Zoya asked me today to read her "Little Red Riding Hood" from Ed Hirsch's What Your First Grader Needs to Know. Wolfgang and Psalm were hanging around also and Wolf told me that he had heard this story from his first grade teacher as well.
We started with the story with Little Red Riding Hood getting distracted from her path in the woods by the wolf. Zoya informed me that Red was divulging entirely too much personal information to a stranger. Smile from mom.
Wolf then cut in to let me know that when he heard the story, the wolf ended up getting its stomach cut open! And Red and her grandmother jumped out, alive!
I had never heard that ending to the story. In fact, I was fresh off Lon Po Po, the Chinese version I reviewed in a prior blog, during which the wolf gets tricked and killed by the three kids in the story.
I was rather shocked that Red and her grannie got eaten. I don't think that ever happened to them when I was a kid. Sure enough, a hunter came by to chat with grannie and surmised what had happened when he found a fat wolf snoring inside her home.
He cut open the wolf and out jumped the child and her grandmother! But THEN the hunter placed a bunch of rocks in the wolf's belly, sewed him back up, and then took the wolf back to the woods where it woke up later and vowed not to eat another human due to its terrible indigestion.
HUH?? I found this very funny. And quite P.C. No wonder people think our governor is nuts for authorizing wolf-shootings in subsistence areas where the moose populations are getting wiped out. A wolf can't even die in a fairy tale after it has deceived a gullible little girl and her grandmother!
Monday, February 23, 2009
February is flying by.
This last week I realized how much I love and use our "Five in a Row" curriculum. I didn't have a FIAR book last week to use, as the ones I had put on hold hadn't arrived yet, so we spent our week with other books and activities.
I hadn't realized just how much I've come to appreciate the structure offered by our study guide. Sweetly, after reading this week's selection, How To Make An Apple Pie and See the World, to Wolfgang, he said, "Maybe this can be our Five in a Row book!" It certainly is, as of today, and we're enjoying it. We don't follow the curriculum religiously, but it provides enough of a framework to help me keep our work organized and cohesive.
Here are some of the books we spent time with last week:
Who Owns the Sun? by Stacy Chbosky
rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was written by a fourteen year old and is a very moving account which becomes more interesting the more often it's read. We read it five times aloud (it being a part of the Five In A Row curriculum) and became more intrigued and delighted by the imagery after reading #2. We then took turns making our own imagery in the format of the story, pretending that the young narrator asked his father about the moon and the sea.
The story is told about the narrator's discovery that he is a slave. It is moving and I cried the first time I read it. My kids thought I was crazy but they are starting to understand the gravity of these issues.
Lon Po Po by Ed Young
rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book is a Chinese motif on the classic story of Little Red Riding Hood. I'm not sure if it is actually a Chinese version of the story or if it is simply done with Chinese elements, but the story is interesting, familiar, yet new. The pictures, however, are pretty scary. My kids didn't seem to mind but it's a dark read. In a way, this seems more appropriate than the cute little girl with the cartoonish teeth poking out from under a bonnet. This one features a blown out candle, pitch black, terrifying eyes...the whole scary shebang.
Marco Polo by Demi
rating: 5 of 5 stars
For my six year old (now seven) to sit through more than 50 pages of this book without straying once attests to its excellence! I love most of Demi's books and wish I had learned all of history this way.
A fun aspect of this one is how Demi describes the way that Marco Polo described what are now ordinary animals as the extraordinary observations that they were at the time, so much so that most people didn't believe him when he returned home to Italy. He described the "very ugly unicorn that looked like a pig"~~a rhinoceros; and the "'snakes and serpents of vast size' which were really pythons and crocodiles." This book sparked in me an interest to read Marco Polo's accounts of his travels. It is inspiring to see Demi's gorgeous and detailed depiction of it~~far more than the paragraph devoted to it in grade school. Also, there is a beautiful map in the back which we have since revisited several times in our map studies.
Ol' 556 by Shannon Cartwrightrating: 5 of 5 stars
If you have a child who loves trains, this book is for you. I highly recommend it for a great many reasons. I love that it is historical and incorporates an exciting fictional story alongside instructional material pertaining to the railroad in Alaska and historical material such as old pictures. The story itself is engaging and well-written, and I can sense the excitement of "breakup," which is what spring is called here when all the snow starts to melt. It is a very loud and exciting time, with water dripping and flowing everywhere and ice floating and cracking. (I know Alaska does not by any means have a monopoly on melting snow, but this book captures it in a dynamic way.) The drama and tension in the story gets wrapped up with the drama of breakup. The illustrations are interesting and spark a lot of good conversation with the kids.
I hadn't realized just how much I've come to appreciate the structure offered by our study guide. Sweetly, after reading this week's selection, How To Make An Apple Pie and See the World, to Wolfgang, he said, "Maybe this can be our Five in a Row book!" It certainly is, as of today, and we're enjoying it. We don't follow the curriculum religiously, but it provides enough of a framework to help me keep our work organized and cohesive.
Here are some of the books we spent time with last week:
Who Owns the Sun? by Stacy Chboskyrating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was written by a fourteen year old and is a very moving account which becomes more interesting the more often it's read. We read it five times aloud (it being a part of the Five In A Row curriculum) and became more intrigued and delighted by the imagery after reading #2. We then took turns making our own imagery in the format of the story, pretending that the young narrator asked his father about the moon and the sea.
The story is told about the narrator's discovery that he is a slave. It is moving and I cried the first time I read it. My kids thought I was crazy but they are starting to understand the gravity of these issues.
Lon Po Po by Ed Youngrating: 3 of 5 stars
This book is a Chinese motif on the classic story of Little Red Riding Hood. I'm not sure if it is actually a Chinese version of the story or if it is simply done with Chinese elements, but the story is interesting, familiar, yet new. The pictures, however, are pretty scary. My kids didn't seem to mind but it's a dark read. In a way, this seems more appropriate than the cute little girl with the cartoonish teeth poking out from under a bonnet. This one features a blown out candle, pitch black, terrifying eyes...the whole scary shebang.
Marco Polo by Demirating: 5 of 5 stars
For my six year old (now seven) to sit through more than 50 pages of this book without straying once attests to its excellence! I love most of Demi's books and wish I had learned all of history this way.
A fun aspect of this one is how Demi describes the way that Marco Polo described what are now ordinary animals as the extraordinary observations that they were at the time, so much so that most people didn't believe him when he returned home to Italy. He described the "very ugly unicorn that looked like a pig"~~a rhinoceros; and the "'snakes and serpents of vast size' which were really pythons and crocodiles." This book sparked in me an interest to read Marco Polo's accounts of his travels. It is inspiring to see Demi's gorgeous and detailed depiction of it~~far more than the paragraph devoted to it in grade school. Also, there is a beautiful map in the back which we have since revisited several times in our map studies.
Ol' 556 by Shannon Cartwrightrating: 5 of 5 starsIf you have a child who loves trains, this book is for you. I highly recommend it for a great many reasons. I love that it is historical and incorporates an exciting fictional story alongside instructional material pertaining to the railroad in Alaska and historical material such as old pictures. The story itself is engaging and well-written, and I can sense the excitement of "breakup," which is what spring is called here when all the snow starts to melt. It is a very loud and exciting time, with water dripping and flowing everywhere and ice floating and cracking. (I know Alaska does not by any means have a monopoly on melting snow, but this book captures it in a dynamic way.) The drama and tension in the story gets wrapped up with the drama of breakup. The illustrations are interesting and spark a lot of good conversation with the kids.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
First week of February ~ Review
Last week we studied the following material:
~ 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (memorize/recite/discuss)
~ Elements of a good story: setting, conflict, rising action, climax, denouement as it pertains to Star Wars and Cranberry Thanksgiving
~ "Five in a Row" book: Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel; mildly interesting. I've determined that Wolf likes human interest stories and stories with animals. He doesn't so much care about guys having meaningful relationships with machines. However, this book opened the door to some interesting history, social studies, and science.
~ Made Chinese lanterns
~ Read "Dongfang and the Festival of Lanterns" (a short story from the Moonbeams book reviewed in my last blog), The Emperor's New Clothes, Officer Buckle and Gloria, Carousel, and The Drinking Gourd (see reviews below)
~ Adding double digit numbers (also worked with manipulatives to demonstrate the meaning of places such as "ones" and "tens")
~ Steam technology
~ Panama Canal
~ Mosquito-borne illness
~ Imperialism
~ Map work
~ Business ownership versus employment, labor unions
~ Writing contractions
~ Answering questions from a story and highlighting relevant material
~ Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, as well as a book called Introducing Gershwin
By far, Wolf's favorite activity was creating a comic book. We worked on it together; he planned the layout and illustrated it. He also came up with the text although I prompted him with different vocabulary options. Ultimately, we laminated it and he just about freaked out.
We also visited the Anchorage Museum yesterday. Even though large parts of it are closed right now for the remodel, we walked in awe through the section about Alaskan history, which contained life-sized models of different types of homes and tools that have been used in the Bush for centuries.
Here are some books we spent time with this week.
The Drinking Gourd: A Story of the Underground Railroad by F.N. Monjo
rating: 4 of 5 stars
We read this book in an evening. The story is engaging and interesting to the children and we will read it again a couple more times. The story opens the door for good conversation about slavery and the Underground Railroad. It touches upon the moral aspects of breaking an unjust law, which I believe puts it in proper context for young children who are otherwise learning obedience to the law and authority figures. My only complaint is that the book is not detailed enough. As engaging as the story is, we all want to know more about what happens to the characters. It is still written from the standpoint of the white minister and his son as they help the slave family. More perspective from that of the slaves would make this book even better.
Introducing Gershwin by Roland Vernon
rating: 4 of 5 stars
I used this as a reference with the kids, as we have been listening to Gershwin for a couple weeks. It's not written for 5 and 7 year olds but I was able to paraphrase and reference different elements of not only Gershwin's music, but music itself.
As we are listening to Porgy and Bess this week, I would have appreciated the stories behind his work~~not so much about his creation of the work, but the story/plot itself. That would have made it more engaging for all of us. However, it did provide a lot of historical context and juicy personal tidbits that made this well-received. (Porgy and Bess is amazing.)
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book is relatively interesting...my son would sit through the whole thing and pay attention, but neither of us really enjoyed it. It's unconvincing, this love between Mike and Mary Anne. We didn't feel moved by the way the characters developed either, such as the mean guy who started to feel less mean. That's nice and all, but why did this happen exactly? We did enjoy a lot of conversation about the sociological and historical elements of the story, such as the use of coal/steam, the Panama Canal, the growth of technology and its implications for the worker.
The Empty Pot by Demi
rating: 5 of 5 stars
Demi is one of my new favorites! We adore her books. The illustrations, text, and story lines are all engaging and open the door to great conversation with the kids. This particular one is probably my favorite out of all the ones we've read. The young boy in the story receives a very special reward for his honesty.
For the record, though, after reading so many children's books lately, I'm definitely feeling weary of every single main character being a boy. I feel like I need to apologize to my daughter for the absolute dearth of female characters we've encountered. Obviously, this should (hopefully) be easy to fix by finding books with more female "leads." But still.
Officer Buckle & Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
rating: 4 of 5 stars
I gave this four stars instead of five because I needed to do a lot of explaining to the children, as they didn't really get why the kids were laughing at Officer Buckle. The "hook" of the story, in my opinion, needs to be hashed out a bit more in the text because it relies completely on the illustrations and does not completely succeed, in my opinion. However, the book is quite charming, and we all really enjoy it. It also opens the door to safety talks and my daughter enjoyed making "safety stars" after we read it.
Carousel: A Novel by Pat Cummings
rating: 4 of 5 stars
What I loved about this book was that the main character is a young African-American girl who experiences a lot of unpopular emotions like ANGER! And the book does not skirt around this, but rather describes her perspective in depth and shows how she loses herself in a dream one night. Her father is involved and loving. Her mother disciplines her in a way that is appropriate. A lot of times, in kids' books, there isn't any discipline. In addition to this, only one relationship is often shown between a parent and child, such as the mother OR the father, rather than both. This one had aunties too! I only gave it four because the plot could use more tension and excitement.
~ 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (memorize/recite/discuss)
~ Elements of a good story: setting, conflict, rising action, climax, denouement as it pertains to Star Wars and Cranberry Thanksgiving
~ "Five in a Row" book: Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel; mildly interesting. I've determined that Wolf likes human interest stories and stories with animals. He doesn't so much care about guys having meaningful relationships with machines. However, this book opened the door to some interesting history, social studies, and science.
~ Made Chinese lanterns
~ Read "Dongfang and the Festival of Lanterns" (a short story from the Moonbeams book reviewed in my last blog), The Emperor's New Clothes, Officer Buckle and Gloria, Carousel, and The Drinking Gourd (see reviews below)
~ Adding double digit numbers (also worked with manipulatives to demonstrate the meaning of places such as "ones" and "tens")
~ Steam technology
~ Panama Canal
~ Mosquito-borne illness
~ Imperialism
~ Map work
~ Business ownership versus employment, labor unions
~ Writing contractions
~ Answering questions from a story and highlighting relevant material
~ Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, as well as a book called Introducing Gershwin
By far, Wolf's favorite activity was creating a comic book. We worked on it together; he planned the layout and illustrated it. He also came up with the text although I prompted him with different vocabulary options. Ultimately, we laminated it and he just about freaked out.
We also visited the Anchorage Museum yesterday. Even though large parts of it are closed right now for the remodel, we walked in awe through the section about Alaskan history, which contained life-sized models of different types of homes and tools that have been used in the Bush for centuries.
Here are some books we spent time with this week.
The Drinking Gourd: A Story of the Underground Railroad by F.N. Monjorating: 4 of 5 stars
We read this book in an evening. The story is engaging and interesting to the children and we will read it again a couple more times. The story opens the door for good conversation about slavery and the Underground Railroad. It touches upon the moral aspects of breaking an unjust law, which I believe puts it in proper context for young children who are otherwise learning obedience to the law and authority figures. My only complaint is that the book is not detailed enough. As engaging as the story is, we all want to know more about what happens to the characters. It is still written from the standpoint of the white minister and his son as they help the slave family. More perspective from that of the slaves would make this book even better.
Introducing Gershwin by Roland Vernonrating: 4 of 5 stars
I used this as a reference with the kids, as we have been listening to Gershwin for a couple weeks. It's not written for 5 and 7 year olds but I was able to paraphrase and reference different elements of not only Gershwin's music, but music itself.
As we are listening to Porgy and Bess this week, I would have appreciated the stories behind his work~~not so much about his creation of the work, but the story/plot itself. That would have made it more engaging for all of us. However, it did provide a lot of historical context and juicy personal tidbits that made this well-received. (Porgy and Bess is amazing.)
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burtonrating: 3 of 5 stars
This book is relatively interesting...my son would sit through the whole thing and pay attention, but neither of us really enjoyed it. It's unconvincing, this love between Mike and Mary Anne. We didn't feel moved by the way the characters developed either, such as the mean guy who started to feel less mean. That's nice and all, but why did this happen exactly? We did enjoy a lot of conversation about the sociological and historical elements of the story, such as the use of coal/steam, the Panama Canal, the growth of technology and its implications for the worker.
The Empty Pot by Demirating: 5 of 5 stars
Demi is one of my new favorites! We adore her books. The illustrations, text, and story lines are all engaging and open the door to great conversation with the kids. This particular one is probably my favorite out of all the ones we've read. The young boy in the story receives a very special reward for his honesty.
For the record, though, after reading so many children's books lately, I'm definitely feeling weary of every single main character being a boy. I feel like I need to apologize to my daughter for the absolute dearth of female characters we've encountered. Obviously, this should (hopefully) be easy to fix by finding books with more female "leads." But still.
Officer Buckle & Gloria by Peggy Rathmannrating: 4 of 5 stars
I gave this four stars instead of five because I needed to do a lot of explaining to the children, as they didn't really get why the kids were laughing at Officer Buckle. The "hook" of the story, in my opinion, needs to be hashed out a bit more in the text because it relies completely on the illustrations and does not completely succeed, in my opinion. However, the book is quite charming, and we all really enjoy it. It also opens the door to safety talks and my daughter enjoyed making "safety stars" after we read it.
Carousel: A Novel by Pat Cummingsrating: 4 of 5 stars
What I loved about this book was that the main character is a young African-American girl who experiences a lot of unpopular emotions like ANGER! And the book does not skirt around this, but rather describes her perspective in depth and shows how she loses herself in a dream one night. Her father is involved and loving. Her mother disciplines her in a way that is appropriate. A lot of times, in kids' books, there isn't any discipline. In addition to this, only one relationship is often shown between a parent and child, such as the mother OR the father, rather than both. This one had aunties too! I only gave it four because the plot could use more tension and excitement.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Updated list of "40 things"
As February makes its way along, I thought I'd post an update on how these are coming along. How about you?
1. Do reading and devotionals every day with hubby Well, we're both reading. We are not doing it together as much as we had planned. (Hi, husband. You are reading this from work. Let's make sure we stay on track!) Family devotionals with the children are happening.
2. Have fun homeschooling! What a blessing. Homeschooling has been a huge lifestyle change and I am beyond grateful for what it has meant for us as a family already in just these last six weeks. I hope you are clicking through to our scrapbook every now and then!
3. Remember to be cheerful Check. Or should that be, CHECK!!!!
4. Take the kids out of the house on hubby's sleeping days
5. Take the kids to North Pole, Alaska OR go clamming. Or both.
6. Camp near Denali
7. Have a yummy meal of stew at the public use cabin in the ER Nature Center
8. Go to Barrow and take a tour
9. FINALLY have an awesome vacation with JUST my hubby! (okay, we're spoiled!)
10. Organize and redo the kids' room We have made a couple changes which have increased their organization, but it still is not the bastion of interior design that I had hoped. Um, like pretty much the whole house.
11. Keep up with all three blogs Nooooooooooo. I had every intention of maintaining a third blog but I opted to take it down when it became clear I could not keep up and do the material justice.
12. Finish Bachelors degree (the Univ. of Iowa one) In progress!
13. Help Wolf with his Tiger Cub Scout badges Happening!
14. Reorganize upstairs medicine cabinet, downstairs drawers, entryway, and my closet 50% accomplished
15. Write Noah monthly and fly down in March and October
16. Devise a decent photo organization system for my computer
17. Print all photos and arrange into books
18. Continue reading good books nightly with kids I have never read as much with my children as I have since we began homeschooling. I cannot imagine they were reading this much before.
19. Keep the TV off most of the time Yep.
20. Enhance my femininity in husband-pleasing ways (that's just between us)
21. Continue meeting weekly with friends
22. Do more girly things with my girly daughter Funny story about this...I really must blog.
23. Go berry-picking as a family at least twice
24. Outline book idea and schedule time weekly to work on it
25. Throw a birthday party for twins and Wolf We threw a party for the twins!
26. Continue getting back in touch with family members
27. Stay on top of dentists, physicals, etc. for kids and us
28. Keep up with menu planning and freezer cooking Peaks and valleys, peaks and valleys
29. Get the incorrect tax lien off my credit report and any other corrections
30. Continue sponsoring our sponsor kids and write them every month
31. Put some framed prints in our home
32. Finalize family documents
33. Get a passport (soon!) Ack. Really must get on this.
34. Discuss, plan, and prepare to implement (and possibly implement) pregnant teen sponsor program Have met with a couple people about this...am doing so again this month.
35. Go dip-netting at least once
36. Start sprouting seeds
37. Get mentored
38. Organize the emergency kits (right now, they are a mishmash of supplies)
39. Go to Iditarod kickoff in Willow Better get this on the calendar soon. It's coming up.
40. Have an outing or playtime with just one of our kids at least once a month Simply writing this down has made it a more frequent occurrence, as I am looking for the opportunities.
There you have it. I appreciate going back over this list because there are some items I completely forgot about but don't want to forget about.
1. Do reading and devotionals every day with hubby Well, we're both reading. We are not doing it together as much as we had planned. (Hi, husband. You are reading this from work. Let's make sure we stay on track!) Family devotionals with the children are happening.
2. Have fun homeschooling! What a blessing. Homeschooling has been a huge lifestyle change and I am beyond grateful for what it has meant for us as a family already in just these last six weeks. I hope you are clicking through to our scrapbook every now and then!
3. Remember to be cheerful Check. Or should that be, CHECK!!!!
4. Take the kids out of the house on hubby's sleeping days
5. Take the kids to North Pole, Alaska OR go clamming. Or both.
6. Camp near Denali
7. Have a yummy meal of stew at the public use cabin in the ER Nature Center
8. Go to Barrow and take a tour
9. FINALLY have an awesome vacation with JUST my hubby! (okay, we're spoiled!)
10. Organize and redo the kids' room We have made a couple changes which have increased their organization, but it still is not the bastion of interior design that I had hoped. Um, like pretty much the whole house.
11. Keep up with all three blogs Nooooooooooo. I had every intention of maintaining a third blog but I opted to take it down when it became clear I could not keep up and do the material justice.
12. Finish Bachelors degree (the Univ. of Iowa one) In progress!
13. Help Wolf with his Tiger Cub Scout badges Happening!
14. Reorganize upstairs medicine cabinet, downstairs drawers, entryway, and my closet 50% accomplished
15. Write Noah monthly and fly down in March and October
16. Devise a decent photo organization system for my computer
17. Print all photos and arrange into books
18. Continue reading good books nightly with kids I have never read as much with my children as I have since we began homeschooling. I cannot imagine they were reading this much before.
19. Keep the TV off most of the time Yep.
20. Enhance my femininity in husband-pleasing ways (that's just between us)
21. Continue meeting weekly with friends
22. Do more girly things with my girly daughter Funny story about this...I really must blog.
23. Go berry-picking as a family at least twice
24. Outline book idea and schedule time weekly to work on it
25. Throw a birthday party for twins and Wolf We threw a party for the twins!
26. Continue getting back in touch with family members
27. Stay on top of dentists, physicals, etc. for kids and us
28. Keep up with menu planning and freezer cooking Peaks and valleys, peaks and valleys
29. Get the incorrect tax lien off my credit report and any other corrections
30. Continue sponsoring our sponsor kids and write them every month
31. Put some framed prints in our home
32. Finalize family documents
33. Get a passport (soon!) Ack. Really must get on this.
34. Discuss, plan, and prepare to implement (and possibly implement) pregnant teen sponsor program Have met with a couple people about this...am doing so again this month.
35. Go dip-netting at least once
36. Start sprouting seeds
37. Get mentored
38. Organize the emergency kits (right now, they are a mishmash of supplies)
39. Go to Iditarod kickoff in Willow Better get this on the calendar soon. It's coming up.
40. Have an outing or playtime with just one of our kids at least once a month Simply writing this down has made it a more frequent occurrence, as I am looking for the opportunities.
There you have it. I appreciate going back over this list because there are some items I completely forgot about but don't want to forget about.
They're not chores.
Somewhere in the blogosphere spread this idea that house chores need to be named something different to keep mommies and children motivated: a "house blessing." I started thinking about that and decided this would help us. As I went through my list of "40 things" (see last post) I realize I left off one very important item which has been in my mind since late last year.
I've been wanting to be more systematized in our home re: housework, chores, etc. My method in the past has been, "Kids, clean your room!" (ten minutes later) "Kids, clean your room!" And then, after waiting forever, I would find their room kind of sort of partially picked up but the time long gone that I had hoped they would spend on such a task and all of us ready to move on. And since it didn't get done regularly, it approached semi-disaster before getting done at all, then warranted mom or dad to do a total sweep ourselves, clean it, and rededicate ourselves to the task of getting the kids on board (again).
Not a good system, although I'm sure many readers can relate to it. When I read Managers of Their Homes last year, I appreciated the authors' focus on children doing the same chore regularly and being shown diligently by the parent until the task is mastered. Then, the children can rotate and do different ones, mastering those. Both Alex and I had this expectation that they should all just intuitively know how to do these tasks and to do them right, and recognize when they aren't being done right. Obviously this is an unrealistic expectation. I aspired to finally sit down and write a list of what needs to be done in our home on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, divvy up the tasks, and make it a regular occurrence for 15-20 minutes twice a day that we work on them.
This finally happened last week. The lists were as follows:
Daily:
Sweeping
Picking up rooms/floors
Doing all the dishes
Picking up under the table
Doing laundry/putting it away
Folding diapers when necessary (2x/week)
Filing bills, etc.
Straightening up the entryway
Wiping down bathroom counters
Checking the trash and taking it out
Weekly:
Dusting
Cleaning out toy cabinet
Mopping floors
Shaking out rugs
Cleaning out appliances
Deep cleaning the bathrooms
Balancing the checkbook
Monthly:
Scrubbing the tub
Putting away the Costco groceries completely
Cleaning the windows when needed
Ultimately, Zoya ended up volunteering for practically everything, with the boys slightly less enthusiastic. So I helped them divide the tasks up fairly and put my own name down for the ones I'm doing myself. And for one month, they each will do the same tasks.
We have done this every day now for a week. Today was our "deep clean" session with the mopping, etc.
Observations:
1) The house looks much better on a daily basis.
2) The kids are starting to get better at the tasks. I am still having to help them with certain things and correct them but that's okay. I'm expecting this.
3) Little things can make a big difference. Trash cans in the bathroom that aren't overflowing, for instance, go a long way to improving the overall appearance and comfort level.
4) The kids are starting to notice when their task needs to be done even when it's not "house blessing time."
5) Cheesy songs about blessing our home make it all seem way more fun than it used to.
6) Some days require barely any time on chores because we're on top of it so much more.
While I am prone to fizzling out on the "management" aspect after about 5 days, we intend to take full advantage of our day of rest. So far, this is working well for us.
I've been wanting to be more systematized in our home re: housework, chores, etc. My method in the past has been, "Kids, clean your room!" (ten minutes later) "Kids, clean your room!" And then, after waiting forever, I would find their room kind of sort of partially picked up but the time long gone that I had hoped they would spend on such a task and all of us ready to move on. And since it didn't get done regularly, it approached semi-disaster before getting done at all, then warranted mom or dad to do a total sweep ourselves, clean it, and rededicate ourselves to the task of getting the kids on board (again).
Not a good system, although I'm sure many readers can relate to it. When I read Managers of Their Homes last year, I appreciated the authors' focus on children doing the same chore regularly and being shown diligently by the parent until the task is mastered. Then, the children can rotate and do different ones, mastering those. Both Alex and I had this expectation that they should all just intuitively know how to do these tasks and to do them right, and recognize when they aren't being done right. Obviously this is an unrealistic expectation. I aspired to finally sit down and write a list of what needs to be done in our home on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, divvy up the tasks, and make it a regular occurrence for 15-20 minutes twice a day that we work on them.
This finally happened last week. The lists were as follows:
Daily:
Sweeping
Picking up rooms/floors
Doing all the dishes
Picking up under the table
Doing laundry/putting it away
Folding diapers when necessary (2x/week)
Filing bills, etc.
Straightening up the entryway
Wiping down bathroom counters
Checking the trash and taking it out
Weekly:
Dusting
Cleaning out toy cabinet
Mopping floors
Shaking out rugs
Cleaning out appliances
Deep cleaning the bathrooms
Balancing the checkbook
Monthly:
Scrubbing the tub
Putting away the Costco groceries completely
Cleaning the windows when needed
Ultimately, Zoya ended up volunteering for practically everything, with the boys slightly less enthusiastic. So I helped them divide the tasks up fairly and put my own name down for the ones I'm doing myself. And for one month, they each will do the same tasks.
We have done this every day now for a week. Today was our "deep clean" session with the mopping, etc.
Observations:
1) The house looks much better on a daily basis.
2) The kids are starting to get better at the tasks. I am still having to help them with certain things and correct them but that's okay. I'm expecting this.
3) Little things can make a big difference. Trash cans in the bathroom that aren't overflowing, for instance, go a long way to improving the overall appearance and comfort level.
4) The kids are starting to notice when their task needs to be done even when it's not "house blessing time."
5) Cheesy songs about blessing our home make it all seem way more fun than it used to.
6) Some days require barely any time on chores because we're on top of it so much more.
While I am prone to fizzling out on the "management" aspect after about 5 days, we intend to take full advantage of our day of rest. So far, this is working well for us.
Friday, February 6, 2009
"Cranberry Thanksgiving" live and in person
As I mentioned earlier, Cranberry Thanksgiving was our "Five in a Row" book last week, which unexpectedly linked us to a family tradition I did not know about until Alex told me. We decided, as we wrapped up our unit, to make the bread on Saturday using the recipe in the back of the book.
Upon gathering the ingredients, I noticed the strangest thing. Here, in this land where sunshine is precious, Wolfgang was closing the blinds on our front door just outside the kitchen.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm closing the shades so no one can steal the recipe," he responded. His eyes glimmered. I reeled to find that the children were acting out the book. In Cranberry Thanksgiving, the grandmother hides her recipe from the outside world, closing her curtains and shooing away the neighbors when she pulls it out to cook. How glorious!!
I let down the curtains in our living room and closed the blinds. Psalm put a clip on the curtains, "just in case."
It got even better. We cooked the delightful batter and started pouring it into the bowl when what should occur but~~a knock on the front door!! The kids peeked outside and found their friend waiting in the cold, hoping to come inside. But rather than open it up as they would have done on any other day, they peered at the book. And left him out there! I offered to hide the recipe and they brought it to me.
The kids let in their friend and that was the end of their interest in the bread until it was time to eat. But the magic has not left me...I'm sure that sounds cheesy, but truly, it was a magical afternoon.
Oh! I should let you know how it turned out. I'm NOT a fan of fruit bread...it's probably my least favorite sweet snack. But this was absolutely delicious. As we continue with this tradition, it will be wholly willingly and with anticipation for all the times to come.
Upon gathering the ingredients, I noticed the strangest thing. Here, in this land where sunshine is precious, Wolfgang was closing the blinds on our front door just outside the kitchen.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm closing the shades so no one can steal the recipe," he responded. His eyes glimmered. I reeled to find that the children were acting out the book. In Cranberry Thanksgiving, the grandmother hides her recipe from the outside world, closing her curtains and shooing away the neighbors when she pulls it out to cook. How glorious!!
I let down the curtains in our living room and closed the blinds. Psalm put a clip on the curtains, "just in case."
It got even better. We cooked the delightful batter and started pouring it into the bowl when what should occur but~~a knock on the front door!! The kids peeked outside and found their friend waiting in the cold, hoping to come inside. But rather than open it up as they would have done on any other day, they peered at the book. And left him out there! I offered to hide the recipe and they brought it to me.
The kids let in their friend and that was the end of their interest in the bread until it was time to eat. But the magic has not left me...I'm sure that sounds cheesy, but truly, it was a magical afternoon.
Oh! I should let you know how it turned out. I'm NOT a fan of fruit bread...it's probably my least favorite sweet snack. But this was absolutely delicious. As we continue with this tradition, it will be wholly willingly and with anticipation for all the times to come.
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