Hi Friends. For the next ten days, I’m going to give you my “Top Ten Tips for Homeschooling.” I offer these to inspire you, encourage you, and equip you. Today’s Tip is: Delegate!
Delegate in your homeschool.
When you add the job of homeschooling to the already existing demands of your family life (and a possible career thrown in on the side), it’s painfully clear that you can’t do it all. No one can easily manage two or more full-time jobs in the part-time hours we’ve been allotted. My best advice for getting most jobs done is to delegate in your homeschool. Yup, delegate, delegate, and delegate some more. And whom are you delegating to? Your children!
Yes, the children God gave you are the best source of labor you’ll ever have. And, in relying on them to help with family chores, you are teaching them a good work ethic. I believe you can teach your children as soon as they can walk to help out in making your house a home.
As for dishing out those chores—don’t expect children to respond to their work the same. If God gave you task-oriented children with the personality of a Martha, give those kids a list of chores or a chart to fill out. They will find great reward in checking off the boxes. But if God gave you free-spirited children with the personality of a Mary, just whisper one chore at a time in their ear and hug them excessively when they report back to you. They will find great reward in your praise.
One last note about how to delegate in your homeschool—I don’t recommend giving your children an allowance for ordinary household chores. Now, we gave our children a small weekly allowance to teach them money management, or bonus allowance for special projects, but we did not “pay” them for daily work around the house. You see, parents aren’t “paid” to care for their children; they care for them out of love! In return, our children shouldn’t be paid to take care of their siblings and their belongings; but should do so out of love and gratefulness. Will this take time to master? Probably. Rare is the child that naturally enjoys chores, but stay the course and delegate chores to your children unapologetically. You need their help to get it all done and they need you to teach them to work! It’s a win-win.
Are there ways you have learned how to delegate in your homeschool? I would love to hear!
