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Saturday, January 17, 2015

Why Cleaning Is Part of Our School Day

Yep, you read that correctly.  Cleaning is part of our school day.  Go ahead, take a moment and let that soak in before you read more!

In subscribing to a Montessori-inspired approach to not just schooling but home life, as well, cleaning is an obvious component of Practical Life skills.  It actually seems too obvious.  But, putting it into motion wasn’t nearly as easy as embracing the concept was – at least not for this momma.  Let’s face it, life with 4 kiddos is mostly [dis]organized chaos peppered with a few peaceful reprieves.  I jokingly confided in the older mancub the other day that I sometimes feel like the human version of saltwater taffy when all 4 of them are clamoring for my attention.  His oh-so-loving response was to chant, “Mom, Mom, Mom,” for the next 60 seconds.  He’s lucky I love him. ;)  So, I often kick into “survival mode” and do the tasks myself to get it checked off the never-ending To Do list that loves to haunt my waking hours.

Enter my New Year’s Resolutions.  At the top of the list?  Engage the kiddos in more household tasks, of course!  I spent the first full week of the New Year organizing and deep cleaning the house.  How else could I justify pinning all of those lovely home organization pins on Pinterest? Then, I formed my plan of action. 

Toys:  True to Montessori method, we now clean up each activity as we complete it.  It was bad form on my part for allowing slack in this area previously.  It teaches proper care of toys and orderliness.  It also cuts down on the number of toys that go missing.  I was amazed at how quickly the divas embraced our new system.  I thought for sure I would meet more resistance, but they seem to intuitively understand and appreciate the need for orderliness.  Whew! 

Kitchen:  With the addition of our Montessori-inspiredsnack station, all 4 kiddos have become more independent with snacks and breakfast/lunch.  I have been working with the divas on setting and clearing the table and will introduce dish washing this coming week.  The older mancub is responsible for unloading the dishwasher.  The younger mancub is on garbage and recycling duty.  I have also enlisted the older mancub’s help with dinner once a week, on average.  I love that he loves to cook! :)

Household cleaning:  I have followed this cleaning schedule for a while now and like the simplicity, as well as the way it breaks the chores up over the week.  Like the toys, though, this is an area where I have been inconsistent about engaging the kiddos.  One of my reasons for slacking was the fact that I did not want them exposed to the cleaning chemicals.  Another nod to Pinterest; I was inspired by all of the DIY cleaning products that have been filling my news feed.  I found this great link for recipes for cleaning products and she includes an awesome (and FREE!) printable for labels.  I followed her advice and affixed the labels to the bottles using packing tape and it worked perfectly! 

Here is my version.



Now, I can incorporate more lessons on cleaning without worrying about the products I am putting into the divas’ hands.  Yay!  Plus, what kid doesn't love a spray bottle?!  So, I’m pretty sure they will be content to spray and wipe to their hearts’ content. ;)


Momma feels less like saltwater taffy and the kiddos gain valuable practical life skills that they will {hopefully} carry with them into adulthood.  Now, to go tackle that mountain of laundry in the garage…

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