Dear Teacher-Mom Self:
I’m pretty sure this is true for most teachers. And most moms. But as a teacher mom, you must NOT forget that the first week of summer does not count as summer.
The first week of summer is like prep week. This is primarily because you haven’t yet had the debate about what time of each day civilized creatures should be clothed, what qualifies as clothed (whether or not you plan to leave the house), and how many changes of clothing are acceptable.
Other lessons will be necessary as well- not all in the first week, mind, but be aware… They won’t believe yet that you have the audacity to expect them to do something productive with their brains (like read) even during the warmest season. There will need to be lessons about managing footwear, how/ when/ where to peel off wet clothes after they come in contact with water (in various forms and for far too many reasons to note here). And you must teach children to come in once in a while for food- I recently realized this instinct is not inherited. Don’t forget to tell them in no uncertain terms what morning and night hours decent people knock on other people’s doors.
You know, for starters…
I’m sorry, and you’re welcome,
Self
p.s. For other readers, our first week of summer is on the books. Should you, like me, need visual support and a framework to keep it together, the following links will show you our daily schedule, our learning requirements, our summer chores, etc. All are google docs, so just make your own copy and edit away…
Our Study Requirements We’re religious, but if you’re not, just a few tweaks will do.
Chores, Chores, Chores (I have ALWAYS believed in a healthy amount of child labor.)
So this is BLISS 