Having a daily family schedule is beneficial because it provides a structured environment which is critical especially for elementary age children.

A daily schedule will communicate the familys shared goals and will allow your child to contribute to his/her accomplishment.

Here are some simple steps to help you create a daily schedule for your family.

1. Start by analyzing your day.
Try doing a simple time study. Use a daily calendar and note what each family member is doing at each time of the day. Watch out for problem times and think about how to structure the schedule to eliminate problems (problems related to hunger, stress, behavior, disorganization, etc.)

2. Decide what your schedule goals are.
Do you desire less confusion in the morning? How about homework completed by bedtime? Is having a clean home one of your goals? What about family play time, children in bed by a certain hour, or relaxation for you and your spouse? Be sure to balance family activities with family rest-this is very important. Take a honest look at both parent and child needs.

3. Write it down.
Put the family schedule on a poster board and hang in a high traffic area for all to see. Let the family know you will now be following this schedule. Stand firm against opposition.

4. Follow the schedule for one week.
Check it often and let it guide your days for one week. Have the children check the schedule and follow it. Ultimately you want the children to learn to take responsibility for their part of the schedule.

5. Schedule tweaking.
Once youre through the first week, check your schedule for what is working and what is not. Make the necessary changes and rewrite the schedule on a new poster board. Hang it back in its high traffic area spot for all to see. Continue to follow the family schedule until it comes naturally for your family.

Successful scheduling to you!

Lisa Fraley

Lisa Fraley owns and operates Home Works Natural Skin And Body Care. Her motivation for starting her own home based skin care business came from the desire to stay at home for her children yet at the same time be a financial help to her husband. Natural skin and body care is an important issue for her family, they are Hebrew Israelites who strive to be Torah observant.

When she decided to start her own business she took a look at the things she loved to do most. Among the list was gardening and sewing.

Her first endeavor was creating little girls boutique style clothing and reselling them. While she enjoyed doing that it just wasn't hitting the mark for her and she decided to try her hand at something else.

Along came natural skin and body care products. This tied in to many aspects of her. For starters her family strives to live "Levitically Correct". Being Hebrews this is high on the list for them. It is really hard to find skin and body care products that are natural and clean so she decided to make them herself for her family to use. She loved it and decided to expand it into a business. Being an organic gardener she is very familiar with growing herbs and with many home herbal remedies, and organic gardening methods - what can be more natural than that?

Home Works Natural Skin And Body Care was born.

This was definitely the business she was looking for. She loves doing it and has a passion for it. Lisa feels very proud to say she owns her own business!

Lisa also wanted to share her knowledge with others so she started a natural product blog, a running a business from home blog, and she also provides a free e-course for those joining her GDI team which teaches step by step how to build the downline of your dreams. She runs an e-group for her team also. Lisa believes that "paying it forward" is very important. She feels more often than not a person gets back what they have given. If one gives back nothing then eventually that is what one will receive.