by Donna | Apr 13, 2017
When homeschooling moms hear the word “schedule,” they either cringe or celebrate. It seems that there is a division of camps when it comes to scheduling. While those who “celebrate” the schedule might be guilty of micro-managing their children and maybe even putting undue pressure on them, those who ‘cringe” when confronted with the idea of scheduling might suffer from a lack of productivity due to their disdain for schedules.
I have found that you do not have to have a love-hate relationship with schedules, but rather you have to figure out which type of homeschooler you are—one who loves schedules and wants to follow one to the letter or one who doesn’t care for them and would do better with a looser type of schedule that still provides some sense of structure.
If you love schedules, then you will probably do better with a moment-by-moment, or at least hour-by-hour one to guide your day.
(more…)
by Donna | Jun 2, 2016
Summer schedules. Those two words do not seem to go together to most kids (and even many parents!). And yet, I want to propose a plan whereby summer can still be somewhat carefree. (After all, that’s what most people love about summer.) Yet, our children can all still be engaged in learning, developing disciplines for their lives, building relationships and memories, and more.
(more…)
by Donna | Feb 24, 2016
Welcome to another Wondering Wednesday!
Because we are swamped writing and editing our new Peter Pan and Jungle Book writing books. And because we have had a lot of great posts, freebies, etc., about chores, I thought I would do a sort of round up for you today of podcasts that might help you with chores, schedules, home management, and more!
So here you go….
PODCASTS FOR CHORES AND MORE
(more…)
by Donna | Oct 19, 2015
One of the most important things to do in going “back to school” is definitely incorporating chore sessions (including having trained everybody in their chores during the summer). I have been writing (and podcasting) a lot about this topic this summer, so rather than re-inventing the wheel here, I will direct you to some of those for more help.
I remember vividly the two summers before my August and September babies were born. I had double the motivation to get the chore schedules updated—a new school year and a new baby’s arrival. I made mini posters for above the washing machine, and we had “laundry lessons” for several days. I upped the look of the chore charts to try to excite the kids a little bit about the new divisions of labor. We timed the tasks to be sure they could be done in the allotted time. We instituted “room to room” for three to five minutes before each chore session to ensure that everybody’s things were up out of the way before the cleaner or assistant chef or little laundry lady started her tasks.
(more…)
by Donna | Jul 7, 2011
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
We really are going to move out of the “when you rise up” stage of “teaching them diligently”–honest! However, we have found that if you get the first hour or two of your day down the way you want it, you will have a much more successful day later on. Also, success in the morning motivates us to more success later in the day–success breeds success!
So, we have gone over and over the “faith in the mornings”–private devotions, listening in the mornings, family devotions and read alouds, and more.
The other area that we like to tackle following faith in the morning is character training via chores and responsibilities. We did an entire month of chores, morning routines, chore charts, and chore schedules last year, so I encourage you to go to the blogspot, look in the index under chores, and have at it.
For today, I am going to post the link for the “age appropriate chores.” Summer is the perfect time to establish new chore schedules, morning routines, and more!
Chore Resources: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-113-114-resources-for-chores.html
Age Appropriate Chores (starting here with littles for several days): https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-115-age-appropriate-chores-for.html
