This is the last week of our Summer Series! Click here to catch up: Welcome to Camp Quarantine; your DIY Summer Camp at Home Guide!
Summer seemed long and lazy when I was a kid. But now it seems short and almost foreboding—like a too-lovely-for-comfort calm before the . . . fall.
Most of us have “back to school” on the brain . . . and it may not be all freshly-sharpened pencils and fall wardrobe this year. Whether you are homeschooling for the first time, figuring out how to navigate the whole socialization and distancing conundrum, or sending your kids to school to take on some new rules and territory, this school year is looking a little more daunting for all of us. And I suspect this increased anxiety for “Back to School 2020” is already being felt by our kids, too.
See my previous post: Back to School??? Or Homeschool??? The CONSIDERATIONS & COMPLICATIONS for Fall 2020 for help navigating the upcoming school year
But enough back to school talk! Let’s get back to . . . SUMMER! Regardless of each of our own circumstances and complications for this fall, I believe the best way we can prepare and equip our kids for the unknowns and challenges ahead is to spend as much quality family time together as we can . . . right now.
Close, comforting, calm, or crazy time spent with the family does so much more than just facilitate bonding. When things feel unsettling, when things are stressful, or even scary, a child will subconsciously pull from his or her foundation: the connection, sense of belonging, and sense of safety gained from home. So let’s find solace in this truth: spending time together this summer is the best thing we can do to give our children the gifts of security, self-esteem, strength, and resilience.
There are three more weeks of summer, let’s make them count!
If you’ve been following our summer series, then your camp-inspired summer itinerary hopefully looks pretty solid. This is what we’ve covered so far:
- camp culture & environment: Welcome to CAMP QUARANTINE!
- orders of operation: Your Camp Quarantine Clipboard!
- camp-inspired summer schedules: Of Bugles, Bells, & Blaring Megaphones
- camp-inspired arts and crafts: BEAD IT, BASH IT, BURN IT!
- outdoor recreation: REC IT & TREK IT with your kids this summer!
- campfire circle activities: SPOOKS, SCAVENGERS, SKITS, SILLY SONGS, and (S)MORE!
But this week, we are covering a cornerstone of Summer Camp that doesn’t fall into a particular block on your Camp Clipboard. We are covering something that is woven into and between every event and activity of the day (summer or not)— transcending the seasons, the years, and passage of childhood. Something that truly lasts forever . . .
~MEMORIES~
When summer is over . . .
when “out-the-door” schedules replace lazy mornings . . .
when afternoon homework battles break out . . .
and bedtime routines stamp out the campfire under the stars . . .
when our carefree summer days raise their heads and fly south for the winter . . .
all we are left with are the rocks we collected . . .
the flowers we pressed . . .
the beads we strung . . .
the snapshots we took . . .
the journals we kept . . .
the character we built . . .
the memories we will treasure.
We all know the saying well: “our children won’t remember the things we bought them, they will remember the time that we gave them.“ And yet . . . is it just me, or do we forget that more or less on the daily?
Everything you do with your kids this summer is memories in the making. All it will cost you is time. But, also . . . memories need keeping! Make Camp-Inspired Arts & Crafts to treasure, press flowers, collect rocks, take pictures, and above all . . . jot things down!
Let’s cherish summer days with our children—gathering and storing up memories as the ants gather grain for the winter. For soon the wind will pick up, the days will shorten, the colors will change . . .
Thank for reading!
Love, ~Our Holistic Homeschool~
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