Are you wondering, “How do I make sure my kids’ brains don’t completely turn to mush over the summer?”

STEP ONE – Make sure your kids enjoy learning.

Check out these learning style quizzes. With the results of these quizzes, you can pick activities that your child will engage with. Then, set up your home learning environment to support them.

This is an opportunity to brainstorm with your child(ren) and pick activities that spark joy. Learning comes alive with cooking, writing a play, nature walks… the possibilities are endless.

If you’d like to buy a workbook, I highly recommend Summer Bridge Activities. Not only do they have lessons and flashcards, but they also have physical fitness info, a motivation calendar, and science experiments.

STEP TWO – Wondering how much time to set aside for learning with your child?

• Kindergarten to 1st Grade = 20-30 minutes

• 2nd to 3rd Grade = 30-45 minutes

• 4th to 5th Grade = 45-60 minutes

• Middle School  = 1.5 hours

• High School =  2 hours

STEP THREE – Make a daily schedule that balances learning with fun.

I’ve created a template with guidelines for you. And, check out this blog post for more guidance on setting a schedule.

See? Easy as 1-2-3. I hope you enjoyed these steps.

Summer is officially here!

While I am sure you’re excited to have more time to spend with your children at home, it can be a daunting task filling those longer days and curious minds with entertainment. So I have put together a few simple suggestions of summer activities the whole family can engage in together. Let’s fill these summer days with activities that will build memories for everyone!

Enjoy the Great Outdoors

Take advantage of the warmer weather and head outside. Nature provides endless opportunities for your child to explore and learn. Consider visiting local botanical gardens, zoos, and nature parks. If you’re short on time, take a walk around your neighborhood. If you’re more athletic or want to make a day out of it, take the family on a hike and pack a picnic lunch.  Click here for The Best Los Angeles Area Hiking Trails for Families.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Sixty minutes of daily unstructured free play is essential to children’s physical and mental health.” In addition to the obvious fitness benefits, exposure to green spaces has even been shown to help reduce ADHD symptoms, stress levels, and anxiety. Spending time outdoors can improve your child’s critical thinking, social interactions, sleep, and even vision, so be sure to head into the sunshine regularly this summer break!

Schedule Play Dates

During the school year, it’s often difficult to set up one-on-one social engagements. There always seems to be multiple competing schedules! With the summer break, there’s plenty of free time AND a real need for socializing. While your child may get to connect with his/her peers at school, the summer can be isolating without that daily interaction. Instead of falling back on digital entertainment like movies and video games to fill the void, create opportunities for your children to connect face-to-face with their friends.

Here are 5 simple steps tips for planning a summer play date. And to keep any damage to the inside of your clean house to a minimum, organize some backyard games like these or these (which offer some great rainy day options). This way you can keep the fun contained without dampening the spirit.

Involve Your Child In Decisions

If you’re planning a family vacation, why not involve your child in the process?  Depending on their age, you can ask them to: calculate the cost of the trip, determine which package is the better deal, choose the location or side excursions (determined by price), chart out the driving route, plan a picnic lunch for the car ride, or choose road trip games to play. Take a look at this Wall Street Journal article to see how other parents made this idea a reality and how you can best guide your child as they take a more active role in your family activities.

Teach Your Child To Cook

It’s never too early to teach your child about healthy eating and important life skills. While initially it may take longer to get them used to the kitchen and its rules (safety first always!), summertime is ideal for testing out the waters. You’re not nurturing the next Master Chef Junior. Think of it as teaching your children some basic cooking skills so they can, at the very least, make themselves a simple breakfast if they get up before you in the morning. Here are some easy recipes for kids.

Set Out On An Imagination Adventure

This is the perfect time of year to read new books with your children. If leisure reading was put on the back burner during the school year, make it a priority in your house again this summer. Schedule a time each week for the whole family to relax together with a book. And you’ll already be prepared with one more activity for rainy days!

Here are some book lists by age:

• • Summer Books for 6-8 year olds
  • Summer Books for Tweens
  • Summer books for Teens
  • Summer books for Adults

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What do you have planned to fill those long, sunny, summer days? Let me know in the comments below, and we can add to the list!

Have you ever woken up in the morning, certain it is the weekend, only to discover it’s a Tuesday? If you’re like me, this discovery makes you want to pull the covers back over your head.

Do you cringe at the thought of making just one more lunch? Maybe your child won’t mind having yogurt and chips again!

Are you struggling to help your child with nightly homework? You pray your middle-schooler doesn’t have an essay due this week.

Do you daydream about escaping to a secluded island with no cellphone coverage? The inability to scroll through endless cute pet videos is a sacrifice you’d be willing to make if that means you’d never have to read another “circling back” email.

If you relate to any of these, you’re not alone.

These are very common responses when we’re overwhelmed, frustrated, or just plain tired. As I’m sure you’re well aware, parenting doesn’t always allow for you to take these much-needed respites. As a responsible parent, we’re required to find ways to push on through. You meditate, take a walk, get extra rest, call a friend to rant; you find a way because life has to go on.

This week, I want to share with you my favorite strategy for moving past resistance and instead engage resilience to help you get through those tough tasks. When I am overwhelmed or frustrated, I take a time out, a moment to refocus and center my thoughts, so I can reconnect with why I am doing all this “work” in the first place.

For example, when I realize it’s Tuesday (and not Saturday????) and I need to hop out of bed and get myself and my family out the door, I take a moment to connect with something (or someone) for whom I am grateful. I may even journal a little about it in a notebook, even if it’s just a few lines. This step helps shift my mood and perspective, providing me a boost of energy to begin the day and tackle my tasks.

How do you refocus and reset your inner compass? What activities or strategies help you dig deep when there’s not much fuel in the proverbial gas tank?

Let me know in the comments or on social media. I’d love to hear what you face on a routine basis and how you overcome challenges and excel.

Here is my simple check-in process to close out the school year positively. I help you take a look at your academic progress and figure out if you need to make adjustments before the last day of school.

If these end-of-year challenges sound familiar, this check-in process will be especially helpful:

• Your child is rationalizing away extra work.
• Classes have already moved on to busy work
• The school year was particularly taxing for your child, and you want them to have a well-deserved break.
• You’re tired.

So, check out my video to create your end-of-year evaluation and celebration with your child.

Spring has sprung! It is so easy for students, teachers, and parents alike to throw their hands up and be done with the school year (and all that comes with it!) But there is so much good that can still be done with the time left in the academic year.

But how can we keep going?

I was inspired by my own morning routine to help you finish your school year strong. Most days, I try to have a Miracle Morning. Part of that is making three lists

1. Three things I’m grateful for
2. Three things that are a success (choose one and memorialize it in a way that’s fun for you!)
3. Three things that can be improved (choose one and devise an actionable plan to work on it!)

None of these things need to be monumental! My grateful list often includes my morning coffee or my pets. My success lists usually include that I got out of bed early enough to write! And my improvement list regularly has “positive self-talk” or items on my to-do list. None of these are giant or earth-shattering. They are reminders, and they’re only for YOU!

Will you follow this template, or create your own with your child? How did you decide to memorialize your child’s successes? Let me know what you’re focusing on improving in the comments below, so I can offer you additional support.

Today, I want to touch on one of those life skills that does not get enough attention: boundaries. Boundaries sound good and easy in theory, but it takes courage, consistency, and more than a little patience to enforce them.

Still, the struggle is worth it. Not only do boundaries help you stay in alignment with the behaviors, actions, and values that are important to you, but they also provide essential structure for your child.

We all know that kids’ brains are like sponges, so maintaining consistent boundaries sets an example for your child on how to manage their time, health, and social activities in a productive way.

It’s totally normal for our busy lives to get off track. Here are two of the most common ways that your child may push the boundaries, and how to regroup and reaffirm a healthier, happier environment for your child to learn and grow.

1) Bedtime Battles

It may not seem like a big deal to let your child stay up “just a few minutes more, Mom,” but 5 minutes can easily snowball into an hour. And without proper rest, the next day, everything from the morning routine to the drive to school through the end of classes will be met with greater resistance and less focus and energy.

Suggestion: Design a nighttime routine with your child to help ensure they head to bed by the appointed hour. There will be less of a “because I said so” energy if they are involved in the planning and feel a part of the process.

2) Electronic Interference

I hear many parents complain about their children playing video games until all hours of the night or constantly on their phones. While it may feel impossible to separate your child from their electronics, there are proven ways to find a middle ground.

Suggestion: Create no-phone zones in your home, like the dinner table or bedroom, where everyone (that means you too) needs to put away the small screen and connect with one another irl (that stands for ‘in real life’ for us older adults! 😉).  For video games, instill a schedule of when and how long game time can last. Pro tip: When the console is not in use, unplug it.

What other ways do you and your child butt heads about rules and boundaries? What ways have you found common ground together? Let me know in the comments below.

 

It is hard to balance celebration and academics during holidays and at the end of the school year. Social events and fun activities keep calling. While learning has lost its luster.

But staying on track with assignments and goals is still important.

Watch the video message below to hear more about how to balance celebration and academics. You will learn to set a tone of accountability and honor the importance of follow-through.

If we “check out” of the school year too soon, the last section of the school year can end with a thud and ruin all of the hard-won improvements we’ve worked so hard on all year! Let this serve as your gentle reminder to take a break to go outside, enjoy the flowers blooming, and the brighter days! And then get back to the homework, the lunch making, and the reading time. Finals are right around the corner. When you sit down to that long test, you’ll be very glad you stayed focused. Summer break will be here soon enough, and you’ll have longer days and fewer responsibilities to weigh you down. You can do it!

How do you keep the excitement of the summer or holidays from becoming a distraction in your home? Let me know in the comments below, and we’ll keep the conversation going.