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You are here: Home / Planning and Organization / Keeping a Clean House While Homeschooling

Keeping a Clean House While Homeschooling

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* This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. *

One big question I often hear among homeschooling moms, or those considering it, is “How do you keep your house clean while homeschooling?” Until last week, my answer would have included a lot of stuttering and stammering and mumbling something about a clean house being overrated.

Or something like that.

Basically, since we began homeschooling, I’ve been able to keep things relatively clean. Those time when things would really get out of hand, I might call for a life skills day to get caught up. And, I worked on getting some deep-cleaning done this summer.

But lately, housework has been kicking my butt.

I started to take a life skills day a couple of weeks ago, but I really felt like the kids would just take it as a day off of school and things wouldn’t get done to my satisfaction – that the day would be seen as a reward, encouraging future slothfulness. I’ve never felt that way about a life skills day before. Call it mother’s intuition.

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So, we kept plugging away and my to-do list kept growing and I kept getting more stressed. Then, I read this post from A Slob Comes Clean. Daily checks? Weekly tasks? Hmmmm….

In some of my attempts to get my housekeeping on a more consistent schedule, I’d tried to make myself a schedule for different household tasks, such as vacuuming, mopping, and dusting, on different days of the week, but it never worked.

The simplicity of Nony’s plan, however, triggered something key in my brain, something she didn’t even mention – I don’t have to do these household chores in the morning before school. That was always my downfall. I would run out of time in the morning, stuff wouldn’t get done, and that would be the end of that schedule.

In the afternoons, however, I typically have about an hour between the time we finish school and the time I need to start dinner. I usually spend this time online, but it’s wasted time. My best blogging time is at night while everyone else is watching TV or in bed. I read email, Facebook, and blogs during lunch, so most days nothing major has happened by the time I sit down to read again in the afternoons.

While it may be nice to sit down and waste some time in the afternoons and just relax for a bit, a neat, clean house is relaxing, too. I’m one of those people who gets stressed when the house is cluttered. So, I figured a better use of my time would be to tackle a daily cleaning task.

It’s worked out great so far! My schedule is as follows:

  • Monday: Sweep and mop the kitchen and dining room
  • Tuesday: Clean bathrooms*
  • Wednesday: Dust
  • Thursday: Vacuum
  • Friday: Errands and grocery shopping
  • Daily: at least one load of laundry

*One of the kids is responsible for cleaning the mirror, sink and countertops in their bathroom and I do those in the master bath. I’m going to alternate cleaning the tub and toilet and mopping the floor between the two bathrooms each week.

In addition, I pulled out my laminator and got the kids set up with a daily checklist thanks to Nony. We are, of course, still using our chore chart, but it’s more for things that don’t have to be daily (such as unloading the dishwasher) or that I want to alternate between the kids (like feeding the pets).

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There is a morning and an evening section on their checklists, with items such as:

  • Brush teeth
  • Put away toothbrush and toothpaste (Yes, this is necessary.)
  • Wipe down counter and sink
  • Make bed
  • Bring dirty dishes to kitchen
  • Put dirty clothes in hamper
  • Put away clean clothes
  • Pick up clutter/trash from living room
  • Pick up bedroom clutter
IMG_3955[3]

At first, there was grumbling because it looked like a lot, but when they realized that most of it was stuff they do anyway, they quit complaining. So far, they have done their checklist every day without complaint. I have been amazed at how clean the house has stayed!

I keep their checklists hanging on the closet door with our chore chart, along with a dry erase marker on this awesome pen clip that I found at Walmart. (I stuck the second of the three clips to a magnet and put it on my fridge next to the “things we need from the store” list.)

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I am so excited! This is something that I can see us maintaining for the long term. It’s simple and manageable, which is exactly what I need. And, even if I miss a day now and then, I know I’ll get that day’s task done the next week, which is a far cry more consistently than some of this stuff has been getting done.

Have you found a method of keeping on top of housework that is working for you? If not, does something like this sound doable?

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By 15 Comments

About Kris Bales

Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 25 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, a fluctuating number of cats, and seven birds.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarah at SmallWorld says

    October 10, 2011 at 11:26 am

    I used to follow this kind of schedule, and it was the BEST housekeeping method I've ever followed. I really do intend to get back to it someday!

    Reply
  2. Paula Davis says

    October 10, 2011 at 11:51 am

    Right now my house is a wreck. So, no I don't have a method that is working for us right now. I have been able to do it in the past. I think that I need to just take time to sit down and think through our days, organize, and get a plan together. I've been coasting without a plan a little to long. 

    Thanks for encouragement and ideas!

    Reply
  3. Nicole @ Journey2Excellence says

    October 10, 2011 at 12:38 pm

    My weekly cleaning schedule looks like yours. Mine just has goofy names to help me remember:

    Mounds of Laundry and Mop it Monday (speaks for itself)
    Toilets Tuesday (bathrooms)
    Wipe it Wednesday (dusting)
    Tidy up Thursday (piles back where they go)
    Floors and Finish Laundry Friday 

    Then on the weekends, it's just maintenance. I just try to get my thing done either while the kids are doing independent work or during their lunch break. My incentive is that as soon as it's done, I get to browse blogs. That gets me motivated.

    Reply
  4. Nony (A Slob Comes Clean) says

    October 10, 2011 at 1:07 pm

    Oh my!  I am giddy with excitement, not just because you linked to me, but because it's working so well for you!!!  There's nothing like finding a cleaning routine that actually works for your family!

    Reply
  5. jacqueline Mukweto says

    October 10, 2011 at 4:49 pm

    I am adding this to my facebook page. So helpful

    Reply
  6. Amy Bailes says

    October 10, 2011 at 6:21 pm

    I use Motivatedmoms.com's schedule. My home has never looked so good.

    Reply
  7. Kris says

    October 10, 2011 at 7:30 pm

    So far it's working great, Nony! Things are a little cluttered today because I was a bit lax over the weekend and we've been gone the majority of yesterday and today (which means being home long enough to make messes, but not long enough to clean them up). However, it's just a little clutter, not a massive disaster. If someone were to drop by, I still wouldn't be ashamed and I'd feel casual company ready with about 20 or 30 minutes to prep, so not bad at all.

    Reply
  8. Kris says

    October 10, 2011 at 7:30 pm

    Thanks, Jacqueline! I'm glad you found some helpful tips.

    Reply
  9. Julie says

    October 12, 2011 at 7:22 pm

    I love the tips. My house is a DISASTER right now. More than housekeeping it's just that the kids get into things faster than I can clean them up. Yes, we're working on cleaning up after ourselves, but with an 8 yr old with Autism and 18 month old, well, it takes time! 😛

    Reply
    • Charlotte Quevedo says

      September 22, 2014 at 4:49 pm

      I have an 8 yo son with autism and a 3 year old girl. We have a really small home so I allow toys in my living room. If my kids didn’t have them there they would probably just try to watch more tv. I always stay on top of dishes, laundry, floors and bathroom but the toys get really messy.

      Reply
  10. Donna Marie Tackett Scott says

    October 13, 2011 at 1:56 am

    Kris this is awesome!  Even though I am not homeschooling this year I am as busy as ever!  I think a schedule like this would help me out tremendously!  Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  11. Emily Ekegren says

    April 2, 2012 at 9:02 pm

    Thanks for this! i just got Nony's ebook for THREE BUCKS!

    Reply
  12. Craftin Mama says

    April 19, 2012 at 2:56 am

    Just stumbled onto your blog, and i'm loving it already! It's always good to know that other mommy's are out there in the same boat as I am! I have been following the schedule from Time Warp Wife for cleaning, and it works pretty well for me. I also started an accountability text date with my dear friend/cousin/fellow home school mommy where we text our daily cleaning goals to each other in the morning, then check back in the evening to see how the other made out. This is super helpful, if only because I know that someone else knows what I'm SUPPOSE to be doing! lol! Thanks for sharing your ideas!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Many Little Links: October 16, 2011 says:
    June 30, 2013 at 5:08 pm

    […] Keeping a Clean House While Homeschooling – Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers I have been working on my daily schedule lately, so this post really resonated with me. […]

    Reply
  2. 100 Ways to Make Homeschooling Easier says:
    January 26, 2015 at 10:57 pm

    […] to Homeschool when Life is Busy How to Keep the House Clean While Homeschooling Tips for Homeschooling On-the-Go Scheduling Tips for Working Homeschool Parents The Ultimate […]

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