Evening Routines for Charlotte Mason Families
Evening Routines
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In our morning routines post we talked about:
- Living a Charlotte Mason “lifestyle”
- I gave examples of Charlotte Mason’s own schedule
- We talked about the importance of routines
- Scheduling 1 day per week dedicated to formal nature study ( If we have little ones, they will informally tag along and explore…unguided)
- We are careful with our time and over-commitment to offer “a quiet learning period” ~Charlotte Mason
- Organizing our homes if we feel overwhelmed
- Taking time to care for your own self is extremely important (body, Spirit, and mind)
- Organizing your children’s schedules
In this post, I want to dive into the time period right before dinner. As I am writing, I am assuming most of my readers have babies and toddlers.
Set time for dinner prep
Every day I have a set time, similar to a deadline, that I know I need to be in the kitchen preparing our meal. For me, that is 4:30 pm. Everyone has different needs for mealtimes, but a planned “set time” is very helpful to provide a backbone to your day. If meal prep is minimal I tidy up the kitchen and sometimes call my 5-year-old in the help me set the table. Look for moments that are training opportunities.
Simple planned meals Monday-Thursday
Our meals are kept simple Monday-Thursday. I strive for healthy, easy to clean up meals on our heaviest academic days. Friday can be a day or more formal meals. When my older set of children will little ( I have 6 children, with a new set of preschool, toddler age children) we reserved Friday for formal meals and etiquette teaching. We had so much fun planning for a fancier meal and using nice plates. I will be picking up that routine again in the Spring.
A commitment to a clean kitchen after meals
Keeping your kitchen clean soon after the meal is over will become a habit that makes everything else easier. There is something about a clean kitchen, that will lift your mood and make the whole house feel more in order.
Make it a habit to clean your kitchen when meals are over. You have two options:
You may either clean it alone and use this time to listen to a podcast you love, music, or just to think for a few moments.
OR
You may enlist your child’s help to train/talk to a certain child. I have enjoyed the most heartfelt conversations when I invited a single child ( alone) to help me with a task. Many, many evenings I have learned something new a child was struggling with or a plan they have.
Take time to just listen to your children…even if it’s over a sink of dishes…
There have been times that I need a break. If my day has been run on adrenaline…you know what I mean…when I feel like all I have done is responded to questions…I take this time to recharge and feel refreshed at the end.
Next, let’s feed our children’s souls
After dinner is over, the kitchen is tidied up. It’s time to feed our children food that will feed their little Spirits.
For our family, we call this “Bible Time”. My husband is the primary teacher during this time, while my job is to supervise my little ones.
As a disclaimer: We are a Christian family, but I have readers that are not…that’s okay. I respect your opinions are you are welcome here. Use this time to fill your children with good value.
These are a few of the books we use:
For Instruction in Righteousness: A Topical Reference Guide for Biblical Child-Training
God’s Wisdom for Little Boys: Character-Building Fun from ProverbsProverbs for Kids: A Family Devotional GuidePearls of Wisdom: Stories Based on the Book of Proverbs from the Bible
A free hour to play
This time between devotions and bedtime is free time. In the warm months, we often play outside until it’s dark or go on family walks. Taking this time to talk and connect is so special. If you notice, my routine has little time for television. While we own a TV and use it at times, we don’t take the time for TV. I can’t remember the last program I watched. Not only does TV waste or time, it makes children become “consumers’ rather than “producers”. In everything we do, we want our children to be productive. Even if that means, sitting with a box of fabric scraps and making something.
Cleaning up
A quick last-minute tidy up of the house before bed will make your morning so much smoother the next day. This is something I wish I knew before I started homeschooling. This isn’t a deep cleaning, just putting things back where they belong. You will wake up to a home that is mostly clean and mama will have a calmer morning.
(if a quick pick-up seems impossible, you may have to store away toys or donate them to have this opportunity) Go back to the morning routine to look at the decluttering part
Go here to see our new class on Rhythms of your home!
I use a lot of storage bins to keep toys on rotation during my teaching hours. I will share more about toy rotation in a later post.
After the house is picked up, I clean up the youngest children and take them to bed. My husband tells the youngest one’s stories. For my older children, they listen to audiobooks in bed until they fall asleep. We use this time to listen to History stories. (ages 6 plus) These are my absolute favorite history stories…Start with VOL 1.
If you follow this evening routine, your children will have experienced a wonderful evening with:
- Parental attention ( children crave this, and work to attain it )
- Training to clean and care for their home
- Ate a meal as a family
- Learned about the Bible and were given opportunities to talk about their souls
- Spent one on one time with mom AND dad
- Heard a history lesson (older children) This lesson is told in a living way and is entertaining.
- YOU, mama, get to wake up KNOWING all of this happened the night before and your home is clean!
One more tip…As the children are asleep. Plan out the next day. Take out the books you need for morning time, quickly glance over what breakfast will be, make copies of anything you need, check the weather for nature study tomorrow, and finally…you can look at Facebook 😉. ( as a business owner, I have Facebook on a scheduler and don’t have to touch it nearly as much as it seems)
We have an upcoming class to help you create a routine at home
I hope this helps someone. I am here to help you. This journey you are on is a blessed, holy one.
Love,💜
Jenny
