Wednesday, March 17, 2010

schedules, routine, rhythm, whatever you wanna call it...

Lisa @ earthmama has an interesting thought this morning. one that i have been thinking on and planning for our family. we have a really good nap and bed time routine. it's the during the day (like right now) that kinda sucks. i have grandiose visions for the summer and the fall. i don't remember if i posted my thoughts on how i would like to homeschool, but it's an offshoot of that.

so the nursery and kindergarten programs are play based. the rooms are set up to mimic the home, which i don't know that everyone gets. now why is this? why do all the activities for the children revolve around meaningful work and play? if you think about it back-in-the-day that is how it was in the home. the children were an integral part of the home, helping and maintaining the home. now i don't know how much of their lives were spent at play, but we know how important it is for our children. we all see how our children model and imitate us. they want to sweep, wash, and clean. just like they see us doing. so i think that a blending of the past and now is the perfect balance. for us, anyway.

meaningful work. this is a task given to a child that has a purpose and the achievement of this task gives the child a sense of accomplishment and pride. not from us "good jobbing" the hell out of them and the task, but a simple acknowledgment of the task fulfilled and validation that you can see they worked hard. that's it, that's all they need. i don't believe you have to "pay" or treat a child for completing an age appropriate task. they get their own rewards just from the sense of fulfillment and our validation of how hard they worked.

so our rhythm: 
getting up
getting dressed
making beds while bfast is being prepared
M2 &3 feed dog
M1&2 setting the table
blessings
eat
M1 (6.5 yo) clearing and putting stuff away
M2 (4 yo) wiping down the table
M3 (1.8 yo) push in chair
M1 & M2  washing their own dishes
All ~ chore of the day
M1 help collecting laundry
M2 help with loading laundry
M3 help with switching out loads
*free play
go for a walk
snack
M1&2 setting the table
blessings
eat
M1 clearing and putting stuff away
M2 wiping down the table
M3 push in chair
M1 & M2  washing their own dishes
All ~ activity of the day 
*free play
lunch
M1&2 setting the table
blessings
eat
M1 clearing and putting stuff away
M2 wiping down the table
M3 push in chair
M1 & M2  washing their own dishes
M3 nap
M2 book, then nap
M1 quiet time (book, knitting)
snack (outside)
play
dinner
M1&2 setting the table
blessings
eat
M1 clearing and putting stuff away
M2 wiping down the table
M3 push in chair
M1 feed dog
bath & teeth
pjs
books
bed

Chore of the day: 
M: bathrooms
T: sweep/vacc/mop
W: dusting
Th:
F:
S: sweep/vacc, change towels
S: linens

Activity of the day:
M: painting
T: bread day
W: soup day
Th:
F:

*free play is on here like it's scheduled but really it's for when ever they are done with their tasks.

Laundry schedule:
M: darks
T: whites
W: lights/colors
Th: jeans
F: rugs/mats
S: towels
S: sheets

so as you can see i still have to flesh out a couple things, it's definitely more of a rhythm than a schedule. i know better than to put times on stuff. i know i want to have them help with dinner prep early in the am (chopping veg and the like), i know i will have to adjust this for M1 and M2 when the Fall comes to incorporate schooling time in there. i will have to see where the natural break comes for these things though. but for the most part i'm pretty happy.

for whatever reason i cannot think of more activities or cleaning things...i don't know why that is. well that's not true, i should probably add ironing in there so that both M1 and M3 are crossing their mid-line. we do laundry every day. i would like to put up a clothes line in our back yard, just have to find the right place to put it.

so there you go...i am a Virgo what can i say :)

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