"A place for everything and everything in its place. I always put my things away, That I might find them another day."--Victorian verse
"Have you ever thought of cleaning as a song of love? Here I am, dusting. I am dusting a chair well. You just hear a swish. But if I am putting my soul, my heart, my love for God into this action, not missing any corner or place, I am disciplining myself. I am beginning to die to self. I am really singing a song of love with each movement."--Servant of God, Catherine Doherty
This is my attempt at a chore chart for our family. My hope and prayer is that it will help us ease into a good school year. We used this chart last week. It needed tweaking--too detailed.
So, I simplified it and hope that the one below will work a bit better for our family. We're giving it a go this week. :)
The children's names go into the grid and they can quickly see what chores are theirs for a given day. I can also erase a name if I find that the chore/child match does not work--good for me and good for the child! :)
Deep cleaning chores are not listed. I just wanted this to be a good list for keeping the house orderly during our days so that I do not go insane with a cluttered, filthy house by the end of a busy week of learning. ;)
The "ten minute tidies" that are listed mid-morning, midday, and in the evening constitute the de-cluttering part of our day. I set the timer and ALL family members find homes for all the loose shoes, papers, toys and debris that has accumulated over the course of the day. Doing this three times a day makes it less arduous a task. :) And it is thirty minutes of cleaning/putting away. Multiply that times 5 kids and I get 150 minutes of tidying done over the course of the day just from my ten minute tidies. Success! :)
Cheers to all you homeschool moms out there as you begin your school year. We don't begin until September 9 but I hope with some good habits established, we will have a less stressful and more joyful year of learning in the home.
"Home is a loving place. Where love is, God is, and where God is, all things should be His. For all have their beginning in Him and hence, in Him should have their ending. Life is a reaching toward that glorious ending. All life should be a school of love, a novitiate. But above all others, the home should be that primary school, that novitiate, since its very beginnings were rooted in love."--Catherine Doherty
During my gradeschool days, whenever our class would wait for our next teacher, we were a bit unruly, flying paper planes everywhere, shouting, screaming, just enjoying the moment -- then it will all be put into a halt when a teacher would come in and say "Class, where are your manners? Did you not learn them from home? Are your parents too busy to teach you?" Whoooa! Well, even if I thought the teacher was too much, what she said made a mark in my mind. From then on, I try to bring manners in school, and everywhere I go... Thanks for this post.
Posted by: Chicago Property Management | November 10, 2009 at 07:24 AM