Including Young Children In Your Routines

Getting Organized:
In your home and homeschool

 


Dear Friends,

In the past few days, I have been asked about getting routines done with young children. If you have read my articles for very long, you know that this is a favorite topic of mine, and I will tell you why.

It’s because children who learn life skills and have routines are have gotten past the learning curve when they are teenagers and young adults. You do not want to wait until they are teenagers to introduce routines and life skills.

When my children were young, I kept them close to me. I included them in everything I did around the house. I made it fun and sang songs. I played games. I rewarded them for helping me with praise and a fun activity.

Doing your Morning Routine with little ones in the house can take a little longer, but you can maximize your time by getting up 15 to 30 minutes before they get up. Do the things that help you start your day off on the right foot. Make your bed. Drink your coffee. Read your Bible. Pray. Get dressed down to the shoes.

When your kids get up, have them do the same routine each morning. Feed them breakfast. While they are eating, you can do some small things in the kitchen, or you can eat with them. Clean up the table together. Ask one of them to sweep for you. (It will not be perfect, but that is okay.) Have them brush their teeth.

If you have done your Before Bed Routine with the kids, everyone should have clothes and shoes ready to put on. Everyone should get dressed and make their beds. Then you are ready to move into your homeschool morning.

Keep the morning routine basic. Even when you have an appointment out of the house, your morning routine should be simple enough that it can be done and everyone out the door without stress.

If you are homeschooling older kids and have younger ones, you will have a busy morning. Give yourself mercy and grace that you are not going to get everything done around the house in the mornings. You will have to break it up. You may have to use nap time to do your zone missions, do meal prep, or do a home blessing.

If your children are big enough to make a mess, they are old enough to help with a zone mission or home blessing. Teach them how to care for their homes. Keep them close to you if they are awake. Otherwise, they are a tornado in another room. (smile)

Today my son decided to detail clean his bathroom and touch up the paint. He is 14 years old. He also decided that he wanted to refinish a side table that he uses. He is capable of doing these kinds of projects because I have included him in my home improvement projects over the years. I supervised what he did today, but he did not need my input or advice. He had it all figured out how he wanted to do it.

Another one of the boys swept under the furniture in my living room while I did a little decluttering.

As I am writing this, dinner is in the oven because they started it for me. I am very blessed by these young men. It is worth the time spent training them when they are little! You will reap the rewards later in life!

Today’s Zone Mission is to declutter the Entryway.

Your Home Blessing for today is to declutter paper and magazines.

My menu plan for Thursday is chicken and a salad for me and corn dogs for the boys.

Have a great day!

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About Tami

Tami Fox is a homeschool mom of 6, who in age from 26 to 11. She and her husband have homeschooled for 17 years and have graduated three of their children from their homeschool. They are currently homeschooling 3 boys who are in grades 11, 9, and 6. They use hands-on learning and unit studies to ignite the fire of learning in their children. Tami is a homeschool author and conference speaker. You can contact her by email at Tami@TamiFox.com. Buy her book, Giving Your Children Wings at https://tamifox.net/giving-your-children-wings/.

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