Summer is here and I can’t be the only one who wasn’t prepared.
We have a few weeks planned (sports camp, youth camp, volunteering, grandparent trip), but there’s still an abundance of unstructured free time where my son will be happy to embody Newton’s first law of motion if left to his own (literal) devices.
For the last several summers, we’ve implemented the “Schoonmaker Summer Challenge Program” that is meant to sow in some things we found missing in his education, help him achieve goals and learn some life skills.
The list I am about to give is extensive and daunting. That’s partly the point.
It’s a big deal to achieve your summer goals…so incentivize accordingly! We attach a big prize that he gets to pick (with our guidance).
Additionally, the idea is that this list is pretty difficult so I don’t feel so bad when he just wants to zone out and be on screens for a bit. He’s earned it because some of this stuff is pretty tough and requires effort and discipline to achieve.
I LOVE the muscle memory we are sowing in here: Take on audacious goals! Work hard to achieve your goals in bite-size chunks. Gain the knowledge that you can do hard things. Enjoy the rewards!
Below you’ll see an outline of what we are doing this summer and some of what we have done in the past. Each summer we come up with a new list based on where we want to see him grow, but these are the general categories year after year.
Just for context, we only have one child, he’s 12 years old, and his dad and I both work full-time. If we can do it, anybody can do it!
Here’s how we set up our summer challenges in case you also want to put up a good fight against brain rot:
Reading Challenges:
Did our son like reading initially? No. Did he get a choice? Also no. Does he love it now? Not exactly. But he likes it more than he lets on.
We are at a school that still does AR tests, so for us, the school year is given to a lot of fiction reading to keep it from being a battle. In the summer, his dad and I get to pick his books! It’s not a crazy amount. I’m talking two books, maybe three.
(And I know this is controversial, but he often listens to these. Why? Because he’s a great auditory learner, and because this is about getting the content in his heart and mind. If you’re a “listening is not the same as reading” purist, don’t come for me!)
Mindset Books:
Mental Toughness for Young Athletes
Growth Mindset Workbook for Kids
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens
Vision Casting/Character Growth Books:
The Way of the Warrior Kid Series by Jocko Willink
Personal Challenges:
Music Appreciation:
This has looked a few different ways over the years but this summer his challenge is to learn 2 songs on electric guitar with his grandpa. We’ve done School of Rock camp a few times and private lessons are also an option, but this approach is the right speed for us this summer! New musical skill + hanging with Paps = a win/win.
Entrepreneur Project:
He’s tasked with finding new ways to earn money for himself. This summer he’s found a niche for dog sitting. (Yes, this then becomes my problem but it’s the mentality of hustling and doing things with excellence that’s most important to us at this juncture.) In the past he’s made “Sam Schoon Soaps: Let the suds hit ya where the good Lord split ya,” which I’m told may be making a comeback soon.
Service Projects:
This typically ends up just being helping his grandparents with things outside, but it counts.
“Look for ways to serve, do your best job and have a good attitude,” are the only requirements for this!
Our church also provides some volunteer opportunities, so we make sure to take advantage of those (as they also scratch his itch for social time).
Memorization Challenges:
Call me old fashioned but I still believe in the value of memorizing things. It’s good for your brain health and for your heart! The stuff I memorized in childhood is still with me today and I know I’m not alone in this!
For our family, we put a particular emphasis on memorizing: 1) bible verses, 2) history facts, 3) historical speeches, and 4) adages.
When at all possible, I pair these with songs, because that makes it so much easier for our son, and thus, his mama.
(Some of the items in this section of the challenge require a high time investment and the skill of breaking big goals into chunks which adds some nice structure to your days.)
Great resources for songs:
- Slugs and Bugs
- Classical Conversations Timeline: Age of Ancient Empire-Creation to circa 450 AD (Is this huge? Yes. Is it great for their brains? Also yes.)
Other memorization options:
- The Gettysburg Address
- The Preamble of the Constitution
- The 10 Commandments
- The US Presidents
- Stuff you heard your grandparents say or Ben Franklin quotes. (You could totally turn this into a fun trivia game.)
Physical Challenges:
- Plan and lead a family workout, ideally twice a week, as schedules permit.
- No equipment necessary!
- Get creative!
- Our son’s personal physical challenges for this summer include:
- Increasing his number of sit ups and push ups per minute
- Running a mile in under 10 minutes
- Working towards an unassisted pull-up
- Get soccer touches in
- Humans often need to move to process emotions, so if you don’t have a punching bag, weight bench, etc., take this as your sign to start making these investments.
Spiritual Challenges:
Generally speaking, I see the sacred in aspects of this entire list. It’s all in what you make of it and what you highlight as you live in discipleship/training mode with your kids. But if you’d like to do a specific family devotional, allow me the opportunity to be self-promoting:
The Proverbs Project is a great devotional written by yours truly (and my friend Christine Varnado) that weaves together emotional health principles and timeless Biblical truths. Plus, it’s pretty fun!
Life Skills Challenges:
- Plan and cook dinner for the family one night a week.
- He has to pick the menu, tell me what groceries he’ll need, and then get after it!
- We help minimally, as needed. This week he’s doing Mexican night!
- Complete your normal chores:
- Start your laundry (drop pods + dump clothes in machine, press play)
- Weed eating as needed
- Empty dish washer daily
- Feed dogs twice a day
- Pick up your clothes and trash
- General hygiene stuff…of course
- Learning on YouTube.
- My son likes watching YouTube, so as someone who uses a “work with the grain instead of against it” mindset, we incentivize learning via YouTube. (I’m aware this topic is a little controversial but we have chosen the stance of, “if you’re gonna be on it, at least learn something.”)
- When I have a skill I want him to learn, like last week it was, “how to adjust a door that is sticking,” I send him to YouTube to learn that.
- We also encourage him to watch soccer training videos, drumming videos, cooking videos, etc.
- I’m not looking for mastery but to encourage learning and trying out new things.
As I stated at the beginning, I KNOW this is an extensive list. Fighting off brain rot is hard! All parents know this to be true: a kid in motion will stay in motion and a kid at rest will stay at rest.
I wholeheartedly believe this fight is worth fighting.
This is more than just keeping our kids from being entitled and lazy though. The summer provides a great opportunity to target intervention and correct mindsets that might have snuck in through the school year.
You’ll always be glad for the efforts you made in training and discipling your kids! So take heart and get to work!
