Readin’, Writin’, ‘Rythmatic, and… Chores?

It’s the beginning of the year and whether you make New Year’s Resolutions or not, you’ve probably got some plans for the year in mind. Especially for your homeschooling!  PLANS! Lesson plans, day plans, field trip plans – planning is the most euphoric time of school work because anything seems possible when we make a plan for it!

Perhaps your Perfect Day Plan looks something like this:

7:00 am – wake children and eat breakfast

8:00 am – everyone recites the Pledge of Allegiance and sings “My Country Tis of Thee”

9:00 am – all children peacefully seated at the table, doing book work

12: 00 pm – lunch break

1:00 pm – the afternoon free for field trips and science projects

6:00 pm – dinner with daddy

9:00 pm – children in bed

Doesn’t that look so possible and doable and ideal?  There’s only one problem, my friends (aside from the fact that Utopia will not be attained in this world).  A very key activity is missing from the above schedule.

CHORES!

Yes, indeed!  Those of you who opt for realism over optimism were probably picturing the problem as you read the schedule.  “Not in MY house would that happen!  The kids wouldn’t be able to find their books, I wouldn’t be able to find the kitchen table and my husband wouldn’t be able to find us!”  That’s because chores need to be included in this list! 

“Aw, shucks,” you might say.  “They’re just kids.  Why should they have to do chores?  I want them to have a fun childhood!”  If that is true, then why are you bothering to educate them?  They would probably rather be playing in the yard anyway. 

Of course, you are educating them for the same reason you should have them do chores – it prepares them for adulthood and Real Life.  It is actually a kindness to teach your children the basics of cleaning a house and preparing a meal.  Here are both the short and long term benefits.

Short Term
If you start your day with a one hour cleanup time, then the rest of the day will be less confusing and chaotic.  The kitchen table will be cleared, there will be room to sit on the couch and everybody will hopefully know where their books are.  (If not, check under the bed!)  Tidying the house every day minimizes such problems as lost library books, dog hair in the sandwiches, forgotten commitments, overlooked mail and lost keys.

Long Term
By teaching your children how to run a house, you are teaching them to survive on their own some day.  How many of you mothers wish your mother had passed on her homemaking skills to you?  How many of you fathers ate out a LOT before you got married?  Raquelle and I are constantly amazed at our friends in their 20s and 30s who don’t even know the basics about cooking a meal, washing their clothes or vacuuming the floor.  Their parents have done them a great disservice by allowing them to skip household chores.

How To Do It

These chores don’t have to be onerous or majorly time consuming.  For instance, in our family, Raquelle and I were each responsible every morning to make our beds, tidy one of the bathrooms and tidy the living room and school room.  In the kitchen, we helped with meal prep and took turns washing the counters and vacuuming the floor.  Once or twice a week we had an extra chore like folding laundry or scrubbing a bathtub.  Usually, our whole chore time lasted about 1 hour.

It was worth it.  The rest of the day flowed much more smoothly as everything was generally in its place and we had room to work.  Meal prep and cleanup went much more quickly. Colds and other contagious ailments were not automatically passed to everyone in the family since the bathrooms were cleaned every day.  Unexpected company was not the Disaster of the Century.  In fact, our whole family continues to reap the benefits of Raquelle and I being able to help run the house. 

So this year, as you make your day plans, think about adding some chores to teach your kids Real Life Skills.  You will love the ultimate benefits of a tidy house and responsible children!

Written by Heather Sheen, a Chore Expert

Three Great Secrets to Organization

This article is about organization. Do not laugh at me, please. Just because I’m not organized doesn’t mean I don’t know how to be organized, does it?

After all, I have a Mother Who Knows. She has told me how. For me, it’s simply a matter of self-discipline and enforcing what I already know. Ouch.

Painful thought it might be, friends, isn’t this where our problem lies? Most of us know how to be organized — we are aware of calendars, file folders, and alarm clocks. We just can’t seem to make ourselves follow through. And at this point many homeschoolers become discouraged and consider placing their children in an institutional school, conveniently forgetting the disadvantages and simply admiring the structure and order the school provides.

Alas, such homeschoolers do not know the Three Great Secrets of Organization. I do. No, I am not all-wise — I have a Mother Who Knows, remember? And my wise Mother Who Knows has taught me these secrets and they have helped me, yea, even one who is as Haphazardly Dizzy-Headed as I.

Secret Number One
Clean your house first. “Ha!” you say. “If I had time to clean my house, I’d have time to organize it. Don’t be ridiculous.” No, no. I am not talking about scrubbing, mopping, and dusting. I am talking basics — wash the dishes, do some laundry, pick up clutter. These things should be done first, before you go anywhere or do anything else in the morning. Make it part of your daily routine.

In our family, my Mother Who Knows made this simple rule: Immediately after breakfast, everyone spends 1-2 hours doing chores. This means scrubbing and sweeping the kitchen, making beds, tidying all rooms, cleaning bathroom countertops, and folding laundry. Yes, every day. Before school. Before errands.

While we obviously make occasional exceptions in occasionally exceptional circumstances, this is our family practice to this day. And let me tell you, as a Haphazard Dizzy-Head, this is the only thing that has kept me from being swallowed by my own disorganization. It works for me. It can work for you.

Secret Number Two
Share the work. You’re not trying to tidy the whole house yourself, are you? Oh, don’t do that. How excruciating! Recruit your Little Chickies to be Little Helpers. This is Home Ec., after all. It takes skill and knowledge to run a household well and your Little Chickies should learn early and learn well.

By the time my sister and I were about nine, we were each assigned certain rooms to clean every day — our own room, a bathroom, and one extra room each. This meant, among other things, making beds, putting away all clutter, disinfecting bathrooms sinks and counters, and straightening or replacing towels. Tip: our Mother Who Knows inspected our work every day because she not only knows about housecleaning, she knows about lazy and careless young children.

“But in the time it takes me to teach Johnny the chore and check up on him every day, I could do it myself!” you groan. This is probably true. But cheer up! A few extra hours with Johnny for a few weeks will pay off in the long run. Not to mention that Johnny will learn some important life skills — housecleaning, being faithful to instructions, accountability, and being organized.

Secret Number Three
Stay home more. Isn’t it funny how homeschooling families forget the word “home” in “homeschool”? They run hither and thither, participating in co-ops, field trips, music lessons, sports, church activities, etc. These things are fine in moderation. But the home is very important. It is the nerve center of your family, the "home base" for everything you do.

How can you be organized if you never remain home to do so? Stay home, especially in the mornings. Get the housework and schoolwork done and save selected special activities for afternoon. Guard your time. No, do not check your phone right now. It will disrupt and derail you. No, do not get on your computer right now. Save it for down time this afternoon, not during morning chores or school time.

These Three Great Secrets are tried and true. They are truly useful to Haphazard Dizzy-Heads like myself. And believe me, if they can work for me, they can work for you. Give it a try!

Written by Raquelle Sheen