*One note here- parents tell me their kids don't want to do these things and my answer to that: kids have parents because they need them. Kids, are not capable of knowing what they will need in the long run. Plan for what they need not what they want- kids generally want to lay around, eat junk, not bathe, and stay up all night. I gave my kids about a week of that, but then I became a benevolent Dictator. Here are a few things that I did with my kids every summer.
1) Got a Summer Bridge books. These books reinforce the grade completed & ready the child for the next grade. Get these at Books-a Million, BN, Amazon -Not optional. Before they went anywhere Summer Bridge pages had to be completed.
2) Vacation Bible School- I grew up on it & my kids did too. My own church didn't do daytime VBS, so I took them to another church. When we moved to Alabaster, Al Nick was in K5 & went to Westwood Baptist's VBS until the 6th grade. My good friend Yolanda sent her son's too and this became a yearly norm. Who doesn't like Crafts and Snacks??
3) Library Book Program- This also was a ritual part of my own upbringing. Jefferson County has some of the best libraries I been too! Even though I live in Shelby County, for $50/ year I pay out of county fees. So worth it! Every library has a Kick-off party and you get a little book bag with a reading logs, book marks and a calendar of activities. I normally go to Hoover, but have gone to most. When Devin, my middle son, was little we joined Irondale, Hoover, Homewood & Central one year LOL. All the programs were so good! Kids get prizes for books read. I started taking Livi at 3.
Not so much for High School kids- so we strike our own reading goal prizes:).
4) Camps- I would try to get at least a week or two of a camp the kids really wanted. We never could afford expensive ones, so I would find cheap or free ones. When Devin was 12 he was really interested in Aviation. I found a "Aviation Camp" at the Southern Museum of Flight. It was $85/week 8-5. Sports camps can be high, but some take payment plans like the Point Guard College Nick went to last year. Civil Air Patrol camps and Boy Scout camps are cheap.
5) Volunteering- teaching our kids to be grateful can be hard, giving back helps. Devin volunteered at UAB hospital for 2-3 summers. My older two were camp counselors at inner-city camps. Mission trips and Habitat for Humanity were other things they've done.
For the past two weeks I've been scouring the internet, googling that is, for camps to send my 10th grade son to. He will be a junior next year and yes I still make plans for his summers. Maybe it's a boy thing, but left to his own Nick would vegetate all summer & I can't stand bodies not in motion lol. I try to look for things he would like and that are free or cheap. No sports camps this year- time for career exploration, so I found a
a) Camp @ UAB - Material Engineers Camp and it's FREE.
b) Camp at Tuskegee- not free- but cheap - PACT (Preview Architecture & Construction Science)
c) Camp @ the CDC in Atlanta FREE - Disease Detective Camp
Deadlines are approaching on most of these- for High School students- here are links
http://www.uabmedicine.org/volunteer-services/
Over the years I have grown to think of summer as a time to assess and regroup. Catch up in areas we struggle and explore new things too. Start planning now for a summer your kids will love and won't fall behind in.
Gloria J. Adams
Fortify!
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