Chore Paks

Around our house the chores are hit or miss. Mostly it's because I am very forgetful (Ooh shiny syndrome) and once I have delegated the chores for the morning, I have a hard time remembering who and what have what going on. And in typical kid fashion, , no one bothers to rermind me what exactly they were supposed to do! While we enjoyed our hand chart, there are more chores for each kid than one hand can hold. Now, know that I don't come up with anything on my own, but thoroughly enjoy the search feature on my Swagbucks page. I came across these chore paks on another blog, and I made up these handy paks for the kids to wear (FYI- Garry doesn't wear his BUT it does help him to remember what to do!) in the morning when they get up. Although I still have to check up on them, I can see from what the current tag is to help them stay on track! Wanna know what the kids do in the morn?

Garry-

dressed

feed dog/medicine/spray medicine

wipe down toilets

sweep kitchen

make bed

Shelby

dressed/hair/teeth

put away pj's

wipe down sinks

sweep dining room

make bed

Bryce

dressed/hair/teeth

put away pj's

wash breakfast dishes

make bed

Aidan (pictures instead of words)

dressed/hair/teeth

put away pj's

move clothes from washer to dryer

make bed

We just changed out our paks for the new year. They will keep these chores for the next 6 months or so. Makes it easier to get into a routine when I don't change it but twice a year.Well worth the $5 spent in plastic holders! By the way, if you want to get the full experience of where it probably originated, you can read all about it in Terri Maxwell's-Managers of their Homes.

Meet the latest and greatest...

for the creative chaos we call school. At least for me. Let's face it, I am not the most organized person on the block. I like the idea of organization, but for whatever reason (me not being diligent?) not much is organized here. The only thing that keeps me from looking like one of those houses that are stuffed to the gills piled high with stuff is that I have no problem sending off to Goodwill when I am thru with it, or at least, tired of looking at it! This year is the first I've had more than one kid schooling to deal with, and the first part of the school year, well, um, we didn't get much done. October and November left me with a lot of time to think and pray about several problem issues around the house (ha, I have more than one!). I love it when exactly what I need just seems to fall in my lap. I really have no idea how I came across this, message board perhaps, but it is for me! May I introduce: Sue Patrick's Workbox System.
Here's what is said each day:
Garry- "Mom, how much school do I have to do?"
Shelby- "Mom, how much school do I get to do?"
To both of them, I would answer, I dunno. Why? Organization issues, of course. I didn't know what I wanted to teach them, and by the time I got my act together, the day was shot. So here how it goes. Garry's boxes have a blue number, Shelby's green. The boxes are put in numerical number and each box holds a worksheet, subject, craft, etc. The object is to go in order thru the workboxes, remove them from the shelf and work whatever is in box. From there, they empty box in the pink crate to right, and so on and so on. When they run out of boxes, their day is finished. I have a master list that shows me what subject goes in each box each day (each day is different, I generally load them before I go to bed), and overall we have been able to study more and have actually get to some of the fun things I wanted to get to but couldn't because we were struggling just to get the basics in. Now, in just a couple of hrs we get it all done, much of it can be done without me standing over them, and more importantly, it's not a huge hassle or big mess (everything has it's place). We've been using this for the past 2 months, and it is definitely a life saver in this house! And even though we have to keep the boxes in the dining room ( I tried the garage but it's just been too flipping cold to go back and forth), because it's so self contained, it doesn't get in the way. Thank you, Sue! For those who read her book, she can be a little daunting, as she feels there is only one way to use the system (her background is a challenged student). However, with a little tweaking, I found the basic information very sound. A lifesaver in this house:)