One of the things I love about homeschooling is that we have a devotional in the mornings. I am actually in the process of figuring out what we need to do to revitalize it a bit, but that's kind of a process I'm going through with just about everything we're doing! One part that is working is that we have been memorizing scriptures, and I have been so impressed with how well they are doing. We have been using this method, and it has really worked well. I'm sure it would work even better if I was on top of things enough to remember to review them more than once a day. I also want to get a white board to hang somewhere that we can write the current verse we are learning to have it in sight more often. Anyway, here are a couple of my favorite verses that we have memorized this year.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger." -- Proverbs 15:1
"For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another." -- 3 Nephi 11:29
"Thou shall not be idle; for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer." -- Doctrine and Covenants 42:42
(yes, there may be a correlation between some issues in our family and the verses I have chosen to memorize)
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." -- Phillipians 4:13
"Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage." -- Joshua 10:25
"And inasmuch as ye are humble and faithful and call upon my name, behold, I will give you the victory." Doctrine and Covenants 104:82
And I think the next one we need to memorize is D&C 88:119, "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;"
It's the "organize yourselves" part, and the "house of order" part that we are struggling with quite a bit. Well, maybe it's because I'm struggling with it that the kids end up having a hard time, too. This is what our family night lesson was on tonight -- creating order with the stuff in our home and also in how we operate together as a family. We can be more on the same page. I'm clearly doing a poor job keeping it all together while Nate has extra work and school assignments, and our girls are old enough that I shouldn't be doing as much as I do on my own (or letting things fall through the cracks on my own), and I shouldn't have to direct them through every step of their day. And I get it that a lot of the problem is my fault for creating such a situation where I depend on Nate so much, and where I don't require enough from the girls. Actually, it's the following through with them that I struggle with so much.
Tonight we took all of the jobs that are needed to be done to clean the house on a weekly basis and broke them out into small tasks, like cleaning the downstairs bathroom mirror or sweep the front porch. We wrote each one on a small square of paper, and we ended up with 40 tasks. We'll put them in a bowl, and they will draw out their jobs each day. If only Hannah and Nikki participate (because honestly, I'm the CEO of this operation and I hope I don't have to actually do the work, ha ha) they only have 4 small tasks to do each day from Monday through Friday. If they go quickly, they can do more and have more days off. I also told them that if they make this a daily habit with a good attitude, they will easily be able to rope Ryan into helping them do their jobs. Then, after a while, he'll be good enough at the work that he will get his own assignments and they'll have less work to do!
The trick is consistency, right?! Keeping them going once the novelty wears off as they pick their jobs tomorrow.
7 comments:
Susan, I can totally relate to this post. Lately I've felt just like a drill sargeant w/ so much to do and so many to direct. I don't feel like I have as much fun w/ my kids, I'm tired of overseeing every little thing and being the bad guy. I talked to JW and we decided we needed to change things up a bit. The kids have a list of things that they need to do after school each day and I'm not going to nag them about it (well, I'm going to try not to). JW is the bad guy, he asks them about their list before bed and imposes any necessary consequences. The girls went to bed unhappy last night. Hopefully today they will do better. Time will tell if it "works". I think running a house is so difficult! I love to read "real" blog posts - its nice to know that we aren't alone in the struggle of teaching and raising kids.
It's always a struggle with every family, I'm sure. Have your kids see how much has to get done in this house, and they'll appreciate cleaning their own :) My kids can't wait to have a smaller house to clean.
If you keep trying now while they're young, it pays off later. It's so much easier with older kids that are good examples to the younger ones.
I gotta ask though... 40 tasks?!? We have one daily chore each and 2 Saturday chores plus bedrooms. That doesn't add up to 40. Maybe we don't clean very well :) Good luck.
Thanks for reminding me about having kids memorize scriptures. I keep forgetting to incorporate that in our morning devotionals. Oops! It's time to do that right now!
Yes, Alli, this is a tough job! Your kids always seem like they are great workers.
Well, Kellee, I hope you're right that these girls will be good examples to the little one, but I keep feeling like they should be a little farther along than they are.
I took each room of the house (except for bedrooms and some kitchen duties, since they have to do those everyday) and broke the jobs down into small tasks. So, for the girls' bathroom we listed separately to wash the mirror, clean the countertops, take out the trash, sweep the floor, clean the toilet. If we really cleaned well, maybe we would have had more!
Sometimes it is easier to break it up into many small tasks and then they feel good accomplishing so much. Just watch Horders online and you'll love how "clean" your house is in comparison :)
I think your plan is great Susan. We have this chart system with chore sticks that isn't working out as well as I would like. I realized I just to better asking them to do something when it needs to be done... I am trying to figure out how to kind of combine both things together.
Hope you had a great Valentine Day.
We went through the same thing. What has worked like magic for us is telling the kids that they are welcome to join us for dinner in the evening if their chore is done. It only took one kid not getting to come to dinner one night to get them to be consistent chore doers. (And we don't let them raid the refrigerator or eat later if they miss family dinner time due to chore negligence. We just give them a hug and tell them they are welcome to have a good breakfast in the morning.) I don't have to nag, and everything gets done. It has been wonderful. Since your kids are home during the day, you could easily use another meal if you want it all done earlier in the day.
Love the memorization stuff...gotta implement that better!
As for chores, I need to get on a better schedule! I mop the kitchen when one of the kids sticks to it longer than 5 seconds and clean my toilets when I notice things growing in them!? Ok, so maybe it's not always that bad, but it seems like when it is, that's when unexpected company drops by and I cringe as I open the door!
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