About a month ago, I was talking with my sister on the phone about getting children ready for school. She had just welcomed baby #4 into their home and was trying to figure out how to help her older children make it to the school bus without the continual nagging that had become habitual in their home between 7 and 8 am. They had begun using a morning check-list and said it was working really well.
So I considered our morning routine, and decided to try something similar, which I've been enjoying for a lot of reasons.
1. Now my boys are becoming more independent with their dressing, hygiene, room maintenance and bible time.
2. It establishes a routine that they can do without my help.
3. It frees me up to get things ready for the day, and spend time doing some of my chores.
So this is what I've got on our chart in the bathroom, with stickers to mark each day:
Get Dressed
Make Bed
Tidy Room
Brush Teeth
Wash Face/Hands
Brush Hair
Personal Bible Time
At the end of this, they are ready to head downstairs and start the day.
I've been encouraged by doing this. Maybe everyone else has a more regular life so that these things occur more naturally. I have found the chart to be a real help in reducing my nagging, and in directing their minds in activity. Hopefully we can keep it up, and expand this to include some other helpful habits.
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2 comments:
I want to encourage you that "there is no regular life so that these things occur more naturally" :-)
It is the difference between "training" and "teaching". Teaching gives the knowledge, but training is instilling the habits. That doesn't happen over night nor does it stop when you think that they should be old enough. :-)
There are different seasons of training and this is the hardest part of child raising. There is no easy method..it is perseverance, and patience...I guess it is training for both child and mom!! :-D Praise the Lord!
Thanks Karen. I suppose I often feel my life is more fluid because we are homeschooling, and don't HAVE to be in the schoolroom at a particular time, like my sister, where her children miss the 9:00 buzzer, if they're late.
I'm thankful for the freedom to serve others because of this fluidity. At the same time, this whole "chore thing" is showing me the value of repitition for children, and the value of consistency. We have been a little too "loosy-goosy" in our home for the past year of schooling, and the Lord has been showing me the error in that. So, I pray we will indeed be heading the right way in this "teaching & training" endeavour:)
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