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Jun. 10, 2006
Laundry: The Next Frontier
Alyssa and Brendan both finished their Math books yesterday which was the last of the school work before we switch gears for the summer.
(The bottom half is empty because Emily won't leave the disks alone)
A year ago, I bought a PEGS board and it has been a fantastic addition to our home as well as our homeschool. At the beginning of last summer, we sat down for a family meeting and brainstormed ways we would utilize our new 'system'. While we could have been more consistent with it, when I compare where we are today with one year ago, we have made tremendous improvements. The kids not only pitch in with the housework but they still enjoy using the board.
This being the first day of summer break, it was time to sit down for our second annual family meeting. All year I've thought to myself, "If only I could hire someone to do the laundry, we might actually be able to get this whole house keeping thing under control." The laundry was definitely our weak link and today the answer came to me - put the kids on it. With everyone a year older now, it was time to rearrange chores anyway and so I gave everyone a laundry duty.
Here's the plan: each morning Brendan will go from room to room with a basket and collect the dirty clothes which will theoretically be in the hampers. While this seems far fetched at the moment, if the hampers weren't always overflowing with clothes, I think people would actually put the dirty clothes in them and we wouldn't have so many items tossed onto the floor. He will bring the basket(s) to the washing machine and leave it there. Chase will take an empty basket and remove the clothes from the dryer depositing them on the couch. Alyssa will fold the clothes and the three of them will put their own things away with Alyssa putting away things in the community property category (towels, etc.). Each day I will wash and dry the clothes so they will be ready to be folded and put away the next day.
Alyssa and Brendan love to collect their green disks to be turned in at the end of the week for allowance. Chase doesn't find money much of a motivator so I am trying Chuck E Cheese tokens with him instead. I have promised a trip to CEC in July if everyone participates in the new plan without a bunch of bellyaching. We will see how it goes.
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My Blog
A few years ago, when our oldest was 4 and her two brothers were both in diapers, my in-laws were a few days into a visit from their home 3000 miles away when my father-in-law noticed that the rug under the dining room table was in serious need of vacuuming. He is not prone to domestic duties (his wife is a great housekeeper) but seeing the need, he decided to try his hand with the Hoover. As soon as 'Grandpa' declared his intention to get out the vacuum, four little feet ran for the toy box to get vacuums of their own. We had one toy vacuum and we improvised a second from a 'popper' push toy. The baby, who was not yet walking, was right in the thick of things on all fours, never one to be left out. Grandpa, trying to maneuver the self-propelled 'Wind-tunnel' around the 10 foot rug while avoiding the table legs and dodging his three little helpers, remarked in exasperation, "I just wanted to clean the rug, I wasn't looking to start a three ring circus." Welcome to my life!
About Me
My name is Tiffany. I am a 40 year old mother of 4. My husband, John, and I planned to homeschool even before we married 18 years ago but it would be several years before our oldest would be ready to start on this journey. We had our children in alphabetical order, quite by accident at first, but once we got started, we figured we had to keep it going. They are Alyssa 10, Brendan 9, Chase 6, and Emily 4. Our 4th baby, D, miscarried at 13 weeks. We have no intention of making it to Z.
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Curriculum/Activities
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K4
Sing, Spell, Read & Write K
Saxon Math K
AWANA Cubbies
Ballet
Tap
K5
Sing, Spell, Read & Write 1
Horizons Math K
AWANA Sparks
Gymnastics
Soccer
1st Grade
ACE/SOT -All Subjects
AWANA Sparks
AWANA Grand Prix
Piano
Soccer
2nd Grade
Pathway Readers 2
Bob Jones Math 3
ACE English/Word Building
Beautiful Feet History
Apologia Astronomy
AWANA Sparks
AWANA Grand Prix
Sparks-A-Rama
Brownie Scouts
Piano
Soccer
Softball
3rd Grade
Pathway Readers 3
Saxon Math 54
Abeka Language 3
Spelling Power
Beautiful Feet History
Apologia Astronomy/Botany
AWANA T&T
Brownie Scouts
Piano
Soccer
Softball
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K4
100 Easy Lessons Reading
Saxon Math K
AWANA Cubbies
Floor Gymnastics
T-ball
K5
Sing, Spell, Read & Write K
Alpha Omega Math K
AWANA Sparks
AWANA Grand Prix
Soccer
T-ball
1st Grade
Sing, Spell, Read & Write 1
Pathway Readers 1
Bob Jones Math 1
ACE English/Word Building
Beautiful Feet History
Apologia Astronomy
AWANA Sparks
AWANA Grand Prix
Sparks-A-Rama
Soccer
Baseball - Silver Medal Team
2nd Grade
Pathway Readers 2
Bob Jones Math 2
Abeka Language 2
Spelling Power
Beautiful Feet History
Apologia Astronomy/Botany
AWANA Sparks
Soccer
Baseball
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K4
100 Easy Lessons Reading
Sing, Spell, Read & Write K
Saxon Math K
Beautiful Feet History
Apologia Astronomy/Botany
AWANA Cubbies
Soccer
T-ball
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No music at the moment
Enjoy the silence.
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Posted by 
Jun. 12, 2006 - CEC