I laugh at the thought of me writing this article. My homeschool house is certainly not always clean. I’m sure there are some perfect homes out there but mine is not one of them. If you come knocking on my door, I sure hope you can avert your eyes from the mess made by four kids in a home we use all day long. I have my moments of a clean and sparkling home and my moments of a home that I’d rather not discuss. So my advice to homeschoolers everywhere is that you should NOT expect your home to be clean all the time. However, you can expect to have a home that is just one step shy of organized and clean on our bad days instead of a house that makes you want to pull your hair out.
Assign chores. Chances are your children hate cleaning as much as you. Moreover, your children do not see the value in keeping things clean or organized as much as you. Do not expect them to be excited about chores yet do not allow them to grumble. Keeping a clean home is a blessing to those who live in it and those visiting. If your child grumbles about doing dishes than have the attitude that your child just volunteered to do dishes the next two nights.
A family that cleans together stays clean together. I have found that my home stays the cleanest when we all do chores at the same time. The momentum is up and it is easy for you to be on top of having your children perform to expectation. You can also make a game out of it like Mary Poppins except without the room cleaning itself. You can race to clean a room or the last person done doesn’t get the choice of chores the next day.
Midday clean up. A great technique is cleaning up and organizing in the late afternoon just as school is wrapping up. A busy school day takes its toll on the house but nothing that a few can’t clean up in under an hour. Take that time to have your children clear things up while you start dinner. This will make your evening flow much easier.
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