The white board saves the day!

For me to enjoy something, I have to feel good at doing it. I have noticed that anytime I loose my joy for something, it's usually because I don't feel very good at whatever "it" is. Realizing that to be true in our homeschooling, I took a day and made a schedule. A schedule to help me remember what we are even doing. A schedule in plain sight so the girls would know what was expected of them. We needed a plan. We are very fortunate to have a HUGE white board that we acquired at a school auction. It seemed like the perfect place to place such a schedule.

This has proved to be a tremendous help. With the help of a trusty timer....

The girls are learning to be pretty independent on their school work. They know when the timer goes off, to look at what is next on the list and move on, unless they need help of course. It has helped me to keep track at what we actually do during the day. Some days I feel like we have done NOTHING, when in fact we did a lot. Then there are the other days that I feel pretty good about what we have done, and in fact it wasn't very much at all...that's cool....we all need unproductive days sometimes....days spent with M&M's and Regis and Kelly! :-o

It might seem silly, but we also scheduled spontaneous outings on this board. Can you really schedule spontaneous things? Well....No, but it is nice to have a list of things to choose from when that spontaneity hits. It is always good to be prepared ya know!

What is awesome about this list? It gives the girls motivation to finish their tasks. Everyone needs a goal, and these goals are fun. I did put the escape clause in there "only when work is done, and attitudes are great"...That way if your tired or out of money, you just say..."remember that bad attitude you had the other day sweetie"....and your pretty sure between three girls someone probably had a bad attitude. ;-)

Work has been getting done and attitudes have been relatively good around here. Yesterday was a day to enjoy one of those activities on that white board. They had picked swimming to be the first one. We found a super cheap place to go and some friends to join us. It was a great day!

We needed this day. Winter has seemed extra long this year and sometimes kind of lonely. How is it lonely with a house full of people? I don't know...some days it just is. I was very happy to offer this "reward" for the girls....all the while enjoying it as much as they did. I got to visit with some very special friends. To have a friend is one of the greatest delights in life, and I am thankful to have several of those delights!