One of the hardest things about being a homeschooling family seems to be getting around to household cleaning and chores. There is just so much time put into learning activities ( and this seems to hold true regardless of your homeschooling method) and cooking, the housework seems to get put onto the back burner until it is an overwhelming feeling. Many times this is due to the Mom feeling like everything is put on her plate and she takes on more than she can manage sanely on any given day.
Yet a family is a team and if everyone pitches in, it makes life that much easier on the person trying to be the superhero in the story. When mom has help with the cleaning, she has more time to spend in activities that are more pleasurable to pursue with the children. In Japan, school children start their day by going through the school and spending the first 30 minutes of the day, cleaning the school. They do not have janitors doing this, it is the children's responsibility.to clean the classrooms, halls and yards.
Why not trying to start your day after breakfast and before school activities in recruiting everyone to clean and pickup the house for 15 minutes? You will be surprised at what a huge difference this can make in your day and in your home. You may have to guide them in the beginning, and work side by side with them to help and direct them in how to clean properly. This especially holds true if they have never had to do chores, no matter what their ages are.
If you go about it in an encouraging way, explaining to them the family is a team so you want to work as a team and that if they would please help you do that. You can further explaining to them that the more help mom gets, the more time she has to spend in fun with them. Do this on a daily basis and you will start seeing results almost immediately with the house getting cleaner and more organized by the day.
You will also find you will always be ready for the occasional unexpected company when this is done on a daily basis first thing in the morning. The whole day will run smoother and seemed more organized and less stressed for the whole day!
The more members to a family, the more that will get done of course, but even a 2 person team can accomplish quite a bit in a 15 minute time frame! It really is a great way to start the day. If you have a particularly messy day of crafts and block building, you may want to end the day right before it is time to prepare dinner with another 15 minute Team Clean time.
Yet a family is a team and if everyone pitches in, it makes life that much easier on the person trying to be the superhero in the story. When mom has help with the cleaning, she has more time to spend in activities that are more pleasurable to pursue with the children. In Japan, school children start their day by going through the school and spending the first 30 minutes of the day, cleaning the school. They do not have janitors doing this, it is the children's responsibility.to clean the classrooms, halls and yards.
Why not trying to start your day after breakfast and before school activities in recruiting everyone to clean and pickup the house for 15 minutes? You will be surprised at what a huge difference this can make in your day and in your home. You may have to guide them in the beginning, and work side by side with them to help and direct them in how to clean properly. This especially holds true if they have never had to do chores, no matter what their ages are.
If you go about it in an encouraging way, explaining to them the family is a team so you want to work as a team and that if they would please help you do that. You can further explaining to them that the more help mom gets, the more time she has to spend in fun with them. Do this on a daily basis and you will start seeing results almost immediately with the house getting cleaner and more organized by the day.
You will also find you will always be ready for the occasional unexpected company when this is done on a daily basis first thing in the morning. The whole day will run smoother and seemed more organized and less stressed for the whole day!
The more members to a family, the more that will get done of course, but even a 2 person team can accomplish quite a bit in a 15 minute time frame! It really is a great way to start the day. If you have a particularly messy day of crafts and block building, you may want to end the day right before it is time to prepare dinner with another 15 minute Team Clean time.
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