It's that time of year when many homeschool moms are busy organizing for the fall, and I am definitely one of those. I'm in the process of creating my "Home Management Binder". I got this idea off of the /www.keepingthehome.com/ website, and I'm really excited. I've been meaning to make one for a long time, and it is actually coming together now. It's really going to help me keep all of my information in one place. I'm one of those people that tends to write notes, schedules, lists, etc on a piece of paper or in a notebook, and then not be able to locate them later. It is very frustrating! This way, everything will be organized into one place. I'm going to complete it this weekend...hopefully...and then I will post pictures and show what I did.
My flesh is really wanting to stress right now. I just started a new school program for the kids, which means that I dumped all of my previous plans, that I had so diligently worked on in June (and I was super happy to be ultra organized in my planning for the fall!), and I'm starting from scratch. The biggest problem with this for me, is that I have yet to have ordered my curriculum. I have to order it through the company, in order for them to cover the cost, and I'm still waiting on someone to meet with me and go over the program, and show me which curriculum is approved and which isn't. I don't know if what I want to use is okay yet or not. I'd really like to have a vision in my head of what we're doing, and work on planning out lessons. Whenever I think about this, I STRESS!!! I have to continually remind myself, "Be still and know that I am God", over and over again. My dear husband reminded me that the Bible tells us to not worry about tomorrow. It's all in God's hands. He knows what we will be doing, and whenever I actually know, HE will help me with it all.
"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34 NASB
I promised in a previous post, about scheduling chores, that I would share my children's chores. Here are my girls' chores:
Morning Chores:
Annamarie (12 years old): Up at 7:00 (this is year round, on all days except Saturday). Take dog out to run (she runs dog 5-6 times per day), give dog food and water. Let rooster out of his house. Make bed, brush hair, and straighten up room. After this is breakfast, then brush teeth and help clean up kitchen. Bring dirty laundry from upstairs down to the downstairs basket. Straighten living room. At about 9:00 she starts her devotions.
Abigail (7 years old): Make bed and straighten room. Feed chickens and ducks. Give water to chickens/ducks and rooster. Water garden and deck plants. Straighten guest room. After breakfast, brush teeth and hair, and help clean kitchen.
After lunch, everyone helps clean up the kitchen.
Afternoon chores:
Annamarie: Fold and put away laundry, unload dishwasher, feed dog, vacuum living room (M, W, F)
Abigail: Check all pet water and fill if necessary. Fold and put away laundry. Feed chickens/ducks.
After dinner chores:
Annamarie: Load dishwasher, spray and wash counters
Abigail: Clear and wash kitchen table, sweep floor
I didn't include Andrew in here because his dad plans most of his chores. He feeds/waters the pigs morning and afternoon, takes care of his dog, and then helps with whatever Ted needs done for the day.
I had no idea how many chores your kids do. That is GREAT! I can feel their work ethic growing from here and it is so healthy for them. My question is HOW do you manage to get them to actually do it all and do a good job? Is it just that you've started them out doing the work early so it's how things are? I feel like such a slacker now. :)
ReplyDeleteLOL miss slacker! Thanks for the encouragement. But remember that your journey has been different from mine. You have been busy birthing babies for the last several years. I've had a lot of breaks in between babies and been able to establish routines. Yes, I started at a very young age with age appropriate chores, but even at this point I feel like I'm constantly reminding. Writing up chore charts and schedules is helping a lot. And we use reward motivation/consequences. They all KNOW that if they don't do their chores, then they won't be touching a computer or video game controller. This works for them. "If you don't dod your work, you don't get your privileges. Love you sister!
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