Thursday, March 24, 2011

Kids like to check stuff off on lists. They get important and businesslike with their own lists and I sometimes find lists they have made themselves later.
I'm not a great time manager, so I use a day plan list that includes everything from flossing teeth to music theory. We hardly ever get everything finished, but we don't get as much done if we don't use it. We change it often to include more areas of study- like occupational education and writing books. I cut and pasted our current one here.

cccccc Wash quickly, hang up towel, clear out pajamas from bathroom

cccccc Dress, comb hair

cccccc Eat breakfast, clear table

cccccc Brush, floss teeth, rinse

cccccc Make Bed, tidy room

cccccc Help with housework

cccccc Read Bible, Memory work

cccccc Piano, Theory

ccccc Writing, Spelling, Grammar (Explode the Code)

cccccc Reading/Poetry

cccccc Dutch

ccccc Spanish

ccccc Sign Language

ccccc History of the World, Geography

ccccc Science (right now we are working through the Extreme Snap Circuit Set by Elenco. The kids can't get enough!)

ccccc Drawing

cccccc Exercise

ccccc Math

cccccc Drink two full glasses of water other than mealtimes

cccccc I did something nice for (fill in sibling's name here)

cccccc I did something nice for (fill in sibling's name here)

cccccc I listened quietly in the Bible reading

cccccc Thought of doing good things on my own

There are too many items crammed in on each line: kids like to check off more often to see results faster, so next time I edit this I will separate History/Geography and so on. The color coding is according to the day. Monday we use a red pencil and fill in the red day, etc. Saturday is not really a school day, but we still have to floss our teeth and be nice to each other. I sometimes read history to the kids over lunch to save time!

If you have ways to share that help you get through your day efficiently I would love to hear about it.