What's everybody doing this summer?

I'm just going to read and swim. If there's summer work for my English class next year, I'll obviously do that, but the teacher might not assign any.

DD12 has a mixture of Girl Scout camps, STARS through DITD, and just hanging out at home. DS8 will have camp every week (not mature enough to be home alone, let alone with his sister), with a mixture of theater camp, chess camp, and engineering camp.

DD8 has wall-to-wall theater camps for the first half of the summer. Then a dance camp, a few other odds and ends, and maybe we'll do some traveling. Also continuing our homeschool routine, such that it is, throughout the summer.

DS5 is finally old enough for horse camp by our house so he is trying that for a few weeks (his friends who are older went last year and loved it). We also signed him up for a local GT camp run out of his school for all their sessions (he loved it last year), and we are also trying a sports/gymnastics camp run at a place that was highly recommended to me for a few weeks. In between, he has a few weeks to chill out at home (half day with babysitter and we are hoping half day of Lego projects and reading while we work from home - I hope this goes okay).

DD3's school goes through summer before she moves to DS's school other than a break for two weeks, which we have her favorite babysitter coming over.

One week of vacation at a lake, maybe a couple 4-day weekend regional trips to visit historical sites. DC each have 2 week-long day camps. Other than that swimming, playing, reading, and doing whatever we come up with.

We'll be living outdoors, with a perma-tent in the back yard as a shady getaway for reading and snoozing when the sun and swimming gets to be too much.

Oh, and I'll be working, too.

DS17 is on a group trip to Europe, and when he comes back he may be taking an online course to make up the required one he is on the cusp of failing. And we will visit some colleges.

I've got every week planned out for both kids. DH and I are both really busy with with work this summer.

DS8
Weeks 1-3
Visiting out of state relatives without me or DH. Yikes!

Week 4
Summer school

Week 5
Family beach vacation

Weeks 6-9
YMCA Day Camp

Week 10
Scout Day Camp

Week 11-13
YMCA Day Camp

Week 14
Grandparents

Poor DS5. Aside from the beach vacation and the last week with the grandparents, he will be in summer school. Luckily summer school is mostly playing outside.

DD11 will have 2 weeks of Shakespeare camp, 3 weeks of a fabulous all around arts camp and her first ever sleep away camp for 1 week - Girl Scout camp with the theme "Camp Half Blood". She will also do a show but still deciding which one as auditions are coming up later this month. Last summer she did 3 shows on top of all her camps. Not doing that again. She loved the 14 hour days but we were exhausted!

It's a work in procrastinating progress here. We got off to a strong start a few months ago and booked a few camps then stalled out.

There seem to be a lot of half day or shorter camps in our area, which isn't all that convenient.

So far, DS9 has a short baseball camp, morning soccer camp, robotics camps and Camp Invention. He has asked for some time off but we prefer him to have a bit fuller schedule than what we have lined up at the moment!

This is the first summer DS6 won't be in daycare. He has Camp Invention and a local museum Star Wars camp so far, definitely needs more. Fewer things available for him due to age and we missed out on spots for some of the good ones back in March when they opened.

My middle school son is doing an online pre-algebra class, one week of band camp, one week of a makeup scout camp because his troupe is going the week he has band camp (the area scouts are trying to put together the make up camp for the boys who have to miss). Maybe a week of math camp but he wont be going if it is dull and remedial and not fun and geared to gifted kids...I know the teacher so I have to find out the focus. Maybe some beach weekends.

High school son. Getting hours in practicing driving whether he wants to or not. Swimming practice m-f mornings and twice a week in the afternoons. Four three day swimmeets. PSAT/SAT math PREP-khan academy. Lots of eating and sleeping.

Practice. And more practice.


DD5 may not be burning out but I think I am.

Rising 8th grader is taking a five week, one-year high school geometry class at the community college. 9 hours a week for 5 weeks. He took their Algebra I class last year and learned a lot, which made Algebra I this year a breeze. Swim team practice daily, one week sleep away orchestra camp... Hanging with the friends!
Rising 6th grader is taking a bunch of one-week science camps, one week of boy scout camp with parent, one week orchestra camp, swim team practice... Their little brains have already checked out of school, with only a few weeks left!!

Visiting Blighty for a family wedding followed by crystals and polymers CTY class in turn followed by recovery fortnight and then skool daze resume.

madeinuk - would love a review of the CTY course when your daughter is done! I've never been able to find much info about the science classes.

DS4 is doing a preschool camp that he loved last year where the councilors are generally all preschool teachers with early education degrees or in a degree program. I love that part, because I still think a typical teenage camp councilor would be way over their head with DS. We signed up for as many weeks as we could for half-days. I really believe in unstructured down-time for kids but have learned the hard way that for DS it is better done for a few hours a day than weeks at a time. Over spring break we clearly could not meet his needs for exercise, socialization, and stimulation, even with lots of planned day trips! He needs other kids to tire him out 🙂

DS17 is busy all summer and I'll barely see him. A AP Bio trip for 10 days. Then 4 weeks as a CIT (counselor in training) at the wilderness camp where he has attended for the past 5 summers. Home for two weeks of band/flag team camp. And in the breaks between activities start that college essay, take online health and possibly fit in a few more visits to colleges. Only 2 1/2 more weeks of school to go this year.