpful you will want to visit our website
for more! Each month we feature
articles on the topics of: men's issues, marriage, blended families,
parenting, and church ministry to families. You will also find a
great deal more information about House on the Rock Family
Ministries! Thanks for visiting.
Please
feel free to forward this to friends and family … we just ask that you
keep it intact … thanks
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