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 It is several years old and a little outdated but still very timely for anyone looking to manage their home and their homeschool.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

Schooling,Week One

School is going well so far. We are finishing in a timely fashion. Some things are taking a little longer than anticipated but I think that is due to the fact that we are using a few new curriculum items and are still trying to “figure it out.”

We are still on our summer schedule for extra activities and that will soon mix with the school schedule. It seems everything switches from summer mode to school mode at different times which really makes the scheduling interesting.

We have had two field trips in this first week of school and completed four days worth of lessons (more in some subjects).  We took a trip to the Anchorage Museum which also houses the Imaginarium.  The Imaginarium is a hands on museum for children.  Lots of fun learning without realizing that you are learning!  We also went on a berry picking expedition.  You can read a little about that trip on my Soaked in Adventure post.

I think that the first month or so of homeschooling is always such an encouragement.  Most of the beginning of a new year is review.  I know many homeschool parents who tend to skip a lot of stuff located in the front of their books because their children know the material and they want to move forward rather than just having busy work.  I understand that.  I, however, have decided not to do that.  I think the review is good for the children and it encourages them when they can sit down and say “This is easy Mom!!!”

We are able to move through school lessons quickly and the children like that.  It just seems to get our year off to a good start.  We often do more than just a day’s worth of lessons and the children are motivated to do more because it isn’t such a challenge.  It begins to develop a good work attitude before things become more difficult.

Our school year has started out well!  I hope this is a good indication for the rest of the school year!

How is your new school year going?  Even if you haven’t started yet, what is your usual plan for the beginning of the year?  Do you do a lot of review?  What field trips do you have planned?  Share with me!

Just One Question

Whose bright idea was it to start our new school year today??? Just wait until I get my hands on them! I am EXHAUSTED this morning! I am not used to getting up this early! I could have easily slept for another three hours! I am really NOT ready for this! So tell me!! Whose idea was it?!?!?!

Oh wait, that would be me! Never mind. Off to shower and get ready for this grand adventure of another school year!

Draw, Write, Now

This school year we are trying something new.  I saw this at the curriculum fair this year and I just couldn’t resist.  For my younger children we will be using this three days a week.  It is a basic handwriting (manuscript) program combined with a drawing (art) program.  It is colorful and fun.  There are also book lists and thematic study suggestions if you want to expand you study.

I bought the entire boxed set but you can purchase each book individually.  I also purchased the workbooks to go along with it.  It is just easier for me to keep everything organized that way.

We have not begun yet but I have all three of my little girls asking when, when, when we can start on it.  I think it may be a highlight this year!

If you are interested take a moment to visit their website, HERE.  They also have sample lessons so you have a first hand look at the curriculum.  You could even try it out with your children before purchasing.

Have any of you used this curriculum before?  If so, what do you think?  Did your children enjoy it?  Did it improve their drawing skills?  I would love your input!

Almost There

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Lessons plans for the entire year will be finished and printed today.  School supplies are purchased.  The children’s school buckets are cleaned out and organized.  Morning wake up times move earlier this week in preparation.  School begins next Monday and the school bell will be ringing early.!  (Can’t you just hear the squeals of joy?)

We are almost there.  Everything is pretty much ready except for the students.  We are easing in to it a bit though.  There will be several breaks in August due to camp, visitors, and jelly making.  AND if Mr. sunshine ever decides to show his face in Alaska then we will run out to meet him.  The days we do have lessons though will be full!!

Anyone else starting this early??

Getting Ready for School

The last of the curriculum has finally arrived and I am finishing up next year’s lesson plans.  I am almost finished with that.  Then it will be time to get it all printed and put in the binder.  I wonder if I will be able to make copies needed for their school work before we begin or not.  I always intend to do that but have succeeded in getting that task finished before hand only once.

The plan was to begin school the beginning of August.  We have a new baby coming and there is always extra days off when a new baby comes.  Then I got to thinking….  I will have two girls in the lower 48 for camp for about 10 days and my mother is coming for a visit the end of August.  Soo, do we begin or not?  The older two would have lessons for a week be gone 10 days, have lessons for a week, then off for another week.  The younger children could go straight through but then we would not all be on the same page (lesson plan wise).

I had decided that we would just wait until September to begin but I am really wavering on that for several reasons.  One being that new baby thing, also when daddy comes home he will have time off and we need to break from school and just enjoy having him home after such a long separation, the holidays always add extra days off, not to mention the fact that my children NEED some structure added back into their lives.

I think we are going to push ahead and start school in August after all.  The older girls may be a little behind but they can do double time for a little while.  The youngers will have some much needed structure.  Time with daddy gone will go faster because we will be occupied.  We will be able to cover a some time off later in the year if we begin earlier.

I am not talking rigid, stick to the plan school, after all there is still jelly making season that will need our attention! But we do need some routine back into our lives.  Staying up late, getting up late, and then wondering what to do all day which doesn’t include irritating each other is getting pretty old.

So, we are getting ready for school to begin the first Monday in August.  The children are not overly pleased but are growing on the idea when I mentioned they could take time off when daddy came home.  I have the curriculum and the lesson plans.  I only need some school supplies restocked and we are ready to go.  NOw to break out and actually pay attention to those pesky alarm clocks!

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Are you ready for the next school year to begin???  Where are you in your preparations?