I have what I call a “hook” system. I had planned on using something other than
paper clips and magnets, but I never changed it and now we’ve been using it for
years and it works. The idea is, they
come up to their list and mentally check off that they did everything in that
category and when they are done, they hang the paper clip on the hook.
This is what they look like in the morning before they start
This is what they look like with their hooks are done
I change the list based on whether they are in school or it’s
the summer. The pictures above show my
new list for this Covid-19/quarantine time.
Our usual schedule on Saturdays and summers looks like this:
7-9am Media time, once red hook is done and hung up
9am-1pm Work on hooks, play
games, go outside, etc.
1pm Media time again, and the rest of the day depends on what
we have planned
Now, our schedule looks like this:
7-9am Media time, once red hook is done and hung up
9am-3pm No media unless
it’s school-related, exercise, read, etc. (see pictures above)
3-5pm Media time again
5-7pm Dinner, clean up, read scriptures as a family, etc.
7pm-bedtime Watch movies or TV together, play games, etc.
At 9am, we have what I call a “staff meeting.” The kids always laugh when I call it
that. We talk about what everyone has planned
for the day, like Zoom meetings, etc. It
makes the day go more smoothly.
At 2:45pm, we sometimes need to take a few minutes for cleanup
On Saturdays, they only have to read for their yellow hook, unless
they are behind on schoolwork. We also
start media time at 1pm on Saturdays.
On Sundays, there is no media time and no yellow hook. We do sometimes watch Disney animated movies together.
Hooks:
Red: this is their morning routine, and it needs to be
finished before they get on media in the morning. They are not allowed on any media before 7am. If they want to eat breakfast later, that’s
fine but they need to be dressed and brush their hair, etc.
Yellow: Everyone needs
to read, exercise, and write in their journal every day. They are also responsible for checking for
assignments from their teachers and managing their own schoolwork. There are a few things I check in with them
about, but mostly they are pretty good about handling it themselves. They all play an instrument, and they manage
their own practice schedule.
Jonathan and Daniel were not taught cursive in school, so I
bought each of them a cursive workbook and they have to do two pages a
day.
Green: these are their daily chores and piano practice
Blue: read scriptures.
I’ve gone back and forth on making this seem like a “chore,” but I like
making it a habit for them.
My routine:
I make sure I’m up by 7:30am.
I ride my stationary bike while I read my scriptures. I get dressed and do my hair and makeup. I often listen to podcasts or church talks
while I get ready. I also do a few
Duolingo lessons every day to learn Spanish.
In the afternoons or with dinner, I often make green smoothies for the kids.
They are really good. My goal is to get them all to eat more fruits
and vegetables. I also write in my
journal every night.
I have a lot of other goals for the kids and things I’m trying
to teach them:
Adulting skills: Andrew loves string cheese sticks. One day, he found a package of cheese sticks
that had a stick missing from the packaging.
I told him he should contact the company to let them know. They didn’t have a phone number, but he looked
them up online and we filled out their questionnaire together.
I've also been trying to find other ways for the kids to learn new skills. For instance, I needed to renew the registration for one of our cars, so I gathered all the kids (and Michael, who helped me) and taught them about how we register our cars when we buy them and renew them yearly. We also talked about the importance of knowing where your registration and insurance card are in your glove compartment (we also had a little side lesson on why it's called a "glove compartment," lol) and how to exchange information in the event of an accident. Our teenage drivers know this, but the other boys are growing up fast so we taught them as well.
Cooking: each kid has a night to cook. I ask them a week ahead of time what they
want to make and we figure out what I need to add to my grocery order so they
have all the ingredients. Sometimes they
just heat up easy stuff from the freezer, but I’m also trying to teach them how
to follow a recipe. We also have done
more baking. We’ve made up our own
recipe for “Jell-o Fluff.” It’s just
Jell-o mixed with Cool Whip, but it’s really good. I use 2 cups of boiling water but only 1 ½ cups
of cold water instead of 2 cups for a 6oz box, and then I stir in a whole
container of Cool Whip and refrigerate it like normal.
Laundry: each of the kids does their own laundry. I wash my clothes and Michael’s on Monday,
and I also wash the whites for everyone, but the kids do everything else themselves. They wash, dry, fold, and put away their own
clothes. I used to tell them when it was
time to do their laundry, but a few weeks ago I told them they need to be
responsible for that on their own. They usually
do laundry on Saturday. Today was the first
day that I didn’t remind anyone. Emily likes
to do hers first, and the boys took it upon themselves to do their own. Parenting win!
Cleaning chores: each kid has a weekly cleaning chore. They have until Saturday afternoon to get
them done. These are things like: wipe
down bathroom counters and clean toilets, empty small trash cans, wash/dry/fold
towels, dust certain areas of the house, etc.
I’m so proud of the kids for taking the initiative to handle
their own schoolwork! I get constant
emails and reminders from their teachers, and almost every time I ask the kids
about it, they say, “Oh, I already did that, Mom.”
Here are their little study areas:
Emily loves to do her schoolwork at the dining room
table. The other boys sometimes use it,
too.
Andrew has a great set-up on our puzzle/game table in the
playroom.
Daniel likes to get his exercising and reading done at the
same time.
Jonathan and Daniel share this desktop, and they also have a laptop they can use.
Nathaniel works wherever he can have some quiet. He is doing some work to support our sales
team at Wisdom. He goes into the office
occasionally, but he can also do quite a bit from home.
Well, that’s about it. We’re
doing the best we can to stay positive and get along and enjoy this time
together. I personally love it. I never get bored. I always have a list of projects I would love
to do. I’m a bit of a homebody anyway
and I’m grateful that we have a big house to spread out in. I’m so glad to have Nathaniel home!!
