Summer Jobs

Thankfully most kids aren't doing yard work with this type of mower anymore, but once upon a time we did. We *really* earned our money in those days! (Now I'm beginning to sound like my dad)

Summer jobs are another great resource for beating boredom. They are as wide and varied as your imagination. Cleaning brush, mowing lawns, weeding gardens, flipping burgers at the local hamburger joint, and the list goes on.

Summer jobs accomplish a whole list of things:

• the value of scheduling (have to be to work on time)
• the value of responsibility (most bosses won't step in and clean up your messes)
• the value of saving money
• the value of spending your money wisely
• the joy of cashing your first (and subsequent) paychecks
• the self-confidence related to a "good job" from your boss
• the experience demonstrated on a resume

Now tell me ... what curriculum is going to accomplish all this for the price of transportation? Even if there aren't any local summer jobs to be had, find projects around home that you're willing to pay to have done. Help your kids become resourceful ... perhaps they'll want to try their hand at a home business.

You never know what opportunities will open up as the result of a summer job!

Happy hunting!
~Judy

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But Mom ... I'm booooored!

Summer is quickly approaching. I know this because my snow shovel is no longer residing by my front step and the sound of many lawn mowers is in the land. Another sound may also be heard as you finish up your school year. That is the sound of children bemoaning their lack of activity. "Moooom, there's nothing to do around here!"

I have the perfect solution! It's biblical, it looks great on a high school transcript or job resume, and it teaches character and servant hood. A very wise friend (who has been somewhat of a mentor on my homeschool journey) once recommended the age-old concept of volunteering. She shared how a volunteer position was/is a requirement for her junior high and high school children. Happy to take her up on that suggestion, we have also made volunteering a requirement for our students.

It was amazing to me the volunteer opportunities out there if you just begin looking. Our oldest child (now in college) spent some summers volunteering for an organization that runs an adaptive riding program for disabled children and adults at a local horse farm. Another child enrolled in a teen volunteer program at the nearby medical center and has had some awesome opportunities to work in the nursing home with aging adults. Our youngest began volunteering at a local Rescue Mission store not too long ago.

The cost is minimal ... transportation back and forth, schedule juggling, but the rewards are too numerous to count. So the next time you hear that familiar whine of boredom, tell your children about the perfect plan you have for their summer!

Blessings ...
~Judy

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Say that again?

My kids are beginning an on-line writing course this week. I've endured all the expected weeping and gnashing of teeth ... followed by the standard explanation of why I will not graduate children who cannot write well.

Coming directly on the heels of those conversations, a friend shared the funniest web site I have yet to see related to the massacre of the English language. WARNING: Be sure you're sitting down, not drinking anything hot, and have a full box of tissues handy. This is just too funny. (Standard disclaimer: I have not read the entirety of this site nor have I clicked on every link. So proceed with caution.)

Enjoy!
~Judy

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