Getting kids to help keep house running while homeschooling?

Question

Just wondering if any of you have any creative ideas for getting the kids involved in keeping the house in order while homeschooling. I am teaching 4, a 5th grader, two 4th, and a K. I have a really big house and my mother in law and mother also live with us! I need help!!! Any idea are appreciated. Thanks

OK, I guess I should have said that MIL has alzheimers, and mom is about 80 with frail health...they are more like extra kids! (Got to love them though)
As for the lady who expressed that home educated kids spend about the same amount of time as PS kids, that's just not correct. We are able to get so much more done in much less time, allowing us to take part in MANY programs and co-ops designed just for homeschooled kids. They are very socialized, more than the average child in my opionion, it is just that we have more control over who they socialize with and they have opportunity to socialize outside of just kids their own age. 4-H, cub scouts, sports, music clubs, the world is open to a home educated child. As for learning discipline...when my kids were in PS they did their work at school, then did homework and I felt I had to stand on top of them. Now they are self motivated to do their work and to do it right because they know their day is shorter when they do!

Answer 1

Add "Home Caring" to their curriculum..

Make it fun, make it worth their while..

Soon, they'll want to have the house in order..

They mifght even point out when YOU are messy!

:-)

Answer 2

Organize the home, de-clutter.

Make a list of small chores you feel the kids are big enough to do.

Allow kids to pick 2 or 3 chores from the list to do for the week. This could be dusting, windexing the mirrors, taking out the trash, fixing the bed, loading and unloading the washer or dryer, etc.

Explain that this is important family bonding time, that there is great love and pride that comes from giving to others. The more orderly things go on, the better for everyone.

Answer 3

WOW! Do you you have your hands full, or what? :) Bless you for all you are taking on for your family!
I teach my 9th grader and my 2nd grader, and it can be a challenge keeping them going. For inspiration, I look to several things. First, when we have our devotions, I always take advantage of scriptures that talk about responsibility, honor and things like that and apply them to keeping our home in order and helping out. I also use a Christian curriculum and, especially in the elementary years, they talk a lot about helping out, so the concept is always in front of my kids.
Then, another source of help has been Super Nanny. Now don't laugh, she has some solid ideas on motivating kids. Her big thing, which I think will work well with your K darling is turning cleaning in to a game. Example: Ok, let's see how fast you can get these toys in to this basket, ready, go! Have a timer and cheer like crazy. You could also divide the kiddos in to teams (paring the oldest and youngest together) and divide the chores between them with the "winner" getting to do something, doesn't have to be a shock and awe kind of something, just a nice reward (picking dinner, or something) She is also big on charts, rewards, so on. I saw an episode where the kids (they were girls) got to put a flower in to a homemade vase (from a can, they made themselves) every time they did something good.
My main incentive with my oldest is computer time and text messaging time, works like a charm, lol!!! The youngest earns his videogame time with chores.
My third source of inspiration, is Educating the Whole Hearted Child . You can find it at any homescool store, and if you google it, they have a website too. TONS of info on organizing your school, your home, and your life. It has been one of my most valuable "tools" since I began homeschooling.
Good luck, hon, and again, bless you for taking such good care of your family!

Answer 4

I have homeschooled all three of my kids 16,15 and 12. They all know how to cook a complete meal, wash-dry- fold-put away the laundry, vacuum, do dishes.. etc..
How did we do that?? Repetition, schedules, rewards, training, etc.
Life isn't perfect and they are still teenagers that need to be motivated. But they know how to do it, and the training part for me is done. It takes more time to train, but the rewards are priceless!!!!
I would say that homeschooling is just that.. school at home. How much math do you do when cooking dinner and you need to measure things out? Make a double batch so that they can add fractions... Have them write up a recipe after making something new. Make two batches of cookies in different ways and make a comparison chart. How long does it take to vacuum the upstairs compared to the downstairs?? How many square feet is the house?? What takes certain kinds of stains out of clothing? Can you use peroxide on a blood stain? Peanut Butter on gum? Why is that?? Let's recycle our newspapers in the bins out front.. what benefit to the community will that bring and why?
I think that you see where I am going with this.
My kids have been shining stars in many people's eyes because I taught them RESPONSIBILITY. Many can't believe that my 15 year old son cooks us dinner on most nights, because he is good at it and enjoys doing it. My oldest son is the best organizer and fixer on the planet (next to his dad). If I need something drilled, screwed on, remounted he is doing it. Including the brakes on my car.
Soooooo...... keep homeschooling and just incorporate all of your household chores into the curriculum as the day goes on.
Hope I helped.

Answer 5

I home school my 2 daughters: second grade and kindergarten. When I submit their curriculum to the school board each year, I never fail to put "home economics" on the list of courses. The older daughter gets school credit for helping with the housework and helping me at the grocery. Each week, we sit and look through the food ads, make up a chore list for the next week, and review the chores they did the previous week. Each girl has her own favorite chores, so they have pretty much made up their own chore list that is easy for them to complete. Plus, I have found that putting a checklist of what needs to be done in each of their jurisdictions- playroom, bedroom, and bathroom. Those checklists have to be completed before bed each night. It seems to work very well. (BTW: I have five people in this house- me, hubby, and 3 daughters aged 7, 3, and 1)
Hope this helps!
(We also put on Radio Disney or Big Band music when it's house cleaning time. It makes it FUN!!)

Answer 6

I would suggest making a chart that has each child's name and what their chores are for each day of the week. When the child completes the chore he/she is given a star or small prize of some sort. Whoever has the most stars at the end of the week or every few days (if the kids start to get impatient) gets a prize. It doesn't have to be a big prize, it can be something like, they get to choose the movie that the family watches or they get to choose the activity for the day or the prize can be material. I hope this helps!

Answer 7

i'm no longer confident I have many solutions for you, yet i quite merely opt to encourage you. i'm appalled at a number of those solutions. you do not ought to end homeschooling merely b/c you've somewhat one. yet, in case you be certain to, it really is okay. by some potential we ought to come across straightforward approaches to homeschool with the help of each and every of the diverse tiers of life. I have a 10 year previous, 3 year previous, and 15 mo previous. actual, the domicile isn't picked up, the three year previous and 15 mo previous are consistently into something. right this moment, we try to apply paintings that i visit describe to the ten year previous in a couple of minutes or is self explanatory and he or she will be able to do on her personal for a lengthy time period. Then, with any success i visit get it graded interior the evening. each and every each and every now and then, i'm in worry-free words waiting to analyze over it right away the subsequent day. an excellent variety of circumstances we ought to attend until eventually "Dad" receives domicile interior the evening to get issues performed. we are fascinated some homeschool help crew that meets once per week. we do not do our conventional curriculum on that day. there's a play room for the little ones and the older one is able to have activities w/different childrens her age. Dont' be too complicated on your self. i change into very disillusioned with the answer that stated you should have not been a strong public college instructor, b/c public college instructors deal with 35 childrens at a time. it really is a a lot diverse surroundings. they do no longer have a three week previous to guard at the same time. i understand many public college instructors that come domicile exhausted and frazzled. you would even evaluate taking a destroy until eventually the toddler receives somewhat older. we've had to take breaks for little ones or strikes or diseases. that's no longer continually mandatory to cover each and every element of your college cloth. they are going to get a evaluate next year. i'm confident i did not have many enables for you, yet i desire you recognize you at the prompt are not on my own. there's a lot of human beings obtainable which have similar situations. keep up the strong paintings.

Answer 8

We kind of took Dave Ramsey's suggestions on kids and allowances (commissions) and changed it up a bit.

My boys (11 and 6) each have specific chores they have to do (make their beds daily, feed the dog, clean up their rooms daily, etc.) If they complete the tasks, they get a specific amount for each task. If they don't complete the task, they don't get paid (kind of like the real world, huh?). As they get older, the tasks increase in difficulty and pay. Each child can earn a maximum of their age in dollars each week (the 11 yo can earn $11 and the 6yo can earn $6).

Answer 9

Way to go on home schooling! I'm home schooled also,and I help around the house,washing dishes(we don't have machine dishwasher),feeding our animals,cleaning my bedroom,etc.and I would suggest an allowance,but make a list of all there chores,and tell them if they don't do all the things on that list,there pay will get cut that week,or you can offer for your little ones to buy them small toys,either way this was how my parents raised me,and I didn't turn out TO bad,LOL.

Answer 10

Write down a small list of chores (no more than three a day) per child on a fun shaped piece of colored paper, leave it by their breakfast dish at the table, and let each child know what time they should be done with their chores. Hope that helps.

Answer 11

In my opinion, and I dont homeschool and although I respect others decision to homeschool I'm not a fan of it, I feel that school is for learning socialization and learnining structure and discipline.

Therefore, I believe that the homeschooling time, which I would assume should be near the same 6 ot 7 hours as normal school, should be devoted to learning and structure. Of course there should be breaks and time to eat lunch and rest a little between courses, but I feel that time frame should be just those activities devoted to school time.

I assume you are not homeschooling because you want domestic help around the house, therefore you should do what I assume most parents with kids in regular school do and give them responsibilities and chores outside of the school hours.

One advantage I think you may have though is you can really focus the learning to those school hours and not really have a need for "homework", so this will free up time after 3-330 p.m. when school is done for them to have responsibility in the house.