As some already know, we are a text-book using homeschooling family.  No, I'm not rigid about doing every worksheet, game, activity in the curriculum but I do like having it as a guideline.  I tweak and add and eliminate as I feel the need but overall we do follow a structured plan.  I have learned though, that sometimes it's good to break away from the books and focus on other important tasks as well.

So, we took the entire last week off from our formal studies to do some hands on labor around the condo.  I know most people go all out for "spring cleaning" but I much prefer to do the bulk of it in the autumn.  We spent the first half of the week investing our time and energy into freezer cooking.  The kids helped where they could with this.  As they get bigger they'll be able to help with more but for now, I think it is good exposure for several reasons.  Freezer cooking teaches arithmetic, measurements, following directions, patience and the beauty of planning ahead.  I like the practicality and life application of including kids in family-life tasks.  Of course with most projects that take focused attention for several days, during the work time the rest of the place became a ghastly mess.

After spending Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on the cooking session, we then took Thursday and Friday to do a major overhaul of a good portion of this place.  We sorted and purged the kids' clothes changing out the summer attire for warmer clothing.  This meant doing laundry and lots of it.  In addition to this, we pulled out every toy from the kids' room and sorted/purged those as well.  These two activities allowed them to practice folding clothes....over and over...and taught them the benefit of keeping our things organized, clean and put away.  Once all of the clothes and toys were in order, the older kids sorted through their art bins to clean them out while I scrubbed, vacuumed and straightened the living/dining, bathroom and kitchen areas (normally not that big of a deal but my normal cleaning routines were interrupted for the cooking and it doesn't take long for things to get out of hand).

Now they go into their room and comment that they know where everything is.  We probably ought to do this sort of cleaning up and clearing out more often as everyone's mood seems improved for it.  One last thing that comes from this is that we typically end up with a large pile of items to donate.  I think this is the kids' favorite part, knowing that someone who needs their gently used things will benefit from all the work we've done the last week.  This may be the most important lesson of all, teaching our kids to give and not horde.  These aren't things they will learn from books, these are things that must be put into practice.  It is one of the reasons I think homeschooling is so wonderful - we can deviate from the books and dive into real-life stuff as often as we need to.

I think back to the times when kids weren't required at school during harvest and other jobs that required them to help their families.  When we all pitch in for the greater good of our family unit, it binds us together all the more.