What small changes have you made as a mom/homeschooler that have paid big dividends?

[ThelmaLou]

Often, it's the small changes that I should have made long ago that pay off hugely when finally implemented. What small (or relatively easy) changes or shifts have you made in school or at home that have yielded the best fruits?

[melissel]

Implementing the infamous filing system. Waking up before the kids (when I manage it!). Getting rid of food additives in DD5's diet! :willy_nilly:

 

 

:lurk5:

[Plucky]

A weekly lesson plan so we can stay on track.

[Bang!Zoom!]

It only took about two years of daily chanting to get the results to match my expectations, but we are finally there...YES!

 

The chant?

 

"The word NO is a complete sentence."

[Dobela]

Not getting on the computer until the afternoon if we are schooling.

Taking an evening or afternoon all by myself while dh watches the kids.

Following lesson plans.

Not answering the phone.

Carefully scheduling activities and therapies to minimize time away from home or traveling.

[Jennifer3141]

Turning the phone off while doing school and not answering the door.

[Mommy22alyns]

Not getting on the computer until the afternoon if we are schooling.

Taking an evening or afternoon all by myself while dh watches the kids.

Following lesson plans.

Not answering the phone.

Carefully scheduling activities and therapies to minimize time away from home or traveling.

 

The bolded is so key for me!

[A home for their hearts]

Making dd3 reclaim her afternoon nap that she gave up a year ago! And coordinating it with ds1 afternoon nap so I can get someschool work done with the older ones! That has helped me tremendously! (sp?) We can get a lot done in a short amount of time without the constant interruptions!

[newlifemom]

Not getting on the computer until the afternoon if we are schooling.

Taking an evening or afternoon all by myself while dh watches the kids.

Following lesson plans.

Not answering the phone.

Carefully scheduling activities and therapies to minimize time away from home or traveling.

 

The bolded is so key for me!

 

True true.

 

During a normal school day, I get on the computer at lunch or after 3pm. I also try to sched all appts for the afternoon to not interfere with the bulk of schooling being done in the morning.

[SailorMom]

Getting started by 8am. It makes a huge difference in what we accomplish :)

I'm so not a morning person, though.

[Jennifer3141]

And another one... I'll often make lunch our big, fancy meal for the day so I'll pop in a Shepherd's Pie or soemthing for lunch and then when I'm ready to collapse for dinner we just do leftovers! Lasagna does well for this too.

[SnowWhite]

A checklist for the students. Visual representation of remaining work is apparently very motivational!

[dhudson]

Thinking of school as my job, giving it and my kids my undivided attention and time.

 

Mandatory quiet for all in the afternoon.

 

Having a meal plan for the week and the freezer full with at least 3-4 months of meats. That way I usually can make some kind of meal without a ton of running around.

 

Having a 4 day school week.

[redsquirrel]

teaching the kids to wake me up so we can get started by 8am.

 

Starting at 8am, lol.

 

Routine, routine, routine!

 

Treating homeschooling like my job and expecting other people to do the same.

[-M-]

For many folks, changes that "save" or "make" time are helpful. My ideas about making time are collected here.

 

Three quick ones:

 

● Don't answer the telephone. Turn the ringer off. When/if you have time for telephone conversations, make a call. Amazing how much time this saves.

 

● Just say, "No." More on that in the entry I linked above.

 

● Ruthlessly trim your virtual itinerary.

 

Since I work from home (in addition to parenting and teaching here), and since I am one who values cleanliness and organization, it is critical that my home be neat and clutter-free. To that end, two more tips:

 

● Dispense with chores, grooming, and exercise before 9 a.m. It's the equivalent of arriving at an organized office dressed and ready for business.

 

● Chlorox wipes and a mini vac are your clean-and-tidy friends.

 

Last but not least, two odd tips:

 

Four years ago, I began keeping a master schedule of lessons, appointments, field trips, practices, etc. in a Word document (using a calendar template). This is hardly a new or original idea, but it really proved useful to us. We relish "white space." A glance at the calendar lets us know that we are preserving the unscheduled time all of us crave. So I suggest:

 

● Make a master schedule.

 

I also suggest:

 

● Set out bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils. I have mine in beautiful blue mugs and white flour canisters, and everyone remarks on how whimsical they look. More practically, we always have sharpened pencils for annotating a book, finishing a logic puzzle, jotting down a list, taking a math test, composing music, and so on. I "dead head" twice a week.

Edited July 27, 2011 by Mental multivitamin
Clarity

[sunflowerlady]

And another one... I'll often make lunch our big, fancy meal for the day so I'll pop in a Shepherd's Pie or soemthing for lunch and then when I'm ready to collapse for dinner we just do leftovers! Lasagna does well for this too.

 

That's a great idea!:001_smile:

[myfunnybunch]

Routine.

As my boys grew out of the baby/toddler/PreK ages, I realized that our loose schedule was no longer doing us any favors. So we implemented a start time for school, a set lunch time, and a school day routine. Independent work in the morning, subjects together in the afternoon. Subject list for each child. The boys know what to expect, so I spend less time directing and more time teaching.

 

Quiet Time.

Everyone takes Quiet Time, including me. If a schedule conflict means I have to choose between our quiet hour and a science lesson (for example), I choose the quiet hour. After all, I can make up a science lesson at another time, but that daily peace and thinking time can't be made up another day. We go home from playdates for quiet time in the afternoon; we purposely don't schedule classes in the early afternoon. (The only thing that takes precedence over quiet time is instrument practice.) After only a week of implementing a quiet hour, my boys started asking "When can we have Quiet Time?" I found myself more and more often using the boys' Quiet Time to get caught up on household projects...and got crabbier and more stressed. So I am very strict about taking the quiet hour even for myself to read what *I* want to read or learn what *I* want to learn or just sit in the chair with my coffee. We all need some time apart to read or think or play independently.

 

And I completely agree with MFS about the pencils. For different reasons, probably, lol. My wiggly boys are constantly dropping, breaking, rolling, accidentally flipping their pencils. "Just get another one and keep working," well, I should have that tattooed on my forehead so I can just lift my bangs and point. It's amazing the amount of searching and sharpening time that's eliminated by having mugs of pencils available. Pencil-sharpening is also a great way to occupy a child who needs something productive to do with his hands (as opposed to, say, poking his brother or pouting about not wanting to do math). By the time the pencils are sharpened, the sunshine has usually returned. ;)

 

Cat

[Chris in VA]

Taught my kids to do their own laundry. Boys didn't fold for a few years, but do now! Girl always did it "right." She learned this year because she was tired of me waiting till the last minute to do her laundry.

[tricia]

I have been homeschooling 12 kids for going on 23 years. The biggest change I have made that have changed things for the better is that I have RELAXED as a homeschool mom. I think it is easy to stress out and think we are not doing enough for our children when it comes to academics and that can get us into trouble. When we stress and worry over that we tend to over buy curriculum, get piled under the pressure to use it, things go south and we start over again. Getting rid of curriculum catalogs for me has been a life savor. I only keep book lists now and go from there. All 5 graduates from our home have either finished college, or are still attending and all doing well. If there were any advice I could give new homeschoolers that would be relax and enjoy the ride with your kids.

[ThelmaLou]

Implementing the infamous filing system. Waking up before the kids (when I manage it!). Getting rid of food additives in DD5's diet! :willy_nilly:

 

 

:lurk5:

 

Ahhh, the filing system. That was a huge hit for me last year, as well as finally learning to use HST+. I'm also excited about using Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

 

My new goal is to pare down everyone's clothing. I really think if we own less and purchase more strategically, we won't always have such a mountain of clothes/laundry. Laudry eats my lunch. Really. Especially in the winter when it doesn't take that many pairs of jeans and sweaters to fill the washing machine.

[Angie in VA]

I have been homeschooling 12 kids for going on 23 years. The biggest change I have made that have changed things for the better is that I have RELAXED as a homeschool mom. I think it is easy to stress out and think we are not doing enough for our children when it comes to academics and that can get us into trouble. When we stress and worry over that we tend to over buy curriculum, get piled under the pressure to use it, things go south and we start over again. Getting rid of curriculum catalogs for me has been a life savor. I only keep book lists now and go from there. All 5 graduates from our home have either finished college, or are still attending and all doing well. If there were any advice I could give new homeschoolers that would be relax and enjoy the ride with your kids.

 

Well said!

[Joyofsixreboot]

Getting OFF the computer by 7am.

Having a meal plan and using the crockpot.

Getting the pre-schooler on a strict schedule. She is difficult, but less so with predictability.

[Mommee & Baba]

I will have to admit that it was a couple implementations.

 

• Homeschool Tracker - this takes time to set up and input all the plans for the school year per child but once it's done it makes our school year so much SMOOTHER!!!! I love it!
  
• Getting up earlier. I know this might not be fair to say but previous years we allowed the kids and ourselves all the sleep we needed and would wake when we thought was right and start around 9-10am and finish near 4pm each evening and still not get all of it done! This year we've started waking the school-age at 6:30am. They get to share breakfast with dad before he goes to work and they get to wake up a little. I noticed they actually prefer to get started on school and focus much better earlier! So now we start our school at 7am.
  
• Realism! I really mean it. I've really tried previous years to be super mom on projects and doing all the "fun" things and usually that would BOG down most of our lessons and the kids would remember the projects more than the ACTUAL lesson..which is FINE but it got to the point where they were being resisitant to ANY other subject that wasn't project friendly. I was planning 2-3 projects a DAY for each subject last year! I was nuts. This year I was realistic! I planned 1-2 projects a WEEK no matter what!! So I had to pick wisely. The kids notice but also actually ENJOY the lessons more because they aren't focused on building, painting, coloring or sketching everything. :lol:
  

Once the kids are at a more independant learning level I will try the workboxes again, but for now I pulled them and don't miss them a single BIT!

 

I also tried the planning the entire year last year in my filing system and honestly I felt HOSTAGE to the filing system. I prefer the homeschool tracker and just have the subjects into their binders/folders on the shelf and not filed. Because if one day we don't get to lesson 5, I can move it to another day and not have to move ANYTHING else but push a few buttons on my laptop...no papers to refile! And I can actually BREATHE now. I have a schedule for our school and can stick to it, or make it work around our schedule. It's nice!

[Halcyon]

• Don't schedule outside activities from 8-1:30 unless you've fully incorporated them into your school schedule--no last minute get-togethers or outings.
  
• Use a lesson planner of some sort and stay on track, even if that means working Saturdays once in a while to catch up.
  
• crock pot!
  
• put all books/notebooks/binders back in the CORRECT SPOT at the end of the school day. This is a HUGE help.
  

[ThelmaLou]

Getting OFF the computer by 7am.

Having a meal plan .

 

Yes, computer and meals can really de-rail my day if I don't limit my time and plan my menus!

Edited July 28, 2011 by ThelmaLou

[FiveOaksAcademy]

It only took about two years of daily chanting to get the results to match my expectations, but we are finally there...YES!

 

The chant?

 

"The word NO is a complete sentence."

 

:lol: I like that!! The funny thing? I don't need it as much for my children but for all the people outside of my home who want me to volunteer, help, run some program!! I do need it for my kids sometimes though!!

[FiveOaksAcademy]

1) Trusting my husband's counsel!! Sometimes I get in over my head with too many activities, too much busy-ness, too much guilt. When we're in one of those moments where I am venting and he is trying to fix the things I'm frustrated about, if I will stop and listen to him then follow his advice, it is helpful to the sanity of our home!!

 

2) Encouraging more independence from older kids has been huge!! This has been going on for a couple of years now. My oldest, particularly, knows what needs to be done for the week and has the flexibility to decide what days to do what and how much time to dedicate to on certain days. I'm buying my older two their own planners for this year, then the plan is to have a weekly meeting where I lay out what needs to be done and they make their own schedule.

 

3) Weekly well-planned grocery list and menu

[Cindy in C-ville]

Great thread! I would echo what others have said:

 

1. Up early with exercise, devotion, shower/dressed, breakfast done before school starts

2. No computer until afternoon, unless computer work is FOR school. But this is dangerous.

3. After lunch quiet times/independent work for everyone

4. Laundry system

5. Meal calendar

6. Chore chart

7. Treat teaching/managing school as a true vocation -and I mean vocation, not just job.

8. Don't allow appointments to creep into your morning - for you or for the kids.

 

I'm still looking at organizational systems. Does everyone need their own "apprentice?" Would workboxes work for us? These are things I'm asking. I want a closed door cabinet for my school/office supplies. Right now I have open shelves.

 

Again, love reading this!

[Denisemomof4]

• 
   
  
• put all books/notebooks/binders back in the CORRECT SPOT at the end of the school day. This is a HUGE help.
  

 

this, and NOT getting on the computer until school is done, are two things that would make my life SO much better, and are my goals for this coming school year!

 

Thanks for starting this thread!!!

 

ETA: After reading Cindy in C-ville's post, I also want to wake up dd11 earlier (she was my early riser and now she isn't! Dd8 is ALWAYS up early!) so we all can start the day with a power walk........ with the dogs!

Edited July 28, 2011 by Denisemomof4

[lmrich]

Providing a protein and fruit snack mid morning for my youngest who is not a big breakfast eater (maybe one slice of toast and a sip of juice) and to tie my scissors and stapler to my desk so they don't get misplaced.

 

I agree with others - ROUTINE! I also have to say a positive attitude. The kids seem to imitate me with their attitude and moods.

 

Have a great year everybody.

[A.J. at J.A.]

Not getting on the computer until the afternoon if we are schooling.

Taking an evening or afternoon all by myself while dh watches the kids.

Following lesson plans.

Not answering the phone.

Carefully scheduling activities and therapies to minimize time away from home or traveling.

 

These are all things I need to do that I know would help tremendously - how do you do it besides just good 'ole will power?

 

WOW!! Thank you EVERYBODY for posting all these great ideas! I've hand written an entire page of your suggestions. I'm struggling lately and I think these will definitely help. Keep'em coming!

 

Many blessings,

Angela

Edited July 28, 2011 by A.J. at J.A.

[Aurelia]

Always put school stuff where it belongs.

 

Do not allow school supplies to leave the school room. We have a separate box of non-school supplies (scissors, tape, glue, markers, etc.) that travels around.

 

School year round. It's not a big change for us, since both DH and I work full time year round, it just makes sense to do school all year, too.

 

School is the priority. Fun stuff happens when the work is done.

[mrrws]

Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions. This is my first year and I plan to use many of these ideas to get started on the right foot.

[abacus2]

Each child has their own shoebox-sized Sterilite box with all of their supplies (crayons, markers, colored pencils, regular pencils, scissors, glue, tape). This is easy to get out and put away and supplies are always handy when we change activities. Two pencil boxes and one pencil bag fit in each Sterilite box for organization.

[cdrumm4448]

Buying a cheap laptop from Walmart.com to load HST onto my network, which allows me to not print assignments, then have to go back to the computer and mark them as done. We also use the laptop for internet links as well as biographies that correspond to our lessons.

 

Amazon Prime membership. Discourages shopping trips.

 

Schedule appointment and activities (unless absolutely necessary) in the late afternoon, so as not to interrupt school.

 

Banning screens and friends (we start school while the PS is still out) until school and chores are finished.

 

Chucking the filing system I had and going to Ikea for their very pretty, cheap boxes. I put each child's name and the year on the box, then throw in all loose paperwork (that is not bound in spiral notebooks).

 

Going to Staples and having all of our workbooks' spines chopped off and spiral bindings put on. Don't have to open books to the lesson because the child finishes the day's lesson, then turns the page and puts the book away.

 

I am into anything that saves time. There's enough wasted time with all the snacks, pencil dropping, falling out of chairs for no apparent reason, etc. I have a 9-year-old boy.

[MaMa2005]

For school, HST+ to keep me organized and accountable.

 

For home, once a month cooking/freezer meals has made a tremendous impact. I no longer dread dinnertime, we don't eat out anymore, and the savings in time and money have been awesome. Healthy, wholesome, home cooked food!

[momma aimee]

Great thread! I would echo what others have said:

 

1. Up early with exercise, devotion, shower/dressed, breakfast done before school starts

2. No computer until afternoon, unless computer work is FOR school. But this is dangerous.

3. After lunch quiet times/independent work for everyone

4. Laundry system

5. Meal calendar

6. Chore chart

7. Treat teaching/managing school as a true vocation -and I mean vocation, not just job.

8. Don't allow appointments to creep into your morning - for you or for the kids.

 

I'm still looking at organizational systems. Does everyone need their own "apprentice?" Would workboxes work for us? These are things I'm asking. I want a closed door cabinet for my school/office supplies. Right now I have open shelves.

 

Again, love reading this!

 

my kids are younger -- but this is actually one of the reason DH agrees to homeschool. the ablity to make all our appt (medical for medical SN, OT and ST for both, mental health too) in the 8 to 10 am time frame -- the best time for the boys -- I take one day out of 5 and make it a 'appt day' -- our therpy and shopping and so on -- I loove not dealing aftoon tired cranky done kids (mine) at appt adn thepriy and not dealing with a lot of hot tired, cranky kids (others) and people in waiting rooms, offices and so on -- first thing in teh am (8 if i can get them) -- everyone is so fresh .. better moods and more 'accomplished'

[momma aimee]

For school, HST+ to keep me organized and accountable.

 

For home, once a month cooking/freezer meals has made a tremendous impact. I no longer dread dinnertime, we don't eat out anymore, and the savings in time and money have been awesome. Healthy, wholesome, home cooked food!

 

I'd love to once-a-month cook -- and i have a big deep freeze -- but i am at a loss on how to start

[Dmmetler]

Walking before DD wakes up in the morning. It's amazing how much better that makes the whole day!

[Halcyon]

Each child has their own shoebox-sized Sterilite box with all of their supplies (crayons, markers, colored pencils, regular pencils, scissors, glue, tape). This is easy to get out and put away and supplies are always handy when we change activities. Two pencil boxes and one pencil bag fit in each Sterilite box for organization.

 

 

This is a great idea! I am going to incorporate this into our new year. Thank you.

[6packofun]

The one thing we've recently done, even though we're worse off than ever, was to budget money for materials. Dh NEVER did it no matter how much I begged over the past 11 years. This year, we started having $50 per paycheck automatically moved from checking into savings JUST for homeschooling. We started too late to purchase ALL of our stuff this year with those funds, but having them has made a huge difference. We cut out cable tv and a few other things to make it less painful to set aside that money. We really needed to do this all along and I wish dh had seen the benefits sooner! Precious time was lost because I simply didn't have what I needed and being so busy, it was impossible for me to "just create your own curriculum!" LOL

 

I also agree with making the older ones do more independent work, specifically by 1) giving them a checklist to adhere to, and 2) encouraging them to use the internet for research a LOT more as well as giving them those opportunities/assignments to do so. One thing I want to develop in my kids is the desire to seek out information when it's not available, to make the world their library.

Edited July 28, 2011 by 6packofun
.m.

[speedmom4]

I tried to homeschool year round and I was miserable. I really really need the summer to do cleaning/organizing projects that get put on the back burner during the school year. Also during the summer I organize school supplies, lesson plan, and print out things I will need for the school year. That has helped me tremendously. I feel the more organized I am before I begin the more successful the school year.

 

Also, investing in some good crockpot cook books. I plan my menu each week and then I have all the ingredients. I usually fix dinner in the late morning or early afternoon and it's ready when we want to eat. I absolutely hate thinking about cooking after I am finished with school. It's nice to have dinner ready and it smells great.

 

Another biggie for me was to stop comparing my kids to other children. I was always on a rollercoaster of emotions. I was either on cloud 9 because my child was doing more than someone else. Or I was miserable and felt like a failure because my child was behind. I have quit that but it requires discipline. I just remind myself that each year my kids are making progress.

 

You have gotten some awesome responses. I hope they keep coming!

 

God Bless,

Elise in NC

[jamajo]

I have been homeschooling 12 kids for going on 23 years. The biggest change I have made that have changed things for the better is that I have RELAXED as a homeschool mom. I think it is easy to stress out and think we are not doing enough for our children when it comes to academics and that can get us into trouble. When we stress and worry over that we tend to over buy curriculum, get piled under the pressure to use it, things go south and we start over again. Getting rid of curriculum catalogs for me has been a life savor. I only keep book lists now and go from there. All 5 graduates from our home have either finished college, or are still attending and all doing well. If there were any advice I could give new homeschoolers that would be relax and enjoy the ride with your kids.

 

 

WOW! I sure enjoyed visiting your blog and seeing your wonderful family. Life must be really good. I'm a little jealous:001_smile:

[Forget-Me-Not]

Lots of good ideas. Subbing to this thread!

 

Our dining room doubles as our school room, so I make an effort to clean it after dinner. Wipe down the table, tidy it up, sweep the floor (because walking on crumbs seriously irritates me!), so it's all ready to go in the morning. I've added bar stools to my kitchen island so the kids can eat there in the mornings and not dirty up the dining room before school.

 

Insisting that my 8 yo son eat something before he starts on school in the morning. Eliminated a lot of tears and meltdowns.

 

Getting liberal "ME" time and a hobby that has nothing to do with kids or schooling (okay, it's photography so it usually DOES involve my kids but it doesn't HAVE to :D). I am blessed with an extremely supportive DH.

 

Hiring someone to do the deep cleaning.

 

The crockpot (in fact I'm going to compile a bunch of CP recipes for the upcoming year).

 

Acknowledging who I am and purchasing curriculum that is mostly 'pick-up-and-go'.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[Mom-ninja.]

Cleaning the kitchen and dishes at night instead of waiting til the morning.

[In The Great White North]

What's "the infamous file system?" Is there a link?

[kalanamak]

What's "the infamous file system?" Is there a link?

 

if you google

homeschool file system

 

or

homeschool workbox

 

you will find blog after blog with pic after pic of how people have tweaked this to fit their family.

[kalanamak]

Cleaning the kitchen and dishes at night instead of waiting til the morning.

 

Yes, and a little clean up every day.

Cooking ahead.

For me, the one "I never thought of that" is little color-coded sticky tabs put in the school books. Red could mean: start here next time; green: if you need to view the fundamentals on the current red topic, flip here; yellow: go back and review this when you've finished this chapter, or some time later in the year. Blue could mean: glossary or skipped problems.

Or, color code the text/workbook/teacher's manual on the same topic with the same color. Etc. Then, I put the books for a topic away in such a manner that the book I want to start the next session with is sticking out differently, so I grab it first.

[woolybear]

Trying this year and I really think these will make huge differences:

 

Workboxes for mom!

 

A year at a glance plan. Whew! this is amazing. I am going into my sixth year of hsing. I have made many plans, lists, and schedules. I can't believe how incredibly helpful it is to see the whole year laid out on a few pages.