Give ‘em More Busy Work!

Posted by LeslieT | 0 comments

I’m sure you’ve heard people either warn you or complain to you about a teacher who merely filled the hands of students in their classroom, with dreaded BUSY WORK. I’ve heard the same, and having been a classroom teacher in the past, I recall fighting the temptation of doing the same. Now, as a home educator, I am rethinking my definition of busy work and have come to the conclusion that, given in the right context, busy work is not all that bad.

Why Busy Work?

1. Older children love to be engaged in projects and they enjoy seeing them through from start to finish.

In our home I’ve observed a big difference between afternoons when my children are given a massive amount of unstructured free time, and those when I purposefully give them projects to complete. There’s a span of time in the afternoon when reading is not an option because there are some additional jitters that need to be worked out through some amount of physical activity. That’s when I turn to this productive, busy work. I’m not speaking of their normal school assignments, I’m honestly speaking of work I give them to fill the time — a block of time between snack time and dinner time; between lunch and recess, etc. My eight year old daughter especially loves projects that allow her to solve a problem, or make a plan, so I may give her a calendar for the next couple of weeks and have her fill in the events and tasks we have to complete. Or I may give her a blank menu, and have survey her siblings and enter their desired meals for the coming week. My six year old son, on the other hand, LOVEs to complete workbook pages. He even takes them to bed with him at night. So in the afternoon, instead of spending 30 minutes on an electronic game, I give him a Summer Express workbook or other worksheet, in step with his current learning goals. He absolutely enhales them and can’t wait to show Mom and Dad what he has completed.

2. Little busy hands stay out of trouble.

Pre-schoolers and toddlers will find a way to do something either constructive, or destructive with their time. Instead of going on about my afternoon chores, with no forethought of what my four and two year olds will do with their hands, I will often give them projects as well. Their projects may consist of “organizing” the belongings of their pretend animals and families in the play room; putting the silverware and plastic dishes away; assisting Mom with transporting dirty clothes from the hampers to the laundry room; replenishing the toilet paper in the bathrooms, or folding towels. Many times, this relieves me from the frustration of making unwanted, discoveries of crayon-marked walls or tissue-filled toilets.

Store time has also been a fun time to assign busy work to the “littles.” I’ll have them carry the small baskets and help place items inside. Talking to them about the next item we’re looking for and asking them questions, is also a great way to keep their minds from wandering off into the worlds of boredom, tiredness, squirminess, and screamville!

Have you had times where you’ve resorted to busywork which was not-so-productive? Do you have suggestions of great projects to busy your children’s hands throughout the day or when you’re out and about? Please share!

Leslie Thompson and her husband Jeoff began educating their children at home almost three years ago. They have a passion for sharing Christ’s love in marriages and helping point husbands and wives (including themselves) back to Christ when resolving conflicts. Leslie is Director of a Classical Conversations Community, in which their two oldest children are enrolled. Their two youngest children, ages 3 and 1, provide a much needed element of joy throughout the family’s school day.