Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Observations From our First Morning of Routines

Yesterday I introduced routine cards to the boys. I prepared these cards to be used in the mornings and evenings before and after "school" time. In the past, I have tried charts that are marked off each day of the week. I find that, at age 5, Thing 1 is just now beginning to be able to be motivated by something in that format. As for 3yo Thing 2, forget it. He just does't get the process. Credit belongs to Sue Patrick's Workbox System and Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations for this idea.

This is Thing 2's chart. At this point, he had done all his morning chores and could easily tell he was finished because the list was white! Amazing! As the kids complete a task, they turn over the tag (Velcro on both sides so I don't lose any). All I had to do was turn them back over after they went to bed last night so they could start again this morning. It helped them progress from one task to the next easily, and it seemed like they had so much more fun playing after they were "free." Maybe it was coincidence, but they played hard yesterday without asking for my help as much as usual.

This is Thing 1's list. It has one more task than Thing 2's. Of course he is more mature than the 3yo, but this is working splendidly for him as well. It helps him to be much more independent. Thing 1 needs to learn to be independent.

Lastly, and completely unrelated to this post, here's a video of happy playtime yesterday. Just kidding. Can't get it uploaded. How about a picture instead?






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