We jumped in feet first, with a fun kick-off Family Home Evening at the beginning of the summer, where I handed out letters and other materials Cat helped me prepare. I also surprised the kids by dressing up in a black robe and witch's hat, then sorting the kids into houses using this printable Harry Potter cootie catcher. We ended up with Ben, Jack, and Eliza in Gryffindor; Luke and me in Slytherin; and Cat in Ravenclaw. For treats that night we had Pumpkin Pasties and Butterbeer, both yummy!
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| Jack drew this while we were rife with Potter Fever. |
I made individualized checklists for each person to use to earn points every day, incorporating both daily tasks and longer-term goals. For example, Luke's included using the potty independently; the bigger kids earned points for reading, but more points if they spent time reading scriptures. I also came up with a list of field trips the kids could earn over the course of the summer, and extracurricular activities or special courses that would earn them extra points.
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| We had a posterboard for each house so that we could decorate our little Harry Potter display area with the week's highest point-earner's poster. But 5 of us were at a disadvantage since Cat, the most diligent and competitive of everyone, didn't have anyone else in her house to bring down her average. Ravenclaw led all summer. |
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| Potions Lesson (which also helped Jack earn his Cub Scout science belt loop) |
We were really motivated to try to earn points and keep track of them for the first couple of weeks, but once we started having family and friends visit in June, we got off track and never really got back on. That's okay. We'd prefer to have that time with people who are important to us. And we still managed to do a lot of the things we set out to do at the beginning of the summer.
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