The Day to Day

There is so much that I am learning that I would like to share with everyone who has questions about what we do. I keep getting ideas of things to share as I am doing dishes or folding the laundry, so I decided I need to start writing about them. I am going to start by just sharing the some of things that we do day after day that keeps us going. Just so that I can not forget anything I am just going to start off with some of the things we do in the mornings, and see where that takes us. 
When we first started homeschooling I thought it was important that we get up the same time every morning and stick to a  set schedule. I made a pretty poster that hangs on the wall in the kitchen to help us remember what order we like to complete our morning tasks. This worked well at first, and then as the kids got used to being at home, I would find that some mornings they would still be sound asleep....and I liked the quiet time to prepare (perhaps take a nice shower) and greet them happily. Other mornings it was ME who need the extra Zzzzzz's. So we slowly stopped getting up at a set time. We still pretty much rise at the same time every morning...usually between seven and seven-thirty. But the difference is that I don't feel guilty for hitting the snooze button when needed and my kiddos wake up when they are refreshed and ready (unless an annoying little sibling wakes them by yelling, poking or both). 
In our beginnings I also thought it wise to complete ALL chores before eating breakfast. This is good, and I still am pleased when it happens....but sometimes it isn't possibly for certain chores to be done first...sometimes the dishwasher doesn't need attention until lunch, and it doesn't work well to sweep the kitchen before the cereal is poured all over the floor. So we have also relaxed the rules of our chore routine as well. What is important about this lesson is that my kids are doing chores every day!!  Some Mom's seemed shocked when I tell them that my kids do dishes, sweep floor, feed animals, fold laundry, and whatever else I need them to do. Notice I didn't say that my kiddos do their chores skipping, and singing with smiles on their faces. I do have to admit that at times they complete a 5 minute job in 20 minutes because of their need to show their discontent.  Occasionally I also receive the complaint that some person has less to do than another, in our house you are measured by your accountability. Obviously I can ask  more of my older children than I can of the younger. I try to pair them up sometimes so that the young ones can learn and the older ones can teach. This is a good experience for both, and frees up some of my time!  
Now that we understand everybody pitches in, we need to work on the QUALITY of the work. I have thought this over and come up with a good plan that I hope works. I am going to become a chore shadow. I hope to rotate children week by week, to follow them for a week with their daily chores (and hygiene routines) so that I can instruct and correct where needed. I am hoping that they will find this fun, having me working with them, and I might even give them some kind of certificate or reward at the end of the week. I figure if I do this I can just start over again in order check back up on how they are doing, and hopefully our home will actually look clean after chores have been proclaimed "done". I'll try to remember to report on this later.
So this is the basics to how our everyday, begins. Pretty normal I would say. I don't even thing it would be too much different if I had them attending a public school. Well, I guess we WOULD have to get up at 6:00 am every morning so they could catch the bus at 6:30. Whew! I 'm glad we don't have to deal with that! I'd also have to wait for them to get home and do homework before expecting any contribution to the work around the house...and then I would feel guilty asking it of them because they would have no free time to do things that made them smile! I do enjoy having my kiddos at home and instilling in them a sense of responsibility and importance in making our day to day lives happier and healthier. I am so blessed to be Mommy!


Happy Day!