Mondays with Nonnie: ABC Summer

Many of you already have heard about our ABC Summers but for those of you who haven't allow me to share.  Every Summer we choose a letter from the alphabet on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and go on an outing starting with that letter.  We also fill up our ABC lunch pale with objects starting with the letter, we point out words along the way which begin with that letter, and finally we see who can come up with the most words which begin with our letter of the day.  Pretty much turning our day or at least part of it into an episode of Sesame Street.  When they were little I even pinned a note to their shirts saying "Today I'm learning the Letter B".  They were always amazed at how people would know what letter we were on.  We dropped that as soon as they got older:).  This tradition has become a highlight of each year.  So far we have toured 'a'irports (helped land an airplane), 'b'ook factories (and were given a 'b'ackpack full of books), 'C'rayola Factory, 'D'unkin Doughnuts (made their own doughnuts), and seen behind the scenes of a 'm'ovie theater, ridden on a 'd'ouble decker bus in DC, and on 'e'scaltors and 'e'levators for fun, 'f'ished and 'f'armed, 'g'olfed, made 'j'am, and 'i'ce cream.  We try and mix in service along with learning and always write creative 'Thank Yous' to our friends we make along the way.  We also take one day to find a 'N'ursing home we can bring all the art we have accumulated throughout the school year to hand out to each 'Grandma and Grandpa' to display in their room after we preform a song or two.  I cry every time.  This one is my favorite and although the children are nervous at first they leave feeling so happy.  So there you have it the ABCs of having a Proactive Summer!  If you have any further interest in maybe starting this tradition in your family my good friend will be starting a web site where she has taken this idea to the next level and will open it up to parents wanting to share their ideas and tips.  Hope you're having a great Summer no matter what you're doing! 

With Love,  Nonnie