It's Wednesday again and time for another edition of WFMW. Shannon, our venerable host at Rocks In My Dryer has given a theme this week. It is the "Mom, I'm Bored" Edition and she has asked that we share ideas and tips for keeping the kiddos busy this Summer.Well, I thought about that and I thought about what we were doing. If you have visited me before you may know that we are homeschoolers. (I don't blog about it much because I don't consider myself much of a fount of knowledge in that arena, I usually am busy gleaning ideas from other folks.) I'm discovering that this is much more of a lifestyle than I ever dreamed it would be and that while formal learning (as in books and worksheets) may be suspended for the summer, learning never actually stops. Also there is a lot of learning that goes on that will never come out of book. Learning that develops character.
Romans 5:3&4 say, "And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope."
Work will often produce tribulation, which leads to perseverence, which leads to character. So my idea for this summer is to put my kids to work.
Now before you start thinking that my kids are some sort of twenty-first century Oliver Twists or something, let me assure you that I plan on letting them have plenty of fun too. In fact I hope that they find at least some of the work they do, fun.
So here are some of the work like activities they will be doing:
#1 - There are the chickens, The Girls, as they are sometimes called. They will need daily feeding and water changing. They will need to be let out of their coop every morning and have their saw dust freshened regularly. That will be Daughter's job. Before that the coop needs to be built. Son will be helping with that.
#2 - There is the wood pile. Husband regularly brings home small loads of firewood which the kids help him unload and which Son is responsible to stack.
#3 - There are the gardens, both vegetable and flower. When it finally stops raining here Daughter will be responsible to help water them. She will also have the privelage of helping to harvest them as well. She has already told me that she is looking forward to that! :)
#4 - Are all the regular daily chores they are expected to do like making their beds, keeping their rooms picked up, folding and putting away laundry and cleaning up after themselves when they are finished with a meal. Son will probably also have days in which he will be responsible for getting lunch on the table as I have several projects I hope to be working on.
#5 - And this is really more of a treat for them than work, they are keeping a reading log. All it is is a simple list of the books they complete and the number of pagers read. They are both natural readers so I rarely if ever have to coax them to do this.
#6 - And this really is the fun stuff...Son will spend a week at church camp (definately NOT work for him) and Daughter will take swim lessons and keep up with her piano lessons (oh yes, and a week of Vacation Bible School for her too).
So there you have it. That is how I'm keeping my kiddos busy this summer. And hopefully building their character in having them learn some new skills, faithfully completing their work and hopefully do their best.
And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men... ~Colossians 3:23
For more (fun!) ideas about how to keep your kiddos busy this summer head on over to Rocks In Your Dryer.
4 comments:
I totally agree that homeschooling is really a lifestyle. When we started homeschooling three years I ago, I couldn't have imagined how much our family would change. We live and breath homeschooling, our friends revolve around homeschooling, and I'm even on our homeschooling association's board of directors.
But it's worth every effort and expenditure of energy. I wouldn't trade these last three years for anything!
And by the way, thank's for stopping by our blog and taking the time to comment!
Thanks for dropping by my post and I enjoyed reading yours! By the way, I have a heart basket exactly like the one in the picture. I have had it a long, long time!
Sounds like you have the summer well mapped out. That's great.
Children grow up sooo fast, so enjoy!
I can already tell that the decision to post once a week was the right one! I can spend more time reading instead of trying to think about what I want to write!
mary
Cyndy, I am working on this SAME issue with eldest SON and eldest "pretend DAUGHTER", and even 5 year old DAUGHTER. My issue...when they act like they really, really hate the work, and they are tortured, I get wishy-washy! Eldest son is "eager beaver" for the most part, but pretend daughter has very little stamina. Today, I asked the 3 to spend about 45 minutes pulling little tiny weeds out of very soft, moist soil in the flower garden. There were tears, and I second guess myself. Do you deal with this?
Yes, yes and yes. Especially with Daughter. She is fond of pulling out the tears when she doesn't want to do it, work that is. I've been hardening my heart a little when this happens as I can now see she is manipulating me with them. She is a very capable girl so I just tell her she is and that tears will not change the fact she needs to do whatever it is I'm asking/telling/expecting her to do.
I think that as long as it's not work beyond their capability there is no reason they can't do it. If I don't push them they will never learn to push themselves and develope some self-discipline. It's hard work for us as parents though...we have to steal ourselves against tears or whatever other delay tactic they may pull out of their hats...sometimes reminding them of the consequences for nor doing their part to help out our family. This may sound harsh but when you think about it there are consequences for us as adults when we don't do our work. We may be reprimanded by a boss, docked pay or worse, fired. That's just one example.
My hope is that through learning to work and lots of prayer our kids will develope an excellent work ethic.
Post a Comment