More "Things to Do in the Summer"

* Tour your town:
I grew up in a small town that had a historic caboose on main street. I never knew why it was there until one day I took my children and their cousins to tour it. It was fun for them to be able to go inside a real caboose and it was educational too We packed a lunch and took our old bread from our kitchen and drove to a new neighborhood with a pond and fed the ducks.

* Use summertime to teach or immprove your children's chore skills.
This is a great time to teach them what chores you want to add to their chore chart for the Fall also. I used summers to teach them skills such as cleaning, gardening and cooking. This time spent in the summer made the fall schedules less hectic since we had prepared and the kids learned my expectations along with a little more self discipline!:)

* Reading Program
Get your children to read, read, read. Use summer to read aloud together (yes even to pre-teens and teenagers) and expect your children to read many books. Visit the library and teach them how to check out books, apply for a library card and encourage them to love learning.

* Grow spiritually always!
Choose a Bible study and /or devotional to do together. This summer our whole damily has begun a very intensive devo together. It is meant to be done in 40 days, but we are taking it slower so it will fit with our schedules. However we will have group discussion once a week. We are so excited about what God will do through this time personally and corporately. My children are 19, 18, and 16 now so the things to do together never end!

Lori Merrill