The crisis of being bored.

Summer vacation will start for my children in less than a week. My 8 and 10 year old daughter and son are already getting geared up for the last day of school. Since I teach during the school year, it is very irritating and exhausting to hear the words, "I'm bored" sneak out of my children's mouths. So, in order to combat this horrible phrase, I am going to start a summer writing project with my children and totally brainwash them into thinking that this project is "cool". Each day, I am going to begin my morning by writing a few sentences in a notebook. I will then wait for the first child to utter the "magic words". If they say they are bored, they will add a few sentences to the story and we will continue to write the story together throughout the summer. I find that by giving children a "thinking platform", they are able to change gears and possibly prevent real boredom from setting in!
My kids love to write....so they will probably look forward to this. For other families, this may be a total punishment. If your children don't like to write, sit with them and dictate their thoughts....sometimes a little parent/child time can go a long way!