OrganizedJewishHome.com

If you’ve been to this page, you’ll see it hasn’t been updated for a while. That’s because I’ve moved! I followed where a lot of my thoughts (and comments!) were leading and (trumpet intro, please!) I have a new blog at OrganizedJewishHome.com.

There are a lot of great things happening there, like much more frequent posts, including:

• 52 week challenge to YOUR organized Jewish home
• Weekly parsha ideas
• Chesed meals series
• Shalom Bayit Book work (SBB, AKA control journal) – look for most posts on this as we work through the year, too.

Come on over and join us there!

My #1 organizing tip

…is to have a book for your household! Whatever you call it (control journal, homemaker handbook, shalom bayit book, family manager notebook, akeret habayit assistant), this is a crucial book for keeping your household running smoothly.

I call this my shalom bayit book (SBB). Shalom bayit is Hebrew for peace in the house – which is what we want to create with this book!

My SBB is a 2 inch binder with dividers physically, but even more importantly, I have each of the pages on word document. I update each of them each year and in the planning process. My SBB tells me what I used last year, what worked well, what didn’t, and has a list of menus and planning from previous years that I can reference or even copy again! I also have a very helpful list of what I have and where it is stored. I have the pages printed out for me to write on and adjust as needed, but what I really appreciate from year to year is having them on the computer to go in and update.

I will be putting these documents into the “printables” section of my new website as I go. I’ve started linking some of the Rosh Hashanah planning there already. Please visit OrganizedJewishHome and let me know what you think! Subscribe to get updates as things are loaded there (there is a box for your e-mail in the upper right corner or if you prefer a feedreader, there are buttons for that, too).

3 weeks to go until Rosh Hashanah (Recipe hunt is on!)

Time to get thinking about Rosh Hashanah more seriously.

I have done most of the things on my early prep list. That means clothing and pjs ordered for the kids, seats bought, etc. I still have to buy things for me–that’s one of the hardest things, I think!

Now it’s time to menu plan! On Rosh Hashanah, we have different minhagim about what foods we eat to make a yehi ratzon (May it be Your will…) on, or simanim. The wishes range from destroying our enemies (dates) to having lots of children (fish). (Here is a good resource for the text and some more information on these customs, and recipes). We want our year to be good and sweet so we eat those foods. We don’t want a sour or bitter year, so avoid those flavors. (We also avoid nuts, which has to do with the Hebrew word being similar to the word for “sin.”)

The most common simanim (in the US, at least!) seem to be apples, honey, and round challot. Many people also add carrots.  My husband is Sephardi, so we follow those traditions and use:

• Round Challot
• Apples
• Honey
• Dates
• Banana (or other vegetable not normally eaten with meal)
• Leek
• Swiss Chard
• Black eyed peas (or fenugreek)
• Gourd (e.g. squash, pumpkin)
• Pomegranate
• Head of the fish/lamb/ram (OK, fish head it is. That’s about what I can cope with here!)
• New fruit (2^nd night)

By the time we get through those, we often don’t have much room for other food! I try to use the same foods in a more recognizable form for the simanim seder itself (just a little for each person) and then to make a bigger portion for the actual seuda meal. Off to my recipe hunt I go!

You might notice that these links are actually to my previous posts moved to my new website: OrganishJewishHome.com All the good stuff from silverblessings is there, plus some new printable lists and more! Please check it out and let me know what you think.

Menu planning Monday

We’re continuing on with the pantry/refrigerator/freezer challenge this week. Nothing much going on here this week that will affect our menu plan except 6 (maybe 8) guests for Shabbat lunch.

Breakfasts: Yogurt and cereal with milk, pumpkin cream cheese muffins, plus fruit.

Lunches: Sandwiches, bagels, pasta.

Sunday: Zucchini soup and challah

Monday: (Clean Out the Refrigerator Night) CORN.

Tuesday: (Breakfast for dinner) Pancakes (somehow, we have a TON of syrup in the pantry)

Wednesday: Taco night (ground beef from the freezer)

Thursday: (Pasta night!) Pasta with garlic peanut sauce and breadsticks, veggie plate.

Friday: Challah, salads (zhug, olive tapenade, roasted eggplant salad, pepper salad, carrot salad, hummus), potato kugel, brown sugar noodle kugel, squash kugel, spice rubbed chicken.

Shabbat: Challah, salads, oriental chicken nuggets, potato kugel, brown sugar noodle kugel, squash kugel, chamin with jachnoon and brown eggs, shwarma pie, pumpkin spice cake with vanilla drizzle.

Chores for kids…with simcha!

Chores are important for kids. They are  part of the family, and part of being part of a family is help out!

But giving the chores to kids doesn’t necessarily mean the adult in charge gets to take the day off and lounge in an easy chair. It actually takes more time to “train” the kids in, and then to correct sloppy work (occasionally). It’s definitely an investment in future relaxation, though.

My chore methods for my kids is something I am updating often. Here’s how it goes right now: each kid does two chores (or groups of smaller chores) each day; one upstairs (bedroom and kids’ bathroom care) and one downstairs (common area care). This is because they should help with their own stuff (upstairs) as well as something that may not be directly tied to them but is a family area (downstairs). Each one has something different, but usually related.

For example, Wednesday’s upstairs chore for each of the older boy is to prepare their room for Bot and then clean up after. (Bot is our WONDERFUL robotic vaccuum cleaner who I love! Here’s a link to what I mean: BOT) That means getting things up off the floor, setting Bot loose when no one is currently napping, putting him back on the recharger, and putting everything away again. The downstairs Wednesday chore is sorting socks (one kid) and kid underwear (the other), folding appropriately, and putting into the owner’s room.

I have our playroom cleaned and vacuumed twice a week (each given a specific area of responsibility), the kids’ bathroom and our downstairs powder room cleaned up twice a week, their rooms cleaned up once a week, their school area cleaned up once a week, entryway cleaned up once a week by each, etc. For each of these, I have specific measurable tasks that they need to do, both written and depicted so they can fully understand.

Each child’s chore cards have the day along the top, the child’s color down the side, the chore(s), and then a checkmark on the back. And each is laminated (have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE my laminator–or as my 4 year old used to call it, my lemonader?) The cards are hung on two side-by-side hooks – one for still-to-be-done chores and one for completed chores. Each child can tell at a glance what comes next (see photo above).

Where does the simcha come in? It comes from the child knowing what is expected of them and following a routine, and doing it both correctly and independently. This system minimizes nagging and encourages the child to do their work on their own. (The kids know no playdates until their chores are done and just do them. Yay!)

When you assign a child chores, it pays to go through it exhaustively with them, explaining what you want done. Then do it again. Then check their work and explain whatever needs more work. Then check it randomly, always gently correcting when needed. It’s a lot of work for the grown up, but really worth it when that easy chair calls…in a few years, I guess! 😉

I love my lemonader!

OK, that’s my laminator to all you non-4 year olds out there. I bought one last year, and it was a great investment. I personalize something for myself and then laminate it and two great things happen: 1. It doesn’t get destroyed and 2. I can use dry erase markers on it and erase and restart as needed! This is a fantastic way to keep track of things and checklists–and I am a die-hard list maker.

What do I have laminated around here, you ask?

• Kid’s chore cards
• Shabbat checklist
• Weekly checklist
• How to clean kitchen for Pesach planner
• Pesach planner pages
• Kids’ basic pesach haggadas

Why am I breaking out my lemonader this week? After I finish test running them and am sure they are working for me, I have a few new things  to laminate:

• Kid’s weekly planner (assignments, planning space, and daily chore checklist)
• Weekly planner page (changed to suit me from this original)
• My Goals worksheet – still in progress (laminated to the back of my weekly planner)

One of those days…

I find it helpful to reread my reasons for homeschooling every now and again, especially on days like this. 🙂

Yes, it’s been one of those days. I’ve been feeling sick, thanks to the cold and tummy bugs around our house for the last week or so, and today, everyone has been grumpy. We had a really frustrating trip to the grocery store where the older kids were loud and didn’t listen well, and I had to make a meal for someone tonight, so I couldn’t leave without the things I had come for. By the end of the trip, I was so upset I wanted to yell. This, too, is part of homeschooling!

The kids are always around. Most of the time, that’s wonderful! Sometimes it’s not. I could have used a break today. When we got home, I put everyone straight down for a nap, literally from the car. My 2 year old and 4.5 year old both slept, as did my 4 month old toward the end of their naps, and my 7 year old read quietly in his room for a while. Is it sipping something with an umbrella on the sunny beach somewhere? Nope. Not even close. But the quiet recharged me enough to get through and play with this kids this evening.

So homeschooling – and parenting! – have good moments and the not-so-good. Everyone has days like this, and we are all not alone!

Homeschooling this year (2011-2012)

I am a fan of Montessori methodology. I love enabling the kids to do for themselves! So that is really what I aim for. This is an overview of my system for this year. I’ll update with what I’m using for what subject in a future post.

This year, I have a 2nd grader (ds7) and a kindergartner (ds4.5, he’s not quite 5 yet, but really wants to do K work, so we’ll see).

Here is my system: each child receives a card with a list of their weekly assignments on it. They have a box with their own work in it (re-used cardboard box, which they will decorate as a project later). They also get a M-F worksheet, and for the first few weeks, we’ll budget their time together. They can do a little from each book each day, or do all of one book each day, depending on their choices. They have a few things that they need to get me involved in a lesson, which are marked, and they have a book of maps/geography that they will complete together. They need to schedule in time for each of these lessons that works for everyone, too. I am available before lunch to help with any questions and teach anything else they have trouble with for sure.

Each weekday, they are also responsible for davening (praying), doing their chores, and completing their daily four (from the book “Daily Five”, ) which includes 15 minutes each of reading to self, reading with someone, writing, and listening to reading. Each item needs to be checked off each school day. They also each get to “teach” something to someone younger. This helps the older student learn the material better and helps introduce the younger student to the material. Plus it fosters a sense of family and community that I LOVE.

Once they’ve done something, they bring it to me and we check it out together. I sign off on their cards and we keep track of the whole thing. If they do everything by their deadlines and get their daily chores done, we get a slushy at the end of the week together.

In general, I try to plan about 30-45 minutes of work a day for my kindergartner (not including art or other fun projects) and 1.5 hours or so for my 2nd grader. Again, they break it up and plan it themselves, so it could work out differently. I have a lot of this as independent work, and it is meant so each child is “in charge” of their learning. I don’t like coercion, and it isn’t good for anyone to fight or bribe through schoolwork! So I give it to the child to get their work done. There are consequences if/when needed, but so far, this has worked very well for us.

Here’s a photo of what I have in the cupboard so far (up top are books we aren’t currently using (gifts, too old, too young, etc), the bottom empty box is for “work” for ds2):

Yay for (home)school!

Apples and honey for Rosh Hashanah…and so much more!

It’s time to start thinking about Rosh Hashanah in more concrete terms. It’s a three day Yom Tov this year! I’ve already seen the sale of seats and even lulav and etrog/esrog, so it’s not too early. It’s rosh hodesh Elul!

Here is what I’ve done or am planning to do so far this week:

• order seats for shul
• pay shul dues (ours have always been due about now for the different shuls we’ve belonged to in our travels)
• consider and probably order lulav and etrog for dh (still looking for less expensive “learning” one(s) for ds7 and ds4.5)
• new tzitzit for ds 7 and ds 4.5
• order pjs for all 4 kids (our tradition–they are always needed around this turn of the seasons!)
• order/find needed clothing for kids: adjustable waist Shabbat pants for ds7, additional pjs for ds 4.5, new dressy outfits for all
• purchase new special something for kids–legos? clics? Something to add to their simcha (joy).
• order/find new something for me (outfit? tichel?)
• check with dh about his clothing needs
• take care of kittel, if your dh wears one for Yom Kippur
• plan our Rosh Hashanah homeschooling lessons and projects
• plan menu (but with all the simanim (special, ritual foods) we use, that’s a whole post by itself!)

Menu planning Monday

This week is a great example of how circumstances affect your meal plan!

Over the weekend, we had what was supposed to be a hurricane with several days of power outages, etc. Thankfully, it was more like a rainstorm in this area, so we didn’t have any damage to deal with and our power is still on. We did stock up on things that didn’t require refrigeration for feeding people while we had no electricity, which will be folded into our menu plan this week. I’m still working on clearing out the extras from the fridge, freezer, and pantry challenge. We also have Rosh Chodesh Elul, the new month of Elul, to celebrate with an extra dish or dessert this week Monday night, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We have guests coming for Shabbat lunch. And last, we are making a chesed meal (a gifted meal for a family with a new baby), and I usually make doubles to keep for our own dinner. All that goes into this week’s meal plan.

Breakfasts: Yogurt, cereal, and homemade (frozen) waffles

Lunches: Peanut butter sandwiches, cheese sandwiches, grilled cheese, quesadillas, hard boiled eggs (also gazpacho and my meat-loving dh has moroccan beef turnovers to take)

Monday: CORN (Clean Out the Refrigerator Night), ice cream/sorbet for dessert (Rosh Chodesh!)

Tuesday: (Breakfast for dinner night usually) Taco night (frozen ground beef, special for Rosh Chodesh!)

Wednesday: Chicken nuggets for kids, spicy chicken wings (from the freezer)

Thursday: Mexican night this week: tortillas, homemade refried beans, rice, cheese, salsa, etc.

Friday: Challah, salads (roasted eggplant, hummus, zhug, olive relish, pepper salad), moroccan cigars, pumpkin spice cake

Saturday (with guests): Challah, salads, plated oriental chicken salad, spice rubbed chicken, meatballs, rice pilaf, spinach kugel, pumpkin spice cake.

Sunday: Pancakes (plus extra for the freezer).