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JennGM
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| Posted: Nov 05 2012 at 3:44pm | IP Logged
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I know I'm doing all incorrectly somehow. One of the hardest things about homeschooling is dealing with the mess. I only have two, but we're not doing much formal with my younger son, since he is not officially Kindergarten. But I have lots of activities for him, and he does gravitate to them and is self-motivated.
But he also gravitates to those things that are NOT directed towards his age. And the days I have a good one-on-one time with my older son, I will inevitably find a disaster in every.single.room. Today he pulled out puzzles and card games and coloring, and then worked with the RS tiles and cars and marble run and Thomas Track.
Today was a worse day, as he's got the beginning of a cold and not himself.
But what can I do to enforce the good habit of cleaning up before taking something out while I don't want to be interrupted during our schooling?
The problem is I'm glad he's keeping busy, because he distracts and interrupts if he's not interested in what we're doing. I'm just not glad of the tornado destruction in his wake.
Ideas? Seems like a mom of 2 should be able to figure this out!
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Nov 05 2012 at 4:17pm | IP Logged
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I have exactly the same chemistry with my younger two and they're very similar in ages to your two, Jenn.
:: Limit the number of things he has access to during the day. Perhaps you can brainstorm a shelf of "special work" for him in a particular room.
:: Designate one room as his work space while you work with your older son - ask him where he'd like to work while you and your other son work.
:: Take short breaks between lessons with your older son to check on the younger. I will sometimes forgo this if I hear quiet, contented playing from the other child because my checking invariably messes with that quiet and then the younger child becomes disruptive, clingy and needy.
:: Remark (after seeing "the mess") at all the work that has been done! Then insist on clean up. If he balks, take him by the hand and "help him" put the puzzles back in the box and the different parts in their containers. If you limit it to one room, the mess should at least be contained.
:: Quick tidy times in the morning, after lunch, and before dad gets home cuts down on mess that spirals out of control.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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jawgee
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| Posted: Nov 05 2012 at 4:40pm | IP Logged
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I deal with the same thing. My younger two (4 and 3) are my mess-makers. I just caught the older one using a glue stick to glue her "masterpieces" to the walls in the house. 
I like Jenn's ideas. I may have to find a way to implement some of them.
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Monica
C (12/2001), N (11/2005), M (5/2008), J (8/2009) and three angels
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mamaslearning
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| Posted: Nov 05 2012 at 4:45pm | IP Logged
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Limiting what is available is a good option. Also, I let the younger two make the mess, but then require them to clean it all up as well. We do a quick tidy right before lunch, and with limiting the items available it doesn't take long for them to put things away. We then do another quick tidy before dinner and before bed, so we are constantly picking up toys all day long. It's tiring, but I'm beginning to notice that they don't drag *everything* out at one time like they used to just months ago. They are learning!
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Lara
DD 11, DS 8, DS 6, DS 4
St. Francis de Sales Homeschool
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Mimip
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| Posted: Nov 05 2012 at 5:56pm | IP Logged
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Jenn,
We are at this exact point with my youngest. He says he is bored now that his brother is in first grade and doing work with Mom. So for that whole hour  that I work with his brother, he is contained to only the play room and the toys in there. He can play with his trains, his imaginex toys or the duplo blocks. THAT IS IT! When I finish with his brother, it is snack time so we go into the play room and get youngest, eat snack and then both boys decide what they are going to play.
At this time youngest gets a pick up time with Mom. I know its only an hour but it has taught him that he HAS to clean up his mess before going on to something else.
I would certainly contain him to one room but I would also make sure that ANYTHING with small pieces is locked up somewhere that he cannot get to. Card games, puzzles and any games with pieces that can get lost are not toys to play with when Mom can't supervise.
All this being said, you are not alone! My boys destroyed, broke up and ground into the floor (thank God it is tile!) a whole box of 64 crayons this past weekend in their room while I was out. The box got under a huge container of wooden blocks and it was a disaster after that.
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In Christ,
Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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Claire F
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| Posted: Nov 05 2012 at 10:00pm | IP Logged
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You are so not alone. My upstairs looks like my house threw up on itself pretty much every day. I struggle with the same thing! I don't have any other good suggestions - clean up is something I have never been great at with the kids.
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Claire
Mom to DS 12/04, DS 5/07, DD 8/09
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Nov 05 2012 at 11:30pm | IP Logged
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I think my kids are so enchanted by a clean room that they're irresistably driven to creating a mess in any room that is clean so that no more than an instant passes in which any room is fully "clean". 
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Nov 06 2012 at 7:37am | IP Logged
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In some ways, it must be harder for in this regard because you only have two. I send mine outside a lot to avoid the mess inside.
Also, if certain toys are contained in their boxes, baskets, or whatnot, you could make the space he's allowed to play close by but perhaps in a room that doesn't have as many toys to get into. Then, he can take one toy into that room, and you might be able to more easily control what he's pulling out and getting into. He can change toys, but only if he takes what he's using back to its home, which would necessarily require picking the first one up. You'd still have to police, but you might be better able to stay aware without so much distraction.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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rftravis
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| Posted: Nov 08 2012 at 7:01am | IP Logged
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oh my goodness, yes! i have my two and a friend's two every day and my apartment is SMALL. we spend a lot of time outside, but the messes are incredible. we do kind of as others have said: we all clean up together before snacks, circle, going outside, etc etc. i sing a cleaning up song and they know the routine. they are all 4 or under and there is NO WAY anyone is cleaning up unless i am helping. its just too much!
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Chris V
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| Posted: Nov 12 2012 at 6:00pm | IP Logged
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I'm not sure anything that I might add will actually help you, but some things that I do around here help in the effort to minimize bulk messes (the type of messes that make us want to cry and make the younger ones wail with feelings of overwhelm at their own doings!).
I make a habit of tidying up as the day progresses. ... not to the point of manic, but I do have all of us do a once-over in the main rooms of use that morning - whether it be bedrooms, nook, kitchen, table area, or whathaveyou.
After which the older girls head upstairs to get themselves dressed and make their beds.
Soon after lunch, but before the afternoon quiet time, we do another sweep of the rooms. This is just for bulk messes - the majority of which typically lies in our nook area where the girls take to all their crafting. This room gets so, so, so much use from *all* five of my girls. ... and so easily destroyed. We focus here first, always.
Just prior to dinner we do our 5:00 cleanup time. This is a whole family effort. My 7 and 5 yo's are good are self-directing what needs to be done, but my 3 yo has to be told specifically what her job is, and then constantly encouraged to keep at it - lots of praise and thanksgiving as she trys to clean helps to keep her on task. No yelling. No moments of anger from me. If I get upset, then the whole lot of them falls apart. The key to *all* of our cleanup successes comes directly from ME and my attitude with them. Cheerful, helpful, and merciful win over nagging, short-temper, and frustration.
Another thing that I've come to terms with is the upstairs playroom. This room is typically horrendous. Absolutely cluttered and littered with toys, block creations, train-track masterpieces, lego castles, and whatnot. I was asking the girls to tidy up this room everyday. Huge mistake. Not only would they complain about having to clean up items that were in a period of ongoing use of play, but it was just too, too much to ask everyday. Forced to keep in check my own expectations of them, I have relinquished this effort to once a week. Then and only then do we all tackle this room together. It takes merely an hour or so and then we're done. And they can begin anew for the week.
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Chris
Happy Wife with my Happy Life
Mama to My Five Girls ('04~'07~'09~'11~'11)
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: The Mess
