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Guarding Against Entitlement Part 2: Getting To Work

Posted by on October 9, 2012 Leave a Comment

As we move into our second post dealing with entitlement, it seems only logical that the issue of chores comes up. Training our children to work–and work hard–is something we should endeavor to do not only because it teaches responsibility in the short term, but because it prepares them for life over the long haul.

I recently heard someone say that you can find smart, tech-saavy, organized employees, but it’s nearly impossible to hire someone who’s also hard-working and responsible. 

Can that be true? Are we raising a generation of young people who aren’t willing to work?

Why Getting to Work Holds Entitlement At Bay

Waiting on your kids hand and foot is one sure-fire way to turn them from sweet bambinos to rude, demanding little minions. Granting their every wish is another.

I love to help my children. I love to surprise them with thoughtful gestures and tokens of my affection. However, as fulfilling as motherhood is, the idea of becoming their maid has never been part of the plan.

How many times have you walked through the house thinking:

  • Why are these shoes lying here?!
  • Who left this game spread out on the carpet?
  • Are these pants clean or dirty?
  • Am I the ONLY one who sees this mess??
Do you ever throw your hands up in frustration?

 

If you can relate, then perhaps you’ll agree that it’s time for our kids to get busy helping around the house. It’s time for them to contribute to the team of which they are a part. It’s time for them to feel needed for the ways they can bless and serve their family members. 

 

But none of those things will happen without our direct instruction. None of them will happen without intentional training. But they can — and will — happen when you make teaching them a priority in your home.

 

TIPS FOR CHORES AT HOME:

  • Give your children chores even — and especially — when it would be easier to do those things yourself
  • Find something that all age groups can do successfully, from folding rags to washing windows.
  • Try to teach a new chore every couple of weeks; allow time for mastery in between.
  • Hold them accountable to do the work you’ve assigned
  • Reward them creatively if you don’t give an allowance. How about a later bedtime? An extra book from the library? A board game with daddy? The privilege of having a sleepover?

 

I published this chore chart last year and heard from many, including my own children, that it was helpful. Click here for some pointers on how to use it and download it HERE today for FREE!

 

How do you assign chores at your home? What’s the most difficult part of maintaining a chore schedule?

 

Filed Under: Character Training, Chores/Tasks, Discipline, FREE Charts | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , ,

Getting Back into a Routine after Summer + FREE PRINTABLE

Posted by on August 21, 2012 1 Comment

If you’ve ever struggled to pull kids away from a late sunset and into the prickly confines of a bed they don’t wish to visit, you know how difficult it can be to re-establish routines in preparation for a new school year.

Just as bedtime can be a minefield to navigate, waking up on time and jumping through morning’s necessary hoops can prove equally daunting. At our house, having a happy heart and a cheerful face may be most difficult for mom, but I’m out to improve this year and hold us all accountable to begin each day on a sunny note. To that end…

Thanks to a reader’s request on The Unofficial Homeschooler’s Facebook Page, I’ve created a new chore chart for fall and have included some of the basic things we like to have done before the kids begin school. The goal is not necessarily to rack up points and have a series of perfect mornings, but rather to underscore the importance of completing tasks with a happy heart and without grumbling.

I hope your family find this helpful! Please download your copy HERE and make sure to share it with friends!

Filed Under: Back-To-School, Character Training, Chores/Tasks, Teaching Obedience, Teaching Responsibility, Time Management, Training Children | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , ,

Analyzing Stories Together + a FREEBIE

Posted by on May 30, 2012 3 Comments

When I was a “real” teacher I would do chapter work with my students to help them really soak up the nuances in stories. As a mom I try to do the same thing. We’re nearing the end of our family’s current chapter book, The Twenty-One Balloons, and discussing the details has really helped our kids to think about the characters and setting; it has also aided them in making some educated predictions.

  • Today I’m offering a FREE DOWNLOADABLE for you to print off and use together.
  • Print a copy for each of your chapters and keep them in a binder, or use them only when you know you’ll be tackling some confusing text.
  • Encourage your kids to draw with detail and use their best spelling.
  • Have fun together and please pass this worksheet on to another mom!
  • Click and drag the image below to your desktop OR click this .pdf file.

How do you work with story details with your family?

Filed Under: Comprehension Strategies, Discussion Ideas, Drawing Activities, Teaching Reading | Tagged: Tagged With: , , ,

Bible Verse Scavenger Hunts + 1

Posted by on February 28, 2012 2 Comments

Studies show* that kids love a great scavenger hunt.

A year ago I shared how we’ve used them in our family for special nights together (i.e. Valentine’s Day with kids) and to unveil a gift or fun activity (i.e. We’re going to Disney World!).

This year we combined those two components and unveiled a surprise on Valentine’s evening; little did I know that it would be me receiving the gift!

Thanks to the bargain-loving folks at TravelZoo, my husband and I splurged on a small ski getaway near our home. To make the reveal fun and to incorporate themes of love on Valentine’s while using the Bible, we made a scavenger hunt to tell our secret.

Here’s How:

  1. I wanted the kids to find the words “We’re going to Crystal Mountain” in the riddles, so I did keyword searches for each word on Bible Gateway and found verses for each one.
  2. These verses were copy/pasted separately on 5 different sheets of paper along with a discussion question following each.
  3. Additionally, I printed out separate copies of each verse and bold printed the key word that would help them figure out the riddle. The printouts went into numbered envelopes that were hidden in the house for step #5.
  4. As we sat together on the living room floor, we had our kids look up each verse, read it aloud, and then do brief activity for each (FREE DOWNLOAD AT BOTTOM).

  5. After each verse was read, the kids had to hunt for the corresponding numbered envelope and not open it. Once the envelope was found, I gave them the next handout (Amazing Race style).
  6. After all verses were completed and all envelopes found, the kids opened 5 envelopes and pulled out the verses with key words in bold. It only took them moments to unscramble the bold printed words and figure out: ”We’re going to Crystal Mountain” !

Insert cheers and craziness!

As fun as it was to surprise them, the Lord gave me a gift in the process of discussing these verses. For example, one of the verse activities asked the kids how they could better love their brother and sister. Can you believe that each of their answers revealed a personal weakness they saw in themselves? We didn’t have to coach them or help them understand how to better love one another. They got it!

In another activity, we read about how everything belongs to God — from the mountain peaks to the depths of the earth. Our discussion centered around how this truth can give us comfort. Here’s what I heard:

  • “God can control everyone and everything, so we don’t need to be scared.”
  • “God owns everything, even us, so He knows what’s right for us.”
  • “Nobody can defeat God — He’s in control of everything!”
I stared at the little faces I love so utterly, and was amazed at God’s goodness.

I realized that little by little, through discussions and reading and stories and games, our little ones–and yours– have hearts that are increasingly soft; hearts that long to worship God.

That’s the encouragement for today, and that’s the reason for everything we do as moms and dads. May we all be given the precious gift of seeing our children embrace this faith as their own, and may we see this work as a joy and a privilege.

For you: a printable of the verses and discussion questions we used! Click on the image to print!

 *unscientific research done in our living room   :)
Filed Under: Bible Application, Creativitiy, Family Night, Games, Teaching Scripture | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , , ,

Unscrambled!!

Posted by on January 31, 2012 Leave a Comment

With our kids only just hitting mid-elemenary school, there haven’t been an abundance of opportunities to help them with homework as of yet. But last night our moment arrived: my son asked me to help him unscramble some sentences.

Sounds like fun, I thought. And it was!…until we got stuck on nearly every a few of them.

After verbally trying to work through the confusion together, we decided we needed another way. We needed to see the words and physically move them around so they made sense.

Here’s what we came up with (excuse the poor photos–the battery on our regular camera died!):

1. Write each word on a separate post-it note

2. Work together to physically move the words around until they make sense.

3. Write down your sentence!

Even if your child doesn’t come home with this homework assignment, it’s a great activity for your young readers and writers to order sentences. Why not think of a few of your own to try? OR, download my FREE practice page!

FREE DOWNLOAD!

For PDF of unscrambled activity:

 

Filed Under: Comprehension Strategies, Homework Helps, Sight Words, Teaching Responsibility, Teaching Writing, Uncategorized | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , , ,

Hello, Ice Cream. Meet Halloween.

Posted by on November 3, 2011 Leave a Comment

Let’s be frank: I’m not sure how much “learning” is happening with this activity, but it sure is tasty! Don’t let the fear of a short-lived sugar-overload stop you from getting out the blender; you’ll be a hero after the first sip!

The night after Halloween was a “Super-Fun Mom Night,” [more on those later...] and I decided to win points with my offspring by letting them choose FIVE, yes–that’s right–five mini candy bars from their Halloween stash to make into a shake. Drawing inspiration from Smashburger’s insanely delicious Butterfinger shake, we selected our favs and tossed them to their doom. The kids lined up their picks and waited their turns so I could blend each shake individually and to order. It’s 5-Star treatment on Super-Fun Mom Night!

Mmmm…nothing beats Hudsonville ice cream!

Follow up with sprinkles and snuggle time while you watch a great movie, and you’ll make a memory they won’t soon forget! DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE SHAKE CHART HERE to record your creations and get the kids writing in the kitchen!

Who knows…maybe you’ll raise a future restauranteur with a killer dessert menu! When Barbara Walters interviews them they’ll look deeply into the camera and say, “You know, it all started one night with my mom…”

 

Filed Under: Family Night, Having fun with your kids, Kids in the Kitchen, Lists, Teaching Culinary Skills, Time with Mom, Treasuring Your Kids | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Home Alone Chart for Your Child

Posted by on October 18, 2011 5 Comments

Knowing when to allow your child to stay home alone—and for how long—is a tough patch of water to navigate.

Perhaps it was a different time [back in the 80's!] but I remember babysitting when I was ten! And for five children, at that! Was I exceptionally responsible? Or were the adults crazy?

I’m beginning to form the opinion that it depends on the child and it depends on the circumstances. At our house, only the oldest child has been left alone, and for a handful of minutes at that. Yet he feels ready, and he has earned our trust in small bites over the years.

For those reasons and others, we have begun to test the water little by little. Thankfully, these small steps have gone very smoothly and we feel we are moving at a reasonable pace with these new responsibilities. However, when our son recently decided to play outside with a buddy while I was gone, dad returned to an empty home and panicked!

The lessons we learned were:

  1. Even if you only anticipate being gone for a minute, leave a note with instructions and helps.
  2. Teach your expectations to your child before hand. Don’t assume they know them.
  3. Practice these expectations and review instructions often to ensure they’ve been soaked up by your child.
To help with the note, I’ve designed a FREE DOWNLOADABLE for you today to use in your home!
This is what we’ll be using from now on, and I think it will offer some peace of mind for those moments of transition and waiting for parents to return. Please share with your friends!
Click on the image above for a jpg document, or HERE for a pdf.

Have you waded into the water of leaving older children home alone? What have you learned? [photo]

Filed Under: Character Training, Communication, Lists, Teaching Obedience, Teaching Responsibility, Time Management, Training Children, Treasuring Your Kids, Uncategorized | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , ,

Doorbell Management

Posted by on August 23, 2011 2 Comments

One of the things I most love about living in a neighborhood is that our kids have a slew of best friends right outside the front door and down the street in either direction. There’s never a shortage of bike-jumping and doll-dressing in our piece of the world!

One of by-products of all these friends, however, is a lot of doorbell ringing. And as much as I love the tiny fingers and wide grins, there are times when I wouldn’t mind the bell not ringing.

Like when I’m disciplining one of our little cherubs.

Or when we’re doing chores [distractions do not = motivation to work here!]

Or when I’m home alone, napping reading.

So I borrowed an idea I read about years ago in Family Fun Magazine and updated it. I made a “Who Can Play?” doorbell chart, and I’m attaching a free download for you!

At our house, this chart is going to be posted in the sidelight window next to our front door. I’m going to “laminate” it first [read: cover with clear contact paper], and do the same with the “stoplights” that will be cut out and poster-puttied to the empty squares [the stoplights are not pictured, but are included with the download].

Using removable stoplights means that our kids will have to get in the habit of posting their current “stoplight color” according to what’s going on at home. While this will undoubtedly take some practice, I think the benefits will pay off in the end.

I’ll spend a couple of minutes teaching this new system to our friends, and then turn the reigns over to our little lovebugs.

We’ll see if they can learn to respect the stoplights hanging in our window just like mom has to respect the ones hanging in the street.

DOWNLOAD YOURS HERE!    Customizable Doorbell Chart, Ringing Doorbell

How do you handle ringing doorbells and other interruptions at your house? What innovative idea have you implemented?

 

 

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Filed Under: Communication, Friends/Friendship, Teaching Responsibility, Time Management, Training Children | Tagged: Tagged With: , , , , ,