Maribeth Spangenberg adds, "One summer, I bought all my children notebooks, and three times a week I had them journal. It was nothing elaborate or detailed, and involved anything from impromptu assignments, to descriptions, to telling about their previous day, or what they hoped to do that present day. It could even be something that they learned in personal devotions. Each morning I'd give them an assignment and tell them to write for 15 minutes. I did not correct spelling or grammar, so there was no pressure on either them or me. But I would always read each one myself, or sometimes make them read it aloud to each other. Then I would find something positive to compliment them on, and sometimes offer suggestions of ways they could expound on their writing the next day. As time went on, I would see improvement in length, descriptions, content, and imagination, which were my primary goals."

Katharine Trauger shares her motivation for getting her family started with summertime journaling: "After spending one summer busy to the hilt, we felt so bad about looking back and not being able to tell where on earth all that time went. We felt as if we had lost the entire summer. Only trips to the pantry told us that we had spent some time canning and gardening. Surely that was not all." She continues: "So the following summer, we made a journal. We stapled pages of lined paper between pages of construction paper, used stencils to make an attractive title on the front cover, and then proceeded to record our doings for each day. It became an official family creation, complete with vying over who got the privilege of recording in it each day. It did not matter if all we did was some weeding and a picnic, we recorded at least two significant activities from each day, one for the morning and one for the afternoon." And just what were the advantages of keeping this journal? "The effect was electric. We realized that 1.) every day of summer has significant happenings that we enjoy or profit from, 2.) that we really were a very busy family, 3.) that a summer break was absolutely essential in our lives, and 4.) that we really loved summer and used it wisely."

Suzanne Broadhurst suggests a fun twist on the journaling idea--have your kids write a book about themselves! They can add to it throughout the summer, perhaps finishing it in a single summer, or it can be a multi-year project that gets added to year after year.

IDEA #4: GARDENING

Although it may be a little late in the season to launch into a full-fledged gardening project, you can still have some fun and learn a few things by either trying to grow a few plants or researching plants you could grow next year. Suzanne Broadhurst suggests, "Plant something, watch it grow! Or watch it shrivel and die; or research what to plant and then don't plant it--in any case, it's a lesson! A few years ago, I had my son look up Perennial Plants That Will Grow in Shade in North Florida and Not Take Any Work From Mom. He made a whole list! It kept him occupied and learning. Now, where did I put that list..."