Afterschooling, Summer Edition

This year our afterschooling fell by the wayside. Alice was challenged enough at school that she didn't really need anything extra at home. This summer is a different story. We went without a schedule for a week. By the end of it we were both cranky and at ends with each other and with what to do. We aren't able to be out and about too much because when I am on my feet for more than 10 minutes at a time my leg starts to go numb. (Baby is sitting on a nerve. Not dangerous, but annoying and somewhat painful.) Alice thrives on a schedule. This has always been true. So, we're afterschooling this summer to bring some structure to our days. Every day she * cleans her room for 15 minutes * makes her bed * works in her math book (Singapore Math Practice 2A / Grade 3) This is review of what she learned this past school year. When I asked Alice what she wanted to learn this summer she said she wanted to review math. They covered a lot of tricky things this year - regrouping, multiplication, division, fractions. Alice was fine at all of it but didn't completely master any of it. I think a summer review will give her confidence going into next year. * reads for 15 minutes about a science topic of her choosing * reads for 15 minutes about a social studies / history / geography topic of her choosing * reads for 45 minutes to an hour each night before bed any book she wants * does a couple of pages in her note reading workbook * letter writing / "organized" art projects / field trips happen several times a week We also watch an episode of Mythbusters most days... Physics and math in action, right?! I have her pick science and social studies / history / geography topics to stick with for a week. We check out a bunch of books at the library so that she can get as in-depth as she wants. Her reading spins off into other projects (of her choosing. I only require the 15 minutes of reading) - this week she decided she wanted to learn about the White House, presidents and first ladies. She wrote a letter to President Obama and has been designing her own White House. For science she chose the solar system (Neptune, particularly) and has done all sorts of art projects related to that. It's fun to see her applying what she's reading. This schedule allows for plenty of free time. It's also flexible. A few days ago she did her 15 minute room cleaning and then wanted to keep going. Was I really going to say, "No, I don't want you to clean your room anymore. Come do math." ?! NO WAY! She spent a couple of hours cleaning up her room. We ditched the rest of the schedule for the day.