Scheduling Housecleaning
Submitted By Lynette Duncan, Patriot Mom
From the talk I gave at the Mother’s of Providence Meeting on September 22, 2009
My hope is that you can take some helpful hints from this list and incorporate it into your routine to help your homeschooling days run more smoothly.
My definitions for this post:
Housecleaning: Jobs we do about once a week to keep the house clean, e.g., dusting, vacuuming entire house.
Chores: Jobs we do daily to keep the house neat and tidy, e.g., washing dishes, sweeping under kitchen table, making bed.
What works for me….
1. List housecleaning jobs
a. Dust
b. Clean mirrors & glass doors
c. Bathrooms
d. Swiffer Vac
e. Mop
f. Vacuum
g. Change Sheets
2. Assign children certain jobs
a. Take time to train child to do his/her job
b. Have younger children “help” Mom with her jobs
c. Develop reasonable expectations for how well job will be completed
d. Help child learn to do good work
e. Resist the temptation to re-do the child’s work—pray, take deep breaths, and exercise self-control
a. Take time to train child to do his/her job
b. Have younger children “help” Mom with her jobs
c. Develop reasonable expectations for how well job will be completed
d. Help child learn to do good work
e. Resist the temptation to re-do the child’s work—pray, take deep breaths, and exercise self-control
3. Schedule one or two housecleaning jobs per day
a. At our house, our school-aged child does not have housecleaning jobs on school days
b. She is still responsible for chores on school days such as making bed and picking up toys
4. Schedule chore/housecleaning time into each day
a. Be sure to block off a certain time each day for housecleaning and chores
a. Be sure to block off a certain time each day for housecleaning and chores
5. Benefits of This Imperfect System
a. If a job has to be skipped one day, it is fairly easy to squeeze in on another day or an evening
b. Mom doesn’t need to cram all the housework into her schedule when children are at school
c. Frees up evenings and weekends for family time
d. Teaches all the children how to help at home
e. A certain level of cleanliness is maintained so that panic does not ensue when an unexpected guest knocks on the door
Resources
From http://www.titus2.com/,
a. If a job has to be skipped one day, it is fairly easy to squeeze in on another day or an evening
b. Mom doesn’t need to cram all the housework into her schedule when children are at school
c. Frees up evenings and weekends for family time
d. Teaches all the children how to help at home
e. A certain level of cleanliness is maintained so that panic does not ensue when an unexpected guest knocks on the door
Resources
From http://www.titus2.com/,
Managers of Their Homes and Managers of Their Chores by Steven and Teri Maxwell
PCCA’s own Cindy Palen
FlyLady.net
Other PCCA and Homeschooling Moms
PCCA Mom’s Blog
FlyLady.net
Other PCCA and Homeschooling Moms
PCCA Mom’s Blog
