Back to the basics: Clean up time!

I was wondering how we were going to spend this week homeschooling, just coming off a long vacation, and having another one come right on the heels of it, with DH being off work most of this week. After getting the Professors settled in bed for the night last evening,  I took a look around our house, and I didn't like what I saw. 'We need to clean up!' This morning DH reminded me that we had been diligent in making sure the Professors took care of their classroom spaces, and that we had been slacking off on that.

I informed the Professors during their morning routine,  that instead of our usual circle time, today we were going to clean our main classroom. We started off by standing in the corner of the room and surveying, then calling out who was going to attack what area. I said I would clean stuffed animals, Professor #2 stated he would clean up the block clock, and Professor #1 stated he would take the books (a big job).

Masha' Allah, it went amazing. No arguments, no grumbling, only a few reminders to stay on task. When Professor #2 was done his job, he voluntarily said he would help Professor #1 with putting away the books. Next up, decluttering all the basement playroom toys from the classroom, and getting all Baby Professors toys back to his play area. A few healthy trips back and forth got the job done, again with a reminder that toys go in their bin, not chucked down the steps, that does not count as being put away. To round up the job, with supervision, I allowed the Professors to run the vacuume. After getting all the sillies out, they each took a few laps across the carpet. At the end they declared they were 'tired! siiiiigh' and needed water.

This afternoon, insha' Allah, we will be getting our basement play area under control. Insha' Allah, we will be spending this entire week on these two areas, and hopefully getting back to a habit that makes everyone feel sane.