I know it's been asked before, but.. Incorporating chores with school?

[hey mommy]

For the PS moms, how do you incorporate chores and PS?

By the time C gets home, he is DONE. It's a struggle to get him to do homework or even straighten up his room. Anything more than that is too much for me to fathom.


So, for the 5 hours between getting home from school and going to bed, all he wants to do is play. And because he's in school 6 hours a day, I feel bad not letting him play when he's home.



I think i've asked his before, but I can't remember... Or maybe the conversation turned sour and I blocked it out. I don't know. :shifty


So, how do you do school and chores and homework without making the kid feel like he's doing nothing but working alllll day long?

[Hermana Linda]

I would consider homework a chore and not expect a whole lot more. :think

[canadiyank]

What kind of chores are you thinking?

[hey mommy]

Thanks..

I guess cleaning up. I see 9 year olds doing laundry or dishes, etc. I know he needs to do that stuff, but seriously, when???

[Zipporah]

DD is seven and doesn't have homework. Even so I keep chores to a minimum during the week and it's all personal care stuff-concentrating on cleaning up after herself, and doing her own folding (it works out to about 4 or 5 items a day). The only 'family' stuff she does is setting the table.

Over the weekend she does more chores and they tend to be the things that are for everyone.

[Delaney]

We have run into this this year. DD is in 5th grade now and is bringing home a ton of homework. During the week I just don't ask much of here. Our weekdays look like this:

*20 min down time-she can do whatever she wants
*homework
*tidy room (make bed, clear desk and floor, put stuff away)
*on days where she has less or no homework I ask her to help me unload the dishwasher if it needs it. this is really "her" job, but I help her out if she has a lot of homework.
*now she is free to be crafty, play with a friend, whatever.
Mostly, she is required to take care of herself during the week.

Fridays are different.
*After the above-
*get her own laundry started
*thourough cleaning of room. (desk drawers, under bed, closet) I help her with this and if we keep up with it, it only takes a few minutes. She is really a packrat, so she needs help deciding what is trash and what is worth keeping. She is getting so much better at saying good bye to junk.
*also durring this time I usually ask her to do something else to help out (really whatever needs being done that she knows how to do well.0
*again, now she is free, with the exception of getting her laundry finished, but sometimes this goes into Saturday.

Now, Saturday is her day to prepare breakfast (per her request), so I usually help her, or at least stay close by. As the pancakes are on the griddle (or muffins cooking or whatever), I explain how that is a good time to put dishes away, or do some dishes, or wipe counter, or fold kitchen linens, etc. She is also required to clean up after she is done cooking.

I am trying to incorperate her into a "we just take care of one another" mentality. By asking her for help, but also helping her. She really appreciates it when I help her with her "jobs", and then she is more willing to just help when I ask her too. Which really is not too often. She is really working hard in school this year.

[MarynMunchkins]

Elementary school kids gets home about 2:45. We do homework at 4 and chores at 5. Nothing chore-wise takes more than 20-30 minutes, and I don't feel the least bit guilty about having them invest that much time into helping maintain the house. :no

Bug gets home a little later, so I give him an extra 30 minutes, but he rarely has homework.