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This week’s guest post is from Signe Whitson, a licensed social worker, a mom and a freelance writer.
Have you started your school shopping yet? Store shelves are stocked with packs of yellow, number two pencils and large pink erasers. New backpacks and messenger bags hang on the racks. Lace-up school shoes (What? No flip-flops allowed for gym class?) line the aisles, reminding all of us that it’s back to school time.
But wait! Shopping for new outfits and trendy accessories is fun and all, but I?m not done with summer. There’s still so much fun to be had during the long, unstructured days. And the kids have really kept up their learning, just by playing and doing everyday things around the house. I am going to write the school board a letter to ask for more time.
Dear Local School Board:
I am writing to ask you to consider extending summer by just one month. They say that ?play is the work of children? and all of the kids I know have really been enjoying their vacation, which must mean they?re working hard! To plead my case, here are just some of the ways they?ve been hard at play:
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Keep the Change: Whenever I give allowance, I spread out a large pile of coins and have my kids count out their own designated amount, in quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. Feels just like a math lesson, only they get to keep the change!
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Financial Planners: When they want to go on vacation, I help them budget their allowance for spending money. If they want a new hat, they watch for sales and coupons, budget, and figure out the sale prices. The value of money is no mystery to my children.
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Thanks for the invitation: Each time one of my daughters is invited to a friend’s house or birthday party, I ask them to write a thank-you note to their host. They practice capital and lowercase writing, spelling, sentence structure, vocabulary?even punctuation.
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ABC Order: When my four-year old accidentally tipped over our DVD rack, my seven year old had the idea to re-shelve the movies in alphabetical order. The DVD’s were so orderly that I suggested they do the same with my CD collection. They didn?t think that was as much fun, since I?ve been collecting CD’s for a few decades now, but I sure like the new arrangement.
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Kitchen Helpers: We baked cookies for a large crowd last week. The recipe was for three dozen cookies, but we needed twice that many. There was a lot of addition and multiplication going on as I challenged my kids to double the recipe?and something went right with their math, because the cookies were delicious!
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Small-Business Owners: My kids have always wanted to have a lemonade stand, and this summer they had their chance. For a quarter, any neighbor or passer-by could purchase an icy-cold, fresh-mixed cup of lemonade?in their choice of pink or yellow. As an added bonus, freeze-pops were available for just a dime. The kids counted money and handed out change for hours. At the end of the day, I even had them add up their total revenue, then subtract the cost of their cups, drink mix, and popsicles to generate a profit statement. Who needs a classroom yet, when we?ve got lemonade stand math?
So, as you can see, there is a lot of work going on this summer and we just need a few more weeks to make sure we?re thorough. I promise you that the kids will head back to school in October, energized from all of their extended-summer learning. Thanks so much for considering my request.
Signed,
A mom having too much fun this summer with her family
Think I stand a chance?
This plea has been brought to you by Signe Whitson. She is a licensed social worker, who has worked with children in therapy for over 10+ years. As a mom and a freelance writer, she is able to share the joys of motherhood for My Baby Clothes Boutique to share with the parenting community.
