Laying Down The Rails

                "The gardener, it is true, ‘digs about and dungs,’ prunes
and trains, his peach tree; but that occupies a small fraction of the tree’s life: all
the rest of the time the sweet airs and sunshine, the rains and dews, play about it
and breathe upon it, get into its substance, and the result is—peaches. But let the
gardener neglect his part, and the peaches will be no better than sloes”

           Charlotte Mason emphasized habit training in her method of education, which can be read as threefold, "Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life".  For discipline, she emphasized the importance of good habits.  She likened it to well laid out rails that a train can run smoothly on, If you instill good habits in your children, then it will make for "smooth and easy days". Okay, that's a nice promise, where do I start? 

I have a list a couple dozen or so habits to work on with Alejandro throughout his time with me at home, and this is the short list we are working through right now:

Cleanliness 

Own room is aired.

Own room smells sweet and fresh.

Keeps own room (and the rest of the house)

clean and fresh.

Isn’t afraid to get dirty; cleans self up.

Washes hands for family meals.

Grooms self adequately, including

fingernails and hair.

Attends to self in bath or shower.

Courtesy (p. 30)

Demonstrates courtesy consistently, even to

familiar people.

Gives and returns courteous gestures.

Exhibits courtesy on the telephone and in

person.

Courteous to child/parent.

Kindness (p. 31)

Thinks the best of other people.

                 On the days when Alejandro gets up, dresses, brushes his teeth, and makes his bed before I ask, makes for a much easier transition into school (especially since we work in his bedroom), then when he does not. First working to correct bad habits, and then work on making this routine a good one is taking some time, and we're still figuring it out.