Summer is almost here! That means school is out and a break from the typical routine. Which can be great. It can also spell varied expectations, household tension, and extra work for parents. So get ahead of the game and create a summer contract for teens.
Create a Summer Contract for Teens
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As a homeschool mom, I really love summer! I get to focus more on just being mom. But even I get that when teens are out of their routine they don’t always use their time wisely. What we imagine teens will do and what they envision for summer can be widely different!
4 Reasons to Create a Summer Contract for Teens
Yes! I Want a Great Summer with My Teen! Send the Printable "Summer Contract for Teens."
Clarify Expectations for Summer Schedule with Teenagers
So in order to get all the expectations out in the open it’s great to spend some time talking through and creating a plan for the summer. Expectations are neither right nor wrong. It is just what someone thinks or believes is going to happen.
As a mom, I may expect that my children will jump out of bed by 9 am. My teen may imagine sleeping in til 11 am everyday since they plan to stay up til 3 am. So a great place to start it just discussing expectations. One beneficial reason to creating a summer teen contract, is that it pushes us to talk and hash out those expectations.
Set Summer Goals with Your Teenager
By creating a summer teen contract, we are afforded the opportunity to discuss summer goals. You all know I love goals! Read more about creating summer goals here!
Are you hoping your teen will get a job? Does you teen envision learning to drive this summer?
Brainstorm all the different ways your teen could use their summer. Think about summer camps, jobs, vacation plans plus any personal goals. Then pick a few for them to focus their attention. Read here for ways to help your teen develop their interests for more ideas!
If you have older teens, make it more fun by discussing how much money they might save toward a car or a new computer if they work x amount of hours each week and save 70- 80% of their money!
Also look for ways to take a hobby or activity that your teen enjoys and learn more from it. One of our sons reminded me of this as we were discussing this post.
College Boy enjoys gaming. He is also studying electronic media at college. So last summer he challenged himself to create a You Tube channel where he compiled gaming fails (sometimes games have glitches or suddenly do something they are not supposed to do).
This endeavor pushed him to try something he had always wanted to do (start a You Tube channel) plus he learned more about editing, posting online and audio. He could also add this on his resume as another social media platform he knew. Win!
If you have gamers in the house check out all his gaming fails here! Your kids will love them. Moms will love them because there is no bad language (unlike most gaming fail videos)!
Assign Chores for Your Teenagers during Summer Break
Life still goes on! Just because the kids are out of school doesn’t mean that teens will not still be required to help at home.
Write down what your teen is responsible for each day or each week depending on the size of the jobs. This will allow the household to run more smoothly. This can also be an opportunity to encourage your older teens to learn to manage their time. If they know that they have to mow the lawn and they have to work Tuesday-Saturday, well they may need to mow the lawn on Monday or Sunday.
WATCH my Facebook Video here on Why a Summer Contract will Save Your Sanity
We have discovered, in the long run, it is wise to allow teens to stumble through learning to plan out their week. However, it does help teens though to ask for a verbal confirmation on when they think they will get to the chore.
Anticipate Summer Fun by Creating a Summer Bucket List with Your Teens
Summer break is after all a break. So plan a few fun things that teens would enjoy doing this summer. This cuts down on whining that they “never” get to do anything fun and increases anticipation!
Create a “Summer Bucket List” with small things like making banana splits or root beer floats one evening to day trips to the fair or amusement park.
One thing we enjoy putting on either our goals or summer fun is reading. Sometimes it can be hard to keep your book worms in plenty of supply. So I thought I would share what are some recent books our kids have loved.
Michael Vey by Richard Paul Evans is a great series. Don’t you love when you find a book you love and it is a series? The book is about a fourteen year old boy with Tourette Syndrome who discovers he has special electric powers. Good storyline and character development.
Create a Summer Contract for Teens
Yes! I Want a Great Summer with My Teen! Send the Printable "Summer Contract for Teens."
Ready to create a summer contract for teens? Great! I made one for you because I know you are busy!:)
Also as I mentioned, I discussed this post with College Boy. He suggested NOT using the word Contract on the Free Printable Teen Contract as that sounded like something one is being forced to do. So I switched up the title on the free printable. And the focus of the contract truly is on learning, sharing responsibilities and growing as a person. So just a tip to keep in mind when you talk about it with your tween and teens!:)
Pin and Share! Thank You!
Have you ever made a contract with your teen? What is one thing you are hoping your tween or teen will learn this summer? Comment and Share below!
Would you love more support as you raise your tweens and teens? You deserve it and don’t have to go it alone! That is why I created The Reluctant Cowgirl. Join our community here at The Reluctant Cowgirl. Follow along on your favorite social media platform. We are on Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram!
Yes! I Want a Great Summer with My Teen! Send the Printable "Summer Contract for Teens."
What a great post, Miranda! I’ve never thought of having a contract with my kids, but we’re really big into the summer bucket lists. I have found it helpful to discuss expectations for summer when it approaches to make sure we both don’t regret wasting our precious free time once school resumes again. We also love reading all those extra books that we can’t seem to squeeze in during the school year!
Heather,
I am hoping to squeeze in some more reading this summer too! Yes, I love the idea of a summer bucket list that you do and I made sure to incorporate that into the printable!!
This is a great post! I love the point of setting clear expectations with your children. Communication is so important!
Kiley, Yes, clear communication does make for a more stress free home:)
Miranda, I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for creating this contract! My daughter and I filled it out yesterday and not only did it make our expectations clear, it started some great conversations. I would have never guessed that a 13-year-old girl wouldn’t be interested in going to an amusement park! The contract also made the dreaded screen time issue easier to deal with. Here’s to a smooth summer!
Kim, Thank you so much for letting me know how the summer contract for teens went for you and your daughter! That was so nice to read. It is funny how tweens/ teens change so quickly what they like and don’t like. It’s hard to keep up:)
This is wonderful! What a great idea! I will definitely do it.
Karen, It is so helpful to sit down and talk about schedules and goals before summer. Makes summer so much more fun!