An Organized Large, Homeschooling Family

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An Organized Large, Homeschooling Family

by: Shiloah Baker

Having a house of order is not the easiest goal to attain when raising a large family and homeschooling on top of it all. We are coming up on our one year anniversary of homeschooling. After much stress, some successes and failures, I feel I can now share with you ideas in these areas that have been successful. I am thankful to my mentor Sarah S. and many other helpful women and wonderful books to help me in the venture.

The first thing I needed to do was simplify everything. I am a person that feels comfortable when I have many things at my disposal for when I need them. With nine bodies living under one roof it is uncomfortable to have so much stuff. It also makes it easy for young, curious children to get into and make messes with things. After having my seventh baby in January, I waited until I was feeling well enough to do some organizing. We went through every room. I trashed a lot of toys and junk. We finally let go of things we kept hanging onto “just in case” or “one day we’ll need” items. It felt great. I got rid of them quickly before I could think too much about it. I did the same thing with the clothes (again). Put away seasonal clothes, organized the clothes that do not fit any longer into the bins marked with the correct sizes. We went through closets. We got rid of dresses or clothes that aren’t worn often. We got rid of shoes that are too small, too “used” or excess. We then separated the toys by categories and put them in bins. They have a large bin for Barbie’s and accessories, a small bin for Mr. Potato Head, etc. These bins went in our “attic” (storage closets within the house’s rafters). They are pulled out on days that they want to play. The other activities/toys will be discussed later. We organized everything from bathroom and bedroom to pantry and living room.

My Dining room, organized

We purchased a buffet to house my scrapbooking supplies so that I may scrapbook around my family. I finished redecorating the dining room wall. Instead of plastic organizing bins in the dining room for my stuff, I bought hatboxes. They are so beautiful and decorative and practical at the same time.

The craft room is now the TV room. The living room is the "family" room- without the TV. We rarely watch it now. We read books as a family for several hours daily. Right now we are reading as a family the following books:

The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson
The Biography of Ezra Taft Benson by Sheri L. Dew
King Arthur Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang
Beauty And The Beast and other classic fairy tales

As I read the children do the following things to keep their hands busy:
Mr. Potato head
Plastic canvas
Stamping
Coloring fuzzy posters
Playing wooden puzzles
Weaving potholders on a loom
Cross-stitch
Benjamin puts together 3-D wooden puzzles.   Right now he is doing a Ferrari and another dinosaur.

Occasionally the entire family will do the dishes while I sit in the kitchen and read to them. They really enjoy this for the following reasons: it keeps their minds occupied while they clean, they aren’t alone doing the chore, they listen well while doing work, and its great family time. They are always amazed at how fast the dishes are done when I read while they work.

I was blessed last week with a gold mine find! A lady on a sale list was giving away three Anne of Green Gables books. My collection is gone now so I told her that I wanted them! Little did I know that I would be getting about $50 worth of books! They are large hardcover books with not only the Anne series, but also the tales of Avonlea! Cailynn has been expressing her desire to read the "Anne" books next and you can imagine how excited she was as well!

I have always read with my children often and we have always done daily scripture reading as a family. But it is so much more different now that it is a daily part of our routine and that we do it for hours instead of minutes. The discussions that spawn from reading time are amazing and so valuable. I am learning many things as well. I didn't realize how much all of my family enjoyed it, including Ben, until the other night.   I had gone into town to "get away" for a little while. When I came back they were all in PJ's waiting for me to start reading! I didn't have to call everyone and gather them together; they did it on their own.

The chore system that I implemented is working better than any system that I have ever tried, read about or seen! I found it in the A Thomas Jefferson Education Home Companion.   Each person has their name on a chart with an "IN" and "OUT" pocket. Every morning we draw chores that I wrote on small cards. The hard chores are "A" chores and easy ones are "B" chores. Each person must do at least 4 "A" chores or the equivalent of it with "B"s. This includes Mommy and Daddy. Today, for example, I had to clear and wipe the table and empty the dishwasher. Ben had to vacuum the stairs and clean the mirrors! The younger children get help with the harder chores, so I helped Makenzie (age 5) do the breakfast dishes and later Ben and I will help Madi (age 3) fold clothes.

Our chore system

Every day we re-draw new chores. The new chores go in the in box and done chores in the out box. I inspect the chores that are put in the out-box. Daddy gets the “left-over” chores that weren’t drawn. If there is something in there that is for “all day” I trade him for one of mine. He does his jobs when he gets home in the evening. The kids have stayed excited and motivated. I will be keeping extra papers in the kitchen to add new things that we need done or things I may have forgotten. I have been asked while sharing this idea, what things I have on the tickets to do? Each family will have their own chores to add to the list or not put on theirs.

Here are the main daily chores in our household:

Breakfast dishes (A)
Lunch dishes (A)
Dinner dishes (A)
Empty dishwasher (B)
Empty silverware (B)
Sweep kitchen and dining room all day (after each meal) (A)
Mop kitchen and dining room (A)
Clean bathroom sinks (B)
Clean mirrors (B)
Clean Curio cabinet glass (B)
Wash walls (B)
Check mail (B)
Wipe window ledges (B)
Take out trash (all day) (A)
Wipe down kitchen appliances (B)
Clean and sanitize counters –all day (B)
Clear and wipe table –all day (B)
Keep water filter filled (B)
Fold laundry (A)
Hang clothes (A)
Match socks (B)
Pick up living room all day (A)
Pick up hallway (B)
Pick up bathrooms (B)

Notice that I do not have anything to do with bedrooms or hygiene on these tickets. This is because bedrooms are a morning and evening personal responsibility. Bedroom care consists of the following: make bed, tuck pj’s under pillow, pick up laundry, clean up toys, trash or clutter, clear dishes (usually stray sippy cups), put away books, and straighten shoes.

Hygiene is to be done every morning and every evening before scripture study and family reading which is done twice daily. Baths in the evening for the younger children, showers in the early morning for the older kids.

Another system that we implemented is dinner help. Years ago I gave each person in the family a day for prayer. All that day they say the prayer. All the contention over who says the prayer is gone. After reading this book I have now added dinner on those days. So, Cailynn and Charisa are in charge of dinner on their prayer days. They already did their menus for the entire month of March for dinner on their days. Then they made a grocery list and on grocery day they will be responsible for gathering and shopping for their ingredients. We will learn prices, sales, and more. I'm including pictures of the Manicotti Charisa made for dinner last night. It was filled with cheese and spinach, which she sautéed in the electric skillet. For dessert we had brownies that she made with Ben's supervision. She also helped Ben make Salmon Patties last weekend and there is a picture of that too.

Vegetarian Manicotti

Salmon Patties

We are also doing homemaking courses. (Thanks to this book again.) I have a syllabus typed up for the first two courses. One is baking and one is laundry. The pass the course they must learn everything on the list. For example, the baking course includes: homemade brownies, pancakes, German pancakes, homemade cake, muffins, bread, etc. And the laundry course includes: learning each step one by one, making homemade laundry soap, mending, ironing, etc... They may enroll in the courses at anytime. In order to have the class passed off they have to be taught the class by mommy, and then do it several times on their own until it is mastered. At the end of the course we will have a party. For the baking course we will invite friends over to sample things they will bake for the party. We are still working on the laundry celebration- any suggestions will be welcomed!

Of course, we have our problems too as with anything in life; there is opposition in all things. I find that this system has helped everyone be more cheerful. There is no doubt what their jobs are. The house has been nearly spotless since implementing these programs and with seven homeschooling children that is really a plus!!! What a blessing it has been and the more time I have for other things with this system.

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