Have you started implementing your summer schedule? Whether you homeschool, private school, or public school your children, once the last lesson is finished, it's time to relax and hop into summer schedules. Do you change your sleep times? How do your activities change? What are things you do during the summer that you normally wouldn't do in the course of the school year? 

With three very active and involved children, I started worrying about summer scheduling back in April. I studied different ways to keep us on track, while still making every scout meeting, every dance class, every baseball or softball practice, and every game. Plus, we want to be able to participate in birthday parties, city events, season passes to the amusement park and piano lessons.

We've been out of school since the end of May. The beginning of the month is an ideal time to switch to a new calendaring format. I decided that I would use my Microsoft Outlook calendar application. I was excited when I found that I could share the calendar online with my husband and ONLY him!  I have assigned every family member with a category color that matches their personality. I've even taken that a step further, and we all have binders in our color, for any important papers that need attention. Now, every Sunday, I print a weekly calendar, and hang it on the bulletin board. We can glance at it on the way out the door to make sure we have all bases covered. Two weeks into our new system, and we haven't missed yet!  For more information on how to publish your Outlook calendar, complete with password protection, visit: Publish a calendar on Office Online.

Do you sleep in and stay up late during the summer? We have implemented a new rule this year. Lights out no later than 11:00.  You must be out of bed before 10 am. You must fix or eat breakfast within 15 minutes, then brush your teeth. You must shower before heading to the backyard pool. We have had very little difficulty sticking to the new schedule, and because everyone's getting good sleep, we're all more relaxed and happy during the day.  That has led to a very happy summer!  We've even had the energy to run to the amusement park twice, almost last minute.

On a final note in summer scheduling, I have had a strong desire to get my kids off the couch and outside. With this in mind, we purchased a medium sized swimming pool to go along with our jungle gym swingset. We also have a comfortable outdoor room set where they can lounge outside to read books, play games, eat lunch and dinner, or just hang out and talk. It's becoming a fun place for the kids to hang out. I have also promised the kids $1 for every day they go without television this summer. They've earned $1 so far, but that's a lot better than the hours they used to stay in front of the tv, and better than my having to chide them to get up, get out, and do something.