Keeping A Homeschooling House
"What Works for Us" by Tanya Fifer, Patriot Mom
As a new Providence parent in the fall of 2007, one of the very first things I realized was that homeschooling is messy. Having four children (and three sets of books and schoolwork) at home three weekdays out of five is a recipe for chaos where housekeeping is concerned. I borrowed some basic principles from the Duggar family, tweaked it for our family, and set up a method to control clutter and keep our home somewhat organized. I purchased a medium sized whiteboard and mounted it in our dining room/school area. I assigned the three older children certain basic chores (feed pets, fold laundry, put away clean laundry, empty trash, etc.) that must be completed along with their school work each day, and those are posted on the whiteboard.
I also broke our entire home up into "zones", assigning certain zones to each child. As our toddler gets older, she will also be assigned zones, starting with just her small room. The job in their zones is to keep the rooms picked up and tidy. I can easily come behind and quickly vacuum the living room or wipe down counters and sinks in a bathroom if it is not filled with odds and ends that must first be picked up and put away. As chores and schoolwork are completed for the day, the list is marked off the whiteboard and the children are free to use the rest of the day as they wish.
I also post that evenings dinner menu on the board, which eliminates the "what's for dinner?" question at 5 pm. Of course there are days (many!) when we don't accomplish everything we have set out to do, but this method gives us a goal to strive for and helps us stay on track. It works for us.
