School Prep: Morning Routine and Chores

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ne of the things I do each summer is figure out chores for the upcoming school year. I try to discern what will work in the summer, that I need not think about it again until the next summer. Sometimes, we can’t make it a full year on a routine, but generally it goes fine.

These are not our only chores. I have not, for example, written out who helps with the morning and evening milkings, who mows the lawn, or any of a number of other things that have to be done. This is because those are things that change with the days and weeks, or that I may assign to whoever is available {or causing trouble}, or those things might be so habitual that it seems silly to put them on an official list. The things I’m thinking of are things that are done every single normal weekday, are assigned by me, and some of them are “new” to the child doing the job.

The chalkboard list is what I use to check work. I stand by the board and interrogate the children. “Did you make your bed? Did you do your vacuuming? Did you get dressed? Then why are you standing here? You have work to do!”

Morning Routine

My goal has always been to have five things on the morning routine list, but my children prone to sunburns requested I put “sunscreen” on the list to help them remember. {They like to look at the list when they forget what they are supposed to be doing.} We are not huge on sunscreen, but there are two noses in our family that scorch no matter how much sun exposure they get, so a tiny bit of zinc oxide is dribbled on these noses each morning.

Our morning routine list looks like this:

• Teeth {as in: brush them}
• Hair {as in: brush this, too}
• Bed {as in: make it}
• Sunscreen {for the aforementioned two noses}
• Dress {as in: put on appropriate clothing}
• Room {as in: tidy it up, Or Else}

Daily Chores

So here is what I’m expecting from these children starting now, and {I hope} through the next school year:

• E-Age-Eleven
  • Dishwasher: Load, run, and unload this all. day. long. I’m sorry your siblings break so many dishes that this job still falls entirely on you.
  • Patio: our goats run wild, so our patio is always in need of care; sweep it every morning and on Fridays spray it off with a hose.
• A-Age-Eight
  • Table: clean off the dining table, wash it down, and then replace everything that should go back {like place mats}.
  • Goat Cage: get a rake, get a wagon, muck out the cage. During this time, also feed and water your rabbit.
  • Dishes {PM}: scrub any dishes dirtied in the afternoon hours.
• Q-Age-Six
  • Laundry: get a load together and put it in the laundry room for Mom.
  • Vacuum: she vacuums a little each day, following a set schedule. Any extra vacuuming needed is usually done by one of the other children.
  • Dishes {AM}: scrub any dishes dirtied before noon; save the big pieces for Mom.
  • Silverware {PM}: put away clean silverware if it needs to be done in the afternoon.
• O-Age-Almost-Five
  • Dryer: look inside and if there is something in there, take it out and put it in a laundry basket and put the laundry basket in the living room so Mom can fold the contents. Tell Mom you did this!
  • Trash: empty all the trashcans in the bedrooms and bathrooms into the big trash in the kitchen and reline the cans with plastic bags.
  • Nook: tidy the play nook.
  • Shoes: I don’t know why you all drop your shoes by the piano, but you do, so please put them up where they go. Yes, even the ones that are not yours. Why? Well, I was your laundry even though it is not mine, so you can put away shoes, even though they are not yours.
  • Silverware {AM}: put away clean silverware if it needs to be done in the morning.

When to do Chores?