Summer Ideas

I thought I would share a few ideas we are doing for summer this year.  I was realizing day after day was going by without keeping up on reading so I gathered a bunch of ideas and came up with this.  I got an 8X10 frame and put some scrapbook paper in it.  With permanent marker (which wipes off with Windex) wrote Ella's Summer Reading.  The first 5 weeks or so she has 5 spots to read 10 minutes each and then it goes to 15 for a few weeks and then 20 minutes a day which is what I have learned is required in 1st grade.

Every time she fills in 5 dots she gets a reward.  So this week I am making her bed every day because she read 50 minutes last week.  The rewards are Zoo, Movie, Date with Dad, Swimming, Late night with a friend, New Toy, Date with Mom, You Choose and Lagoon.  They are all things we were planning to do, but I figured we might as well make them a reward right?  It's worked well so far.  We even scored some Fairy themed chapter books at a garage sale this past weekend which are AR books so that's what we've been reading.

We are also in the process of making a list of our "Summer Bucket List".  I guess I like it so much because it's hanging on the fridge and Ella and Dustin are participating.  Here is what it looks like so far:

Lagoon, Library, Picnic at the Park, Hike with Dad, Float River, Redfish Lake Paddle Boats, Camping, Splash Park, Go out for ice cream, Zoo, Swimming, Movie, Visit grandparents, Mesa Falls, Old Faithful, Game with Molly, Cabin, Sleep under the stars, BBQ with friends, water fight, Family Reunion, Eat watermelon, Fireworks, Jump on the trampoline with sprinklers, ride the carousel, get a snow cone, stay in a motel & go swimming, Tball, harvest garden, Lava hotsprings, bike ride, feed ducks, ride in a boat, swimming lessons, fly a kite, Playmill, BBQ with neighbors, Ferris Wheel at Funland

We are in for an eventful summer!