Kid Kamp Konfessions~The Intro

Here it is, I am going to start blogging all about my adventures trying to "home-camp" my kids this summer. Yes, "home-camp" them.   I am a teacher, which I think is the best job in the world if you are a mom.  You get to have the best of both worlds; working mom by school year, stay-at-home-mom by summer.  I have one girl (5) and two boys (3yrs and 15 months).  After one too many TV laden weekends this recent year, I realized that, as the summer was approaching, I needed to have some sort of structure.  There are only so many "Yo-Gabba-Gabbas" and "Fireman Sams" one can watch.

About two months ago, I started researching, creating and gathering all sorts of materials to give my kids a home-camp adventure.  I ended up with a 3-ring binder packed to the gills.  Plus, another 2-ring with back-up plans and another 1-incher with reflections, lists, "things to blog about" and "to-do's". I am using these handy dandy printables to jot down notes.

My Binder--I told you it was big

My 2 "smaller" binders

I started with weekly themes and then built the plans around them.  Here are nine weeks of themes...for now.

1. Ponds
2. Dinos
3. America
4. Princesses & Knights
5. Bats & Batman
6. Pirates 
7. Bugs
8. Under the Sea
9. Grocery Store/Homemaking

My kids are going to be at out-of-the home camps, swim lessons and VBS sporadically, I have some additional themes in my "back pocket" just to pull out if need be.  Yes, I overdid.  Here are the "back-pocket" themes.

1. Wizard of Oz
2. Ballerinas
3. Mermaids/Fairies
4. Civil Service/Transportation
5. Birds

For each theme I have...

• Educational packs/lapbooks
• Themed sensory tubs
• Language Arts
• Books
• Arts & Crafts
• Science
• Math
• Cooking
• Viewing/Media Literacy
• PE
• Field trips

My kids are young still and I want to keep it as structured as possible in the AM and then after lunch let them do their own thing, which hopefully includes napping for my 3 year old.  Oh, did I mention that I am also going to potty train him as well this summer?  Fingers crossed for that working out smoothly. 

On the docket...

• Starting each day off with calendar, weather and the Pledge
• Mondays--going to the library to get our themed books for the week
• Going to the store to get materials for projects if need be
• Reading a story and doing a craft or lesson that aligns with the book
• Breaking down ed packs/lapbooks (this will take at least a week to do)
• Core lessons/activities
• Cooking (making snacks)
• Viewing a video/movie that aligns
• A PE activity--the Olympics are coming, so I think we will be competing in Olympic sports too
• Field trip Fridays

Of course, I have it all arranged and organized, but I don't expect to get it all done. Even though the details are meticulous, the deployment is lax.  Like I said, we are pretty packed between camps and vacation and swim lessons.  I also got a couple of weeks of teaching summer school myself.  All of this planning is so we don't become a bunch of couch potatoes when we do have free time this summer.    

As we go on our home-camp crusade, I will blog about my findings and my failings. Post pix of all the neat things we do.  And the not so neat things we do.  Hopefully the experiments will work.  If they don't, eh, we tried.  

I intend to start this as soon as school gets out, which for me is Monday, June 18.  My first venture will be on Tuesday, 6-19, hopefully.  My son has swim lessons and we have a dentist appointment.  Hmmm, maybe I will start on Wed.  Well, if interested in trials and calamities and achievements and successes, check back around then and from time to time to see how our home-camp is going.  You might discover something new.  I know I will.