Chore-a-Rama

So the other day moe left this comment:

First, let me say I am impressed. I can't figure out how you manage to do what you do. I don't mean having 6 kids, I have 5. Homeschooling, and keeping your kids organized and doing chores, that is what I dream of. Can I ask how old your daughter is? (the one doing the bathrooms) I would love to hear your whole kids chore plan. I'd use it as evidence for my kids. See other people get their kids to clean bathrooms too!

Well, moe, let me tell ya, I think it probably sounds lot more impressive than it is in real life. Nevertheless, I shall indulge and answer your question about the chores.

We started having our kids do chores in earnest 6 years ago when we moved to this house. My oldest kiddo was 7, the second child was 4. I assigned each of them an area of the house that was their responsibility to clean up every day. They kept the same area for many months which helped them to learn to really do a good job on their area, and kept it simple for me. "Go clean your areas!" is simplest if the areas are known to all.

Eventually we added in the third child with an area, and now we are trying to teach the three youngest ones to do a chore area as well. (the children are now 13, 10, almost 8, 6, almost 5, and 3)

The chore areas for the oldest three kids have been (until recently):

Upstairs floor (which includes kitchen, living room, and hallway, sometimes bathroom): The person that does this area is responsible for picking up all the rubble that accumulates on the floor each day, plus vacuuming or sweeping as needed. My third child had this area during the school year so that I could supervise him and teach him easily since I am usually in the kitchen. Before this year he didn't have very good chore skills and tended to be lazy. This year he has become a very good cleaner and has a great work ethic. This child now begs to mow the grass and weed whip! He has come a long way.

Stairs and downstairs hall: This is a small area and was my daughter's during the school year because she was gone to school and had homework every day. Basically it's just to pick up and put away stuff in your area that doesn't belong there, plus vacuum the area when needed. (which we normally only had her do on Saturdays since she was busy with school during the week)

Family room: The person doing this area is supposed to pick up the items on the floor plus vacuum, but also straighten up their entire room including all surfaces. Our oldest child had this area during the school year since he is old enough to have a little more responsibility.

Now that I have added three more kids to the mix, I have changed up the areas plus added some new ones. Now I have my 10 year old daughter handling 2 bathrooms (one is also the laundry room), and have added someone to do more kitchen work. I am still working out the kinks in my new system so can't really claim any success on it yet.

The way our chores areas have worked best was when we homeschooled the whole crew. Everyone ate breakfast together, and then spent about 15 minutes or so cleaning their areas. (If you do it every day, that's all it takes) After that they spent 15 minutes straightening up their bedrooms, and they got dressed. Then we started school, and the house looked good in case anyone dropped by. It was fairly easy to do this routine.

Now that some of my kids have been in school it's been a little more hit-and-miss. I am actually toying with the idea of getting the kids up a little early for school next year so that everyone can do their 15 minute chore areas before they leave for the day. Realistically, I hate to get up early, so I don't know if we can pull it off. Still, the idea of having the house spiffy before the day starts is quite appealing to me.

Some people would do better with the chores getting done at night before bed. I think it's a lot nicer to wake up in the morning to a clean house. However, evenings have always been the worst for us and it was not workable for us to handle cranky babies and toddlers, plus get everyone doing their chores at bedtime or whatever. So, we wake up to a messy house and conquer it quickly. We just do better that way.

One thing I am considering is increasing the amount of chores my older three kids do. 15 minutes isn't very much, and there is still plenty to do around here. I haven't decided what all to have them do extra, but am planning on teaching them all to do their own laundry, and getting them helping in the kitchen more. For a short time I used to have a night of the week when one of the older kids planned and prepared dinner. That kind of fizzled out but is still a good idea.

So there you go. Does that help, moe?