do you think it's important

Well, I think there are 2 things to consider…

a) what habits do you want them to have?

b) what works for your family?

I know there are some homeschooling forums (especially CM ones) that say they should all be up, dressed, beds made, etc before breakfast….  There are some that say you should homeschool between 8 and 3 with nothing allowed to interrupt, etc.

So – what do we do?  Ok – I just read the book “Lies that Homeschooling Moms Believe” – so I’m going to be totally honest here…

I have 4 kids 7yo down to 6months.

I do try to have them get dressed, make beds, etc before breakfast.  Our new chore system is helping a bit on them getting it done before I do a check (aiming for checking at 10:00 am).  But, my husbands work schedule allows him to often watch the kids in the morning while I get needed sleep… so I’m often not up until about 9 or 10!  And my husband doesn’t push them getting stuff done, so they often don’t do their morning stuff until I’m up.

When we do homeschool depends a lot on the baby, my motivation, etc.  It is often the afternoon, while the 2yo naps, and hopefully the baby too.

I do require any “morning” chores to be done in the morning, before school.  For us, this means: doing a personal bible study, eating breakfast, washing breakfast dishes, brushing teeth/washing face/etc., and a chore such as vacuuming, sweeping or swiffering downstairs (our downstairs only consists of 4 *small* rooms, so it doesn’t take long.  Bedrooms are cleaned up at night.  Our pajamas are worn all day, unless we’re headed into town.  I don’t even make the kids make their beds (I know, I know, I’m a horrible parent! ).  I can only echo what everyone else has already said: Do what is best for your family, but do think about what you want your children to be like as they grow up and are able to do more on their own.  It will be much easier, for example, if you want your kids to start making their bed on their own when they turn 9 that they’ve been doing it all along that way with Mom’s help. 

I believe that you need to do what you are comfortable with – however I am a great believer in training good manners and attitudes.  I chose to start our school day a little later when they were young, so that there was time to teach those habits.  We started school at 9am which is the UK school start time, or at least was when we were there –  so we had a good amount of time to get up, wash up, get dressed and have breakfast together and make sure beds were made and laundry was in the hamper.  In the earlier years when habits take a little longer to teach, it was nice to have a more relaxed start to the day – I do not think trying to teach good habits in a rushed stressed environment ever pays off.  As the years went by we adjusted the timing of our start and now the girls get up at 6am or 6:30 get ready for their day and get everything done in  a timely manner.  Throughout the high school years we adjusted the time of getting up, so that they would learn that you cannot linger in bed if you have things to do – in training for a job or college classes.  I did it all in a gradual way, and it has worked well.  There were and are occasional exceptions to what we did depending on what was going on – but in the main we had a routine and it worked out well.  I also found that when they were young spending 10-15 minutes before bed putting things away and getting clothes sorted for the next day helped with staying on track.  I found the younger I started with good habits the easier it was to make it work – but it does take longer with little ones that is why I did not always rigidly watch the clock because all that does is cause stress.  Linda