Managing Home & Homeschool

Quite a while back I wrote for an online homeschooling magazine called Heart of the Matter. I thought that I would share this article I wrote for them. It is several years old and a little outdated but still very timely for anyone looking to manage their home and their homeschool. I hope you enjoy.
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For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Time management is one area that greatly effects my ability to teach my children at home. I wrote in an earlier post about prioritizing. Once you have prioritized and weeded out activities having a plan of action to carry things out is of great importance. One of the best ways to manage your time is in my opinion with a working schedule. I will readily admit that this is an area that needs continual work in my household.

Schedules must be revamped often. As the scripture above says, for everything there is a season. There are different things that happen in our lives that will interrupt your plans and schedules and these call for adjustments. In our home we are going through a few of those “seasons”. We have the season of an upcoming move and the season of morning sickness. Once your schedule is in place, try not to be so rigid that you cannot adjust for a change in season or a surprise storm or two.

A schedule is simply a written plan for ordering those things you deem as priorities into your day. You designate blocks of your time for specific activities. It helps you to find the time to accomplish the tasks you have before you. It can also relieve some of the stress of life because you have a plan. It is a way to direct your children to the next activity for the day without constantly being interrupted with questions about what to do next.

Everyone has a different comfort level when it comes to how much structure to put into their day. I find that with the larger my family becomes the more structure the better. There is simply more to get accomplished than before and I need to have a plan of attack.

I came across a great book that has been a tremendous help. What first caught my eye was the fact that the author was also a homeschooling mother of eight. She is someone who can relate to the sheer volume of things that pertain to a large family. I thought that if this worked for her large family then I could implement some of her ideas and have them work for me too! Her book would even be helpful for smaller families.

I ran into a friend who also used this book to organize her household. She is the mother of seven. She uses this plan and it is what enables her to manage her time wisely. When I received my book, I read if cover to cover in the first day. I was so excited! I pulled out the toolkit that comes with it and began to put our schedule together. After three days of trying to make this schedule work, I called my friend crying. I simply could not fit everything into our day. Her words of advice were to remind me that I could do all that the Lord desired me to do but that I could not necessarily do everything that I desired to do! I needed to prioritize and cut out some things. I simply cannot do everything that a mother of two has time to accomplish. I have more children with many more levels of educational needs. After prayer and discussion with my husband, I cut and cut some more. At last I had a working schedule.

It takes time and effort to implement a schedule and to get the family started. Once you have committed to it and worked at it for a while you will begin to fall naturally into a routine. You learn what takes longer and what is done more quickly. You simply adjust your schedule to fit your family. I found that I needed several schedules, almost one for everyday. Some days we had piano and other days we had to finish early for AWANA.

I do not currently have a written schedule. We have not used one this past year and I feel as if we have not accomplished nearly as much as we should have accomplished. After we are settled into our new home, a new schedule will appear and be implemented. My life is simply easier when we have one.

I suggest sticking as closely to your schedule as possible when you first start. This will help you to develop the habit of “running a tight ship.” Once you have that, make more adjustments. You can determine then how strictly to follow your schedule. It will differ for all of us. My friend I mentioned above followed hers to the “T.” Her life was extremely structured and her family thrived under that structure! I am a bit more relaxed. As an example, I do not schedule my nursing babies and needed some flexibility. The main idea here is to have a plan, a written plan. Not just to have a written plan but one that is actually workable!

Take some time and schedule your priorities and see how much more you will accomplish. Do you currently have a working schedule? Have you ever used this book? What have you found are the benefits of scheduling? Leave me a comment and let’s have a discussion about it to encourage each other in our efforts!

Here is that wonderful book I mentioned.

This book is written by Steve and Terri Maxwell.

I highly recommend this book for those looking to manage their home in a more effective way. There is such great information and the toolkit is included. If you look on their website you will find testimonials, information on what else is included, and schedules from other moms.

MANAGERS OF THEIR HOMES

Words Fitly Spoken

A few weeks ago I took the children to the Anchorage Museum.  It was a fun afternoon.  There were many fascinating things to see and explore.  The children and I all had a good time.  The first floor was lots of fun.  There were so many hands on activities that I thought we would end up spending the entire time there.  We did make it to the second floor which was much more interesting to me.  There were almost full scale Alaskan homes of different kinds and time periods.  Each structure was cut in half so that you could see the inside which contained a full portrayal of what the inside of one of these homes was like.  We spent quite a bit of time there.  Then it was on to the third floor.  This floor had very many interesting things but things that are not as eye catching to a youngster as lets say to someone like me who loves museums.  The littles were beginning to get a bit antsy and I was beginning to get a bit frustrated by the fact that I was having to stay more on top of them than before.

We finished the third floor and got on the elevator to go to the fourth and final (and tiny) floor.  I was a little stressed and wondering if we would make it through the fourth floor before I felt like I was going to loose it.  There was another family with two children in the elevator with us.  As I was about to let out a big sigh to calm my inner stress levels the mother of this family spoke.  She began to praise my children and how well they behaved.  She began to praise me and how well I was handling them all by myself without loosing my cool.  She praised me for the fact that I was even doing this without their dad along that day.  Then she mentioned that she and her hubby could barely do it with their two children.  I simply said thank you as they exited the elevator.

I let out a big sigh and released all that pent up UNNECESSARY stress.

God has done this to me on several occasions to be honest.  When I get to the point of loosing it, He gently reminds me through others that I am focusing on the wrong thing.  I am seeing their being children and shorter attention spans as misbehavior rather than what it is.  I was focusing on my tired feet and lack of energy than the joy of being a mother.  I had to pray and ask forgiveness.  I then praised my children for their good behavior and pointed out how it had made an impression on others.

The Lord used that lady in the museum elevator to discipline me and to encourage me at the same time!  He is good like that!

The fourth floor was so much more enjoyable than it would have been if the Lord had not given me my much needed attitude adjustment.

Proverbs 25:11 comes to mind when I reflect on situations like these.

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

The NASB puts it this way.

Like apples of gold in settings of silver Is a word spoken in right circumstances.

That is so very true!

Have you ever experienced anything like this?  How has the Lord used others and their timely, fitly spoken words to discipline and encourage you? Leave me a comment to share how the Lord has worked in your life in this manner.

Alaskan Sunset

Alaska has some amazing sunsets! This is definitely not the most spectacular but beautiful none the less. Maybe one day I will be able to capture the sunset with the inlet and the mountains also. For now, I will share the ones my daughter took from home last week. Enjoy!  God’s creation is awe inspiring!

Bumper Sticker Theology

Bumper sticker theology is something I have often thought of and been frustrated by.  I have often thought of blogging on it but just never seemed to get around to it.  I do understand that there is only so much room on a bumper sticker and things need to be short and sweet.  I understand most want it to be something catchy.  I have noticed thought that often times what is displayed on the bumper sticker usually is not Biblically accurate.  Sometimes I think that the messages are even directed more at other Christians with whom they disagree rather than truly trying to share the Gospel.  (I know there are some good ones-not a blanket statement here.)

While I was skipping through blogland the other day I came upon a posting on this very topic.  I think that some of the struggles I have with bumper sticker theology was addressed in the article so I want to share it with you.  Matt Kaufman does a good job of addressing this in his short blog post, Of Bumper Stickers and Bad Theology.

Please leave me a comment and share your thoughts on this topic.  Are any of you frustrated with Bumper Sticker Theology too?

Curly Q’s Special Day

She is finally four! She has been counting down and the day has arrived at last!  We celebrated with friends and siblings at Chucky Cheese.  She was thrilled with her gifts!  She especially likes her big doll.  Happy birthday to our sweet, spunky, curly headed little BIG girl!  We love you!!

Afghanistan Wal*Mart

Hubby decided to go shopping.
Who knew they had a Wal*Mart even in Afghanistan? Hehe