Post
by countrymom » Sun May 30, 2010 5:21 am
I recently bought a small white magnet white board and made up picture magnets (so our 3 yr old could also use it) to outline our day. I don't put times, that is too rigid for us. I divide the board into morning and evening, with lunch being in the middle. We have a chore, play, reading time, mommy work time, mommy play time (with the boys) and schoolwork magnet. Each morning we line them up in the order the day will go. It has helped us so much. I say us because even though our boys have chores, I was bad about just doing a chore when I had the chance instead of getting the boys involved as I should. Now I know chore time is coming and just leave the laundry on the bed until then, etc. It has really helped our oldest, who needs structure and to know what is happening. When he sees that mommy playtime is coming, he is content to play on his own first and so on. That is the organization piece that could very well help some of the other issues depending on the temperaments of your children. Let's see, attitude, allowance , consequences, incentives - you could write a book on that.
Allowance: we do not tie it to assigned chores. There are many thoughts and ways you can do an allowance; that is our choice because we want our children to learn there are responsibilities you must take on in life that don't necessarily come with a pay check.
Consequences: We really emphasize privileges in our house (and you would be surprised what can actually be a privilege when you think about it), so we lose privileges. Basically, their behavior dictates how much privilege they have.I attended a parenting seminar at the Cincinnati convention this year that reminded me consequences do not need to be immediate once your child is age 3. That has been very helpful because sometimes there simply is not a good immediate consequence, but you always have a privilege coming, or a bedtime to move up, etc.
Attitude: This is why we homeschool. We are training our children and it is a huge job. Besides consequences for poor attitude, we really spend time with our children in family worship and so on. I try to find books that emphasize character traits (and love HOD for this). We pray with our children and spend a lot of time talking to them about how Jesus can help them. It is a process, albeit discouraging at times. We also pray for our children diligently.
That is just a nutshell summary, hope something helps. I will say lining up your daily schedule for all to see first thing am could turn out to be very helpful - I have been so pleasantly surprised just how much it did for us.
Countrymom
Wife to J
Big J - LHFHG, Beyond, Bigger, Preparing, CTC, R2R, Rev to Rev, Modern Missions, beginning parts of World Geography
Little J - LHTH, LHFHG, Beyond, Bigger, Preparing, working in CTC
WE start our day at 7, eat, get dressed, the older two start on math and LA's while I get the little ones dressed and youngest two diapered and the youngest nursed. Then the youngest go play I do reading with one child, the older plays with the youngest three, then I do reading with the other while the one I just did reading with does preschool with the 4 year old. Then we come together and do Bible, science and social, any read alouds ex... The youngest often listen and sometimes snuggle on my lap or run off and plays. This last school year we finished around 11. The oldest then emptys the dishwasher, the second oldest gets the mail, I nurse the baby and snuggle with little ones then start dinner. Eat, oldest sweeps while I clean kitchen, youngest 4 clean up toys, 1:00 quiet time, 3:00 up from quiet time, snack, play time with mommy. Then supper prep, eat, second oldest sweeps, oldest and three youngest pick up toys, 7-8 bed time. Mondays quiet time is used for room pick-up, if the oldest two want to earn a quarter they pick up the youngest two's rooms. 
Getting rid of excess toys is a big help since there isn't as much to pick up. I need to get rid of more before we start school up again. I'll be watching for ideas to deal with attitude. 
j/k). 
