Book Review: Cleaning House: A Mom's Twelve-Month Experiement to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement by Kay Wills Wyma

Book Description:

Is Your Home Out of Order?  

Do your kids expect clean folded clothes to magically appear in their drawers? Do they roll their eyes when you suggest they clean the bathroom? By racing in to make their lives easy, have you unintentionally reinforced your children’s belief that the world revolves around them?  

Dismayed at the attitude of entitlement that had crept into her home, Kay Wyma got some attitude of her own. Cleaning House is her account of a year-long campaign to introduce her five kids to basic life skills and the ways meaningful work can increase earned self-confidence and concern for others.  

With irresistible humor and refreshing insights, Kay candidly details the ups and downs of equipping her kids for such tasks as making beds, refinishing a deck chair, and working together. The changes that take place in her household will inspire you to launch your own campaign to dislodge your kids from the center of their universe.
 

My thoughts:
The minute I laid eyes on Cleaning House: A Mom's Twelve-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement by Kay Wills Wyma I knew that I had to read it. It took a couple of months before one of my libraries got a copy, but when they did I put it on hold immediately.

I find this subject interesting since I feel my kids have a long way to go before they are ready for the real world in basic life skills. I can't blame it on my kids though, but more on myself.

In Cleaning House: A Mom's Twelve-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement Kay Wills Wilma shares her experience in getting her kids to work around the house. She took them through the tasks of:

• picking up clutter and making beds
• shopping, preparing dinner, and washing dishes
• yard work and maintenance
• finding gainful employment
• cleaning bathrooms
• laundry
• home repair
• party planning and hospitality
• working together
• running errands
• service opportunities
• manners

This is a story of the good, bad, and ugly of getting her kids to work. She shares what did and didn't work, reasons why she picked certain projects, dealing with bad attitudes, along with discovering that sometimes she was more of the problem than the kids.

While reading I was encouraged with what my kids do do around the house and but there are still quite a few areas that they are lacking in and I need to focus on with them. Overall, this is a heartfelt and encouraging story that I think all moms will find something to glean from this book.

The Homeschool Mother's Journal: Merry Christmas!

1 & 5. Decorating Christmas cookies.
2. Chantry playing a game with Papa. 3. Christmas Party
4. Grandma reading to Delani.

In my life this week…
This week started our break from school and a lot of preparations for my mom and dad's arrival on Tuesday. The kids have been having a blast visiting with Grandma and Grandpa (2 & 4). We have spent some doing last minute Christmas shopping, too. On Thursday evening hosted our church's Christmas party (3) at our house so we had a full house with lots and lots of food, fun, and fellowship! The kids also decorated Christmas cookies to give away at church on Sunday (1 & 5).

In our homeschool this week…
We took a break!

My favorite thing this week was…
My mom and dad being here.

Things I’m working on…
Well, I worked on a gift for my mom and my nephew, but with the arrival of my parent's I've taken a break. After Christmas I have another whole list of things I want to make so I'll be busy next week.

I’m reading…
Not much, but I here is small sample that I'm reading through slowly.


I’m cooking…
Tacos, Potato Soup, Pork Roast, Apple Bars, Pumpkin Bread & Five Guys Burger & Fries--oh, wait, I didn't have to cook that!

I’m grateful for…
Family

I’m praying for…
Friends

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

 



I am linking up:

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Wish You Were Eyre (Mother Daughter Book Club) by Heather Vogel Frederick

"Maybe it's time to get your Jane on and do it. That's probably a good place to start." p. 140

The Homeschool Mother's Journal - Happy 17th Birthday, Caleb!

First off I want to wish my son a Happy 17th Birthday! It is hard to believe that time has flown so fast, but we are so very proud of the fine young man that he is becoming!

1. Birthday Celebration 2. Art Festival 3. Caleb's drawing
4. Birthday dinner at Famous Dave's 5. Gift made 6. Ouch! My poor sewing scissors.
 

In my life this week…
It was a busy week. My main focus was to get some more sewing done before my parents arrive next week.

In our homeschool this week…
The kids were excited to finish up this week, since next week they start their Christmas break. Destini and Chantry finished up Robinson Crusoe for their Literature read. They were really excited about this!

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
Caleb finished up his art project (3) that he did for his MSOA-Salem class. He was in Drawing 101. On Monday evening they had their Winter Festival (2) where all the students' art work is put on display. Caleb's birthday fell on Friday so in the afternoon we headed up to Portland to Famous Dave's (4) for his Birthday dinner and then home to celebrate by opening presents and eating homemade birthday cake (1).

My favorite thing this week was…
Sewing! I had a lot of fun decorating towels and making some hot pads (5) for Destini's piano teacher. I also completed two other gift, but I can't show them since they are gifts. The sad thing was a put a big nick in my good sewing scissors (6), which to get fixed require being sent in to the Gingher Company! The bad thing is I have another pair that need to be sent in. I went and purchased another pair, but I'm hesitant to open them and might try to see if I can get by till the new year and then send my two nicked pairs in to be fixed.

Things I’m working on…
I did a review for TOS SchoolTeachers.com. Check it out here.

I’m reading…


I’m cooking…
I made some pumpkin bars for Caleb's art get together and I also made his birthday cake. When it came to making dinner I was a complete failure. I ran out of ground beef which messed up my ideas I had and left digging through the freezer for something else.

I’m grateful for…
My son--Caleb.

I’m praying for…

My heart is heavy for all horrible and unnecessary shootings we have seen this week. The first shooting was in a place I have walked through many times. My prayers are for the families of all the victims.
 
A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
A new Scout book!

I'm linking up:

SchoolhouseTeachers.com Review

 

 

One of my favorite homeschool inspirations is the The Old Schoolhouse Magazine which is always filled to the brim with encouraging articles and today I am excited to talk about another wonderful resource they offer: SchoolhouseTeachers.com.

 

Schoolhouse Teachers is a resource filled to the brim for just about anything you would want to teach to your children. It offers over 25 school subjects from Pre-K to High School. There are a variety of subjects offered such as Geography, Literature, History, Foreign Language, Science, and more using teaching videos, ongoing lesson plans, worksheets, lapbooks, and unit studies. It also has over a dozen subjects that offer a new activity daily such as writing prompts, copywork, spelling, and games.

 

Not only is this filled to the brim with different teaching resources to help ease your lesson planning, but it is also filled with resources for the parent. Every month a new e-book is offered along with monthly bonus e-books, a video recording from The Old Schoolhouse EXPO, and The Schoolhouse Planners.

At first when I was browsing I wasn't sure if there was much we would use, but I then discovered that they had Guitar class, so I downloaded the lessons and had Caleb start working on them. I also found a treasure trove in the section offering the daily resources. The daily writing prompts and copywork assignments are very useful. Also, I explored the monthly reading list and ordering some books from the library to read with my preschooler.

My favorite section wasn't so much for the kids as it was for me and the was the section that held the extras.  I read the Old Schoolhouse Magazine, browsed the free e-book of the month, downloaded a talk from the EXPO, and printed off some pages from the planners. This section was like a mental spa for the homeschool mom.

For $5.95 a month you can have access to Schoolhouse Teachers. You can also try the first month's subscription for just $1! Right now they are having a special promotion for a one year membership for $49 including the 2013 Annual Print Book, totebag, and bonus gifts for FREE.

If you love to plan out your children's lessons from scratch or just appreciate a little help to supplement your lessons or as a homeschool mom enjoy receiving encouragement, I highly recommend Schoolhouse Teachers.


 
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange formy honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



Full Moon by P.G. Wodehouse

Veronica lay thinking for a few moments. It was a thing she did very seldom and then only with the greatest difficulty, but this was a special occasion. p. 20

The Homeschool Mother's Journal: Christmas Decorating

In my life this week…
After a very busy weekend last week I was finally able to finish decorating the tree (1). The kids had put the ornaments on it, but I had to put all the frou-frou on it. Shade put up our village and the decorations outside (2) and we now have a box-free living room!

I was also able to uncover my sewing machine and get down to some sewing. I made two Christmas stockings, two skirts for Destini (4), and then Delani informed me she needed one too, so I made her one (3).

In our homeschool this week…
We just finished up the second week of our new term. Everything is going well. We have one more week of school work until we take our Christmas break.

Caleb and Destini have added dictation to their schedule. We are using the Spelling Wisdom from Simply Charlotte Mason (5).

Here is the schedule I lined out from different suggestions from the Ambleside Online Forums and Yahoo Group.

Dictation Schedule

Monday – Use dictation piece for copywork

Tuesday – Do spelling “spot-check”. Go over difficult words and practice them. Pay attention to punctuation.

Helpful Hint:  Using a highlighter of one color, marking the words that they think they most need to study - - - then they underline the parts of the word which need their most specific attention, and then, using a different colored highlighter, they mark any punctuation which will need any extra attention

Wednesday – Dictation with Mom.

Thursday – “Reverse Dictation”

Friday – Re-do dictation if needed.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
Caleb and I spent Monday helping at the Masters School of Art school that he has been taking an art class. I labeled art work for their upcoming Fall Festival where all the art work will be displayed.

We were pretty much homebodies this week. The kids are looking forward to doing some Christmas shopping this weekend with their dad.

My favorite thing this week was…
We were given a Christmas countdown calendar (6) that was hand-made for us (Thank-you, Sarah!). The kids are having a lot of fun with this and look forward to it everyday.

What’s working/not working for us…
Chantry is still working his way through The Logic of English. He definitely has his ups and downs with this, but I can slowly see some progress and things he is retaining. We are going to keep working our way through it.

Things I’m working on…
My sewing--I still have quite a few projects that I'm wanting to get done before Christmas.

I also will be posting my first review for the Schoolhouse Review Crew. This is my first time doing this and I look forward to it.

I’m reading…


I’m cooking…
This was a sad week for cooking, but I did make some potato soup and stroganoff chicken with rice.

I’m grateful for…
The love offering I received to pay my new serger off!

I’m praying for…
Healing for my mother-in-law.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
Caleb's new Star Wars stocking. He decided cute little teddy bears was not appropriate anymore!

I am linking up: