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Ladies and gentlemen, we stand here on the brink of a new school year, and what are you going to do to make it the best year ever? You’re going to work hard! You’re going to give 110%. You are going to do everything I ask you to do and more. And, you are going to do it all with a smile on your face.
Wouldn’t it be nice if I could give a speech like that to my children and actually see results?
So far, those motivational moments have been far more effective for clearing my lungs than getting these kids moving. So, this year, I had a different approach.
Preparation
For a solid week, I prayed. I planned. I prepared.
I reviewed our current disciplinary style and made corrections. I looked over the results of last year’s school routine and pinpointed the problem areas. I considered my filing and planning systems and found a way to simplify so that I would be more likely to stick with my lesson plans.
Week One – Discipline
During the first official week of Mommy’s Back to School Boot Camp, the focus was on discipline.
Bill and I sat down with the children and our new chart set from Doorposts. First, we reviewed the Blessing Chart and allowed the children to determine (with parental direction) what rewards they would receive for good behavior. Then, we showed them the If-Then Chart and allowed them to pick their punishments… within reason. We placed the charts on the side of our refrigerator and encouraged the children to look at them often.
The rest of the week was spent with us enforcing the rewards and discipline actions on the charts.
>>Full Doorposts Biblical Parenting Charts Review<<
Week Two – Responsibility
The second week of Mommy’s Back to School Boot Camp was focused on encouraging the children to grow in responsibility.
We have been very, VERY lax in teaching our children to help around the house. Even during this week, I encountered resistance from Bill because he did not think the children were capable of doing everything I asked of them. If helped to be able to refer him to other homeschool blogs, especially Jamerrill at Holy Spirit-Led Homeschool and her chore chart for children.
Using Jamerrill’s chart and considering our family’s unique needs, I created a chore chart and then introduced the chart to the children.
Each day, we focused on a zone of the house and I worked with the children to teach them to do their chores. I was on my feet almost all day, every day and went to bed exhausted but my house is cleaner than it has been in a long time.
Week Three – Routine
Finally, we were ready to start school. While I had somewhat put our children back into the rhythm of our day during week two, I waited until this week to introduce our new textbooks.
Honestly, I was tempted to jump right back into the new school year and introduce all of these new items (discipline, responsibilities, and routine) all at the same time but that would have been too much for my young children… and my lazy self. By breaking it up into three weeks, our first week back to school was much easier.
Keys to a Successful Boot Camp
1. Prayer – Without seeking God first, all of my efforts are futile.
2. Consistency – I would much rather parent from my seat but effective parenting can only happen in our home when I am willing to jump to my feet. I cannot say, “Do that one more time and I am going to…” I have to say, “Because you did this, our chart says that I must do this.”
3. Supportive Spouse – If you are not on the same page with your spouse, this is NOT going to work. I would encourage you to discuss this with your spouse during the planning phase. If your husband is like mine (an only child now living in a foreign land full of rambunctious children), you might need to encourage him often to stick with the plan. You might even find yourself explaining the plan over and over and over. Try to smile. Try.
Back to School Printables ~
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More Back to School Help
- Use this Back to School Printable Pack for Preschool to keep the younger kids busy while you work with your older children.
- It’s time for a back to school stock up! Get a list of the best deals for the season.
- Homeschooling? Check out the Back to Homeschool Survival Kit.
- Get excited about the first day of school with my Back to School Countdown
Free Diligence Lesson
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Oooo, this is way we’re friends…I love how your mind works! Great ideas, and thanks for sharing my chore list too. xoxo
Your list was soooooo instrumental in making this happen. I would have never imagined my children cleaning toilets and scrubbing bathtubs before but they are AWESOME at it. LOL
I love this breakdown, we have been looking for a good, but simple chore chart, this one may be the winner.
also love the Boot camp planner, I am a wee bit lazy myself, and more likely to jump all in, then slack off, this is a good way for me to step back and take stock, then move forward with a better purpose.
thank you so much for making this available, I am sending a few friends over to see how great it is!!
Thanks, Jamie. I am a lot like that too. I need discipline just as badly as my children do! 😉
I would like a little more information on your chore chart, the rotating, and the 10 minute tidy. How does that work? Is there another post about it? Love this so thank you!
Hi Katie! Check back with me on Wednesday, August 1st. I will be doing an in-depth post on those exact things. 🙂
I do believe that I can do that. I am in need of some serious changes around here and was encouraged by this post. Especially the part about not doing it all at once. I tend to do that…start with a bang and then fizzle out because I can’t keep it up. And these are the three areas we need to work on..discipline, responsibilitym and routine. Anyways. Thanks again for this. A great pick-me-up tonight!
Just know that you are not alone. I have done a lot of that “instant start” in the past. Yeah, it might last two days. But, we are going strong with this plan. 🙂
I was all excited to check on your post today. And then, BUMMER! It is tomorrow you are supposed to post on it. I guess I will have to wait another day!
LOL. I am so sorry, Katie. I post on homeschool/parenting/educational items on Wednesdays. I PROMISE that it is cued up for tomorrow morning at 7 AM central.
We do Back to School Boot Camp every year during the week before school. Great post!
Thank you, Amy. 🙂
Thank you Lord for Penny!!! What you have written here just blew me away which turned my defeated tears (we haven’t even started yet) into tears of joy and gratitude!!!! Thank you Penny for offering such awesome ideas and encouragement : ) I’m still learning how to present this to my small children. I have felt such sadness because last year was my 4 yr olds first year of home school and I squashed his “want” to learn by simply not enjoying ourselves but fashioning our schooling after public school…I have been desperately searching how to Holy-spirit lead home school as Jamerill would say and have fun with the kids. and our weak points currently are discipline, responsibility and routine. Thank you for this, I can’t wait to sit down with my husband and fill in the boot camp print out and yes he IS just like your husband only child with 3 children 6 and under. haha might I add we got married 7.5 years ago!!
Bless your heart, Candace. Jamerrill is one of my best bloggy friends (and roomie for a conference this year) so I know you are getting wonderful advice from her. The only thing I want to remind you is that there is NOTHING we can do (or not do) that will place our children outside of God’s grace. Rachael Carman (Apologia – How to Have a HEART for Your Child) says, “God is faithful, and I am confident that He can do His perfect work through my imperfect parenting.”
God is in control even when we feel like we have lost it. {{HUGS}}
What a great idea. I have always been told I run the chores like boot camp. Now I have the chore chart to prove it. Thank you for all the time and effort placed in making this and sharing it with us : )
No problem, Donna! I figure that if I need it for my family, someone else might need it for their family. Enjoy. 🙂
Thank you so much! I have five small children and am just really getting rolling with preschool for three of them (4 year old twins and a 5 year old boy – JUST turned 5). I was never homeschooled myself, have never really seen how it’s done, and have been overwhelmed with “how do you do it?” Getting a better flow to our days and using your ideas to get my kids more involved in what is going on in our home (housework, etc…) has been life changing for me! School has been going well, my 3 year old sits in with us and is picking up a lot of information by just being around…even my 1 year old is repeating sounds and such. It’s really not as hard as I was thinking it would be. Thank you for posting and sharing! It’s been a huge help and a tremendous blessing to this crazy mama of 5 (18 months to 5 years!) Really want to talk to with my husband about the Blessing & If-Then Charts too!
This post is great! Do you have any close up pictures of the image above (the charts on your refrigerator)? We could use some help with our back to school routine.
Thank you!
Thank you for this! I don’t homeschool but I still this this would be great as a general bootcamp for any back to school family.
Absolutely. I think it could help any family get into a groove. So glad you think it is helpful. 🙂
You are a blessing. Thank you so much for putting yourself out there to help other Moms. I needed this so much. I am in my 5th year of homeschooling and I still make the same mistakes. I knew there had to be a better way. Thank you for reminding me that my school needs to start with God. So easy to forget when the to do list is long. Blessings to you and your family.