My Monster Organization Board

Sometime in the summer, I did a post on organizing my home. I've done a lot since I posted my intentions :) I think I felt a great need to have our house running smoothly with as little direction from me as possible since I knew we would probably be homeschooling. I am pleased with how things have turned out.

First of all, I made this board. It is huge (4x7), and I love it! Everything I need is right at my fingertips. Lists and schedules are highly visible for everyone.

(I should have straightened it up before the pictures!)

It has a whiteboard at the top (I need to divide it into sections with vinyl tape, which I have but haven't done yet :). There are little magnet things with the days of the week so I can write dinner and daily activities for everyone to see. There will be a grocery section, to do list for me, to do list for John, misc. notes, and anything else that is needed.I implemented a token system in our family. At the beginning of each week, each kid receives 6 tokens in their canister (they can be redeemed for 30 minutes electronic time). I have kitchen timers at the computer and video games so they are responsible for their own time. If they fail to turn it off when time is up, they lose an extra token. Let me say that because their electronic time is fairly limited, tokens are VERY powerful in our house. They can be taken away, but it is rare that it gets to that point because the kids value them so much. And there are times where they are rewarded with tokens, they get free movie nights on Friday, etc. So hopefully you'll erase the image that I'm a mean mother :)

I also made charts for everyone in the family. Each day of the week is listed with categories: Hygiene, Responsibilities, Education, Activities. These were placed in a sheet protector, and things were crossed off as they completed them each day. On Monday, money is deposited in their canister with the amount depending on how many things they completed.

Pegboard is at the bottom of my giant work of art. Each person has a clipboard that holds their chart and any other papers necessary. There are also bins holding markers and crayons.

The canisters are placed up high so Kate can't get them! They hold pens, scissors, money, tokens, pushpins, etc.

I LOVE this thing. Ideally, it would not be in such conspicuous place, but there isn't really anywhere else for it to be in our current home. I love that everyone can easily find the information and things they need without my help :) I think a huge thing for me has been learning to keep my mouth shut. I set up the system with rewards and consequences, and they get to chose. As their mom though, I hate dishing out the consequences, and desperately desire the rewards for them. I have to constantly work on letting them learn that they are in control of what happens to them.