How do you homeschool efficiently?

[displace]

I'm thinking of general ideas on homeschooling efficiently.  I'm organizing the office (again), trying to get the bookcases in order, writing tentative schedules down.  I know I must do appointments in the afternoons, and I'm going to limit (ha!) extracurricular sports.  I have a decent system of writing what we do for the portfolio requirements each day in OneNote (it's a good habit).  

 

I know other things can help but I don't do usually - meal planning, prepping on the weekends instead of in the morning, and staying off the internet during the day.

 

Two questions - what things do you do to make homeschooling efficient for your family?

 

How can I stay off the Internet all day (I'm always looking up news, homeschooling stuff, here, and researching curricula, etc)?  I was thinking of only reading books applicable to teaching during the day or maybe I can restrict my Internet access to only certain hours?  I didn't want to title my post How Can I Stay Off the Internet All Day because that's too embarassing to admit.   :o

[Critterfixer]

This might sound funny, but I find that if I'm on the internet too often, it's usually because I'm in a bit of time where I can't get a whole lot done. Like between subjects, or waiting or something to finish so that I can do something else. Basically, it's my choice of "activity" to fritter away my little bits of time.

What helps is trying to make sure that I eliminate the bits of time and give myself blocks of time. I'm far less likely to stay on the internet if I know that I've got two full hours to devote to writing as an example. Or if I've specifically set aside an hour or so to "plan" school. Then I can research, but I'm likely to stay on target because I know I only have that hour to work on the school planning.

 

Or, you can just get an internet like mine, one that works when it wants to, and will kick you off when you are in the middle of something important, and you'll get so frustrated with it, that you'll despise it. (Kicked me off three times in the writing of this post.)

[momacacia]

I hear ya. Love the internet, but.... Time blocking and a good schedule for the kids I think is what has to happen.

 

I also write down questions, think I need to do and research on a notebook on my desk so I can look into them and do them later when it's online time. Also, I think a lot of my websurfing is, quite frankly, boredom on my part. Hsing and engaging with kids isn't exactly the most fascinating thing for all of us; but we do it because it's best for our kids. So, I try to be aware of focusing my interests and with self-care. :-)

Edited August 4, 2017 by momacacia

[EKS]

Start at the same time every day, the earlier the better.  For us, it was 8:00.

 

End at the same time every day.  Kids focus better if they know things aren't going to drag on all day.

 

No breaks except for lunch.  Instead of breaks, alternate between "difficult" and "easy" activities.  Similarly, start with the activities that require the most focus and end with the ones that require the least.  In our homeschool, we started with math, then did other "deskwork" like grammar and writing, then any hands on work, like science activities, and then we ended with me reading aloud.  

 

Do the teaching yourself.  Don't just hand your kid a resource and tell him to go for it.  If your kid can complete a resource completely independently, it is likely below his level and, therefore, a waste of his time.

 

Do as much as you can orally.

 

Stay in the room when your kid is doing independent written work and keep him moving forward. 

 

Keep the homeschool day sacred--no appointments, phone calls, visitors, etc.  This is your job and your child's job.

 

Have a plan for the year and stick to it.  It is ok to modify the plan, but modifications should be for academic reasons and not just because time got away from you.  

 

Have a plan for the week and stick to it.  Make it flexible enough to accommodate lessons that run long, either due to the kid not understanding something or following a rabbit trail or two.

 

Piggyback some things onto bedtime.  We did a lot of read alouds that were actually a part of my homeschooling plan this way.  Also, we had periods where we did flash card work or mental math before the bedtime read aloud.  This worked particularly well for my son with dyslexia, who needed more drill than the average student.

[Ethel Mertz]

I just love the last part of your post! I have that problem as well. In terms of Critterfixer's point about frittering away small bits of time, I often have a nonfiction book on my kindle that I can read small bits of now and then. In your case, it could be teaching related.

 

This year, I've got file crates that I'll put hanging files in containing assignments and material for each week. I only have one kid, but you could color code the files for each child.

 

Meal planning is good. I should do it. You could also do freezer cooking. Sometimes I need lists or an hourly schedule to keep me on track. Good luck with the internet thing. I'm right there with you.

[ScoutTN]

I read somewhere to plan only 80% of the time available, because life happens and things often take longer than we expect.

That has helped me to plan realistically and not plan more than we can actually accomplish in the given time period. Not purposing to waste time or fritter it away, just knowing that we don't actually work every minute of a scheduled lesson block, conversations can turn into rabbit trails, some kids need more practice etc. 

[regentrude]

Regular start time every day. For us, 8am. That gets the bulk of the work done before lunch.

 

Learn to use "time confetti" efficiently: run laundry while eating breakfast, use 5-10 minute gaps to do small household tasks. 

 

Do not let anything intrude on school time; schedule all appointments, extracurriculars, homeschool activities, visitors in the afternoon.

 

If you have trouble controlling your computer time, have your computer switched off during school hours.

 

Set a realistic time for schooling. I don't know how old your kid is. In the middle grades, we did 4 or 5 hours of academic work, which means everything was done by 1pm or 2pm, including an hour lunch break. That leaves plenty of time for sports, music, play and fun.

Edited August 4, 2017 by regentrude

[DawnM]

Wow.  I am reading all this rigidity and it just never worked for us.  If I am going to be super rigid with time and tasks, they could have just gone to school and I would have just gone to work.

 

We were very flexible.  The kids actually liked it that way.  They are now in school, doing great academically, and have adapted to the rigid schedule just fine.  

 

My goal in homeschooling was relationship building first, academics second.  This meant many days of going to the museums, parks, DOING things to learn rather than book work.  I think we did about 60-70% of the work in any given curriculum, skipping things we didn't feel were important, or things they already knew, or quickly going through things they caught onto fast.

 

We may have started by 8am when they were elem. age, I honestly don't remember.  But later, we started around 9am.  

 

As for your computer time, they is really something you will have to decide how to regulate for yourself.  If you need it shut off some in the day, do it.  But I don't think getting on the computer some while they are working is a bad thing.  If I weren't needed for a particular lesson, I would surf the net some.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Wow.  I am reading all this rigidity and it just never worked for us.  If I am going to be super rigid with time and tasks, they could have just gone to school and I would have just gone to work.

 

We were very flexible.  The kids actually liked it that way.  They are now in school, doing great academically, and have adapted to the rigid schedule just fine.  

 

My goal in homeschooling was relationship building first, academics second.  This meant many days of going to the museums, parks, DOING things to learn rather than book work.  I think we did about 60-70% of the work in any given curriculum, skipping things we didn't feel were important, or things they already knew, or quickly going through things they caught onto fast.

 

We may have started by 8am when they were elem. age, I honestly don't remember.  But later, we started around 9am.  

 

As for your computer time, they is really something you will have to decide how to regulate for yourself.  If you need it shut off some in the day, do it.  But I don't think getting on the computer some while they are working is a bad thing.  If I weren't needed for a particular lesson, I would surf the net some.

 

This is pretty much how I roll.  When I've tried to be more rigid, I didn't find we got more done.

[displace]

:). We do have a mostly consistent start time. DD is doing a trial of PS K, so we will start after dropping her off. One thing I know we still need is frequent PE breaks for exercise. I have us work for about 30-40 min max before a 5-10 min exercise (or chore) break. We also have fine motor therapy and vision exercises we'll be doing. I do have to stay with him for him to focus on his work.

 

I think I feel inefficient because we do discuss a lot of other things (rabbit trails). I "feel" it's inefficient, when it's really just the process. I should be more flexible to skipping stuff, maybe? I'm not strict on finished school grade curriculum except math.

 

I especially will have to be efficient because I signed up for two days of Co-op, instead of just one. We will probably have to do some car work, morning exercises, and afternoon stuff too. And I likely won't do that again!

Edited August 4, 2017 by displace

[Carol in Cal.]

Let DD sleep in until she woke up naturally.  I figure that's one of the key advantages of homeschooling, so why not?

 

Skills in the morning.  They take 4X or more longer later on.  That means learning to read, learning to write, and math.

 

Combine, combine, combine.  Reading can relate to history lessons if you plan it right; ditto composition skills.  Choose extra-curriculars and then build content studies around them--for instance, when DD's robotics team was working on a climate project was the semester that I picked her weather and climate science book to be the coordinating study.

 

Back the heck off to focus where called for.  When it's crunch time for the robotics project, math can be skipped for a week and writing can be composing the robotics presentation.  Again, this is an advantage of homeschooling, and why not enjoy it?

 

Be curious yourself and model that.  When you're on vacation, do you want to learn about the history of a place?  You don't have to make a big fuss about it, but let your kids know that you're doing that.  It might rub off.

 

Re. the internet, it is seriously addictive.  Start late in the day if you're one of those people who pretty much can't stop once you start.

 

Plan great field trips pretty often, and assign around them even if you don't have 'study guides'.  You can do this!  The year that both Romeo and Juliet and Antigone were presented locally I gave really good composition and logic assignments around them.  I didn't get them out of a book; rather they just naturally arose from the material.  You don't have to be totally tied to schoolbooks--and in fact, if you are, you are missing out on, wait for it, another benefit of homeschooling.

 

Recognize that schools don't offer content stuff every single day until high school.  I visited the second best private school in our area, and the elementary science teacher was really proud that they taught science two days per week instead of one.  A lesser one taught science one week and social studies the other week, once each.  A public school that I volunteered in didn't let all of the kids study science AT ALL, through 5th grade.  You don't have to live down to that level, but knowing this does help people to realize that they are probably doing better than the public schools even when they think they are 'behind'.

 

Have fun with this!

[Another Lynn]

Funny, I didn't see the previous posts as rigid.   :laugh:

 

A different kind of efficiency - only use one resource per subject.  

[displace]

Funny, I didn't see the previous posts as rigid. :laugh:

 

A different kind of efficiency - only use one resource per subject.

It's Impossible to use only one resource per subject!

[Critterfixer]

:). We do have a mostly consistent start time. DD is doing a trial of PS K, so we will start after dropping her off. One thing I know we still need is frequent PE breaks for exercise. I have us work for about 30-40 min max before a 5-10 min exercise (or chore) break. We also have fine motor therapy and vision exercises we'll be doing. I do have to stay with him for him to focus on his work.

 

I think I feel inefficient because we do discuss a lot of other things (rabbit trails). I "feel" it's inefficient, when it's really just the process. I should be more flexible to skipping stuff, maybe? I'm not strict on finished school grade curriculum except math.

 

I especially will have to be efficient because I signed up for two days of Co-op, instead of just one. We will probably have to do some car work, morning exercises, and afternoon stuff too. And I likely won't do that again!

On Co-op days, can you just let that be school? If you are trying to get in all of what you wanted to do at home, plus what has to be done at co-op, I think that would really be stressful and not conducive to efficiency.

[Critterfixer]

It's Impossible to use only one resource per subject!

But would using fewer save you time and energy? 

[Carol in Cal.]

OH!  Almost forgot pretty much the most countercultural one--no park days.

 

Now, we did TONS of field trips, and group classes and so forth.  And we went to the parks a lot.

 

But park days always started in the morning, and mornings were our academic sweet spot, so no park days for us.

[displace]

But would using fewer save you time and energy?

No!!!! I... can't...do...it...

 

Seriously, instead of jumping back and forth I'll probably finish X curriculum before going to Y...

Maybe 😆😩

[Carol in Cal.]

No!!!! I... can't...do...it...

 

Seriously, instead of jumping back and forth I'll probably finish X curriculum before going to Y...

Maybe 😆😩

Naaah, that's no fun.

Teach the kid, not the curriculum.

[displace]

OH! Almost forgot pretty much the most countercultural one--no park days.

 

Now, we did TONS of field trips, and group classes and so forth. And we went to the parks a lot.

 

But park days always started in the morning, and mornings were our academic sweet spot, so no park days for us.

I don't go to morning park days either. We are part of a group that meets in the afternoon so that's good. Because of all the coop I think our field trips will have to be family weekend trips instead. But I'm ok with that because our homeschool group field trips tend to be huge and too crowded.

Might have to move art to the weekends as well. 😒

Edited August 4, 2017 by displace

[heartlikealion]

I could have written a lot of your post. We are trying to get the office organized this week. Dh promised me he'd help me get it in order over the weekend. We are basically having ds do school in the dining room and store some of the school stuff in there and some in here. We have to move around some shelving units. I'm just trying to move things up higher out of dd's reach. Yesterday I spent a chunk of the day collecting pieces of games and trying to put them back in order. I can't find the bag of "pizza" for our fraction game.

 

I might have to ban myself from the internet for a chunk of the day.

 

We had the kids going to bed at good times for part of the week but not last night. Ugh guess bedtime ritual is on the list for us again.

 

I agree that I'm trying to do appointments in the afternoon. But not so much because of school. We're just not morning people.

[Liz CA]

Funny, I didn't see the previous posts as rigid.   :laugh:

 

 

I didn't either. Everyone has their own plan.

I have to say though for some subjects we had several resources, for others maybe only one - like spelling in earlier grades.

 

Beginning with early teens, I transferred more responsibility onto the student. I had a dayminder where I wrote down what needed to be completed that day in each subject. He looked at it and checked things off. There was some flexibility but we had a goal and most days we reached it.

I involved the student by asking how long do you think this project / assignment will take and he had some input.

Of course, I still supervised, assisted when necessary and made sure work was graded promptly.

 

I had a separate plan for housework and other household stuff. Laundry and prepping vegetables could be done while ds did some reading or work that did not require me to be right there.

At a certain age - cannot remember exactly when - I went grocery shopping while he was doing some work.

We took some mini breaks and one longer break over lunch. During mini breaks, ds was outside a lot because we had animals and he checked on horse water, collected eggs from chicken coop, etc. I figured that got him up and moving and was good for him.

 

We kept outside obligations to a minimum because we lived very rural and a trip into town was a 1.5 hour round trip.

He played soccer with the local team and we went rollberblading with the homeschool group. I did not outsource academics until he was old enough to take dual enrollment classes at the local CC.

[Carol in Cal.]

Along those same lines (no park days because *mornings*), I hunted for classes and lessons that were high quality and also geared toward regular schoolers.  That way they would be late in the day, and not interfere with our homeschooling life and its general relaxed 'feel'.  And (bonus!) DD always knew a variety of kids--public schooled, homeschooled, private schooled, combo; which was nice.  I NEVER let a provider tell me that they reserve their after school spots for 'regular' school kids, which some did try to do.  

 

Now we also did classes during the day that were specifically geared toward homeschoolers, but that is different from things like piano or voice or sports lessons with a broad audience of participants that tended to be short and mostly after school hours. 

[Murphy101]

No devices/computer use in the schooling area.

 

I knit during those waiting on a kid gap moments.

[Carol in Cal.]

Also, consider whether 'coop' is taking all the fun out of homeschooling *for you*.

Because you need to be refreshed, also.  

 

For instance, there was a coop that met locally one or two days per week that did all the 'fun stuff'--SOTW, science, art--and assigned all the skill stuff.  I would have hated that.  I did not generally enjoy teaching the skills stuff, but the content stuff was really fun for me as well as for DD.  And to be defined as the no fun mom but still homeschooling would have been horrible.

 

To me coops are only worthwhile if they teach stuff that either I wouldn't teach or that significantly provides group related benefits, like discussions or team experiences that really are impossible to have in a home setting.  So, for instance, if there had been a coop that taught foreign language, drawing, team sports, and maybe math, and really made sure the kids learned the material, I would have liked that.  But one to just skim off the content stuff?  No.  Just no.

 

Coops we enjoyed (I'm talking fullish days)--nature awareness (outside all day one day per week, experiencing wild nature and traditional skills).  "Build Your Own Country"--a social studies day in which kids teamed up to set up countries and then a UN, etc.  "Voyage of the Mimi"--geography, survival skills, science, outdoor ed.  I limited this kind of thing to no more than one day per week, and in exchange DD would do one extra math lesson on the weekend to keep that continuous.

[displace]

On Co-op days, can you just let that be school? If you are trying to get in all of what you wanted to do at home, plus what has to be done at co-op, I think that would really be stressful and not conducive to efficiency.

Maybe for some. Most of our coop is science stuff so I will not do as much science but probably still some (unless we can't afford the time). The problem is we can't skip two whole days of all LA, but I'll probably be able to skip some on alternate days.

 

I knew I shouldn't have signed up for two coop days! It's only for two months though, so if it's really bad I'll rework it for the spring. (And I almost signed up for another day!)

[PeterPan]

Wow, I'd be axing some of that co-op junk even before it started. Unless they're hitting core subjects for you (math, LA, whatever), that's way overkill. You're gonna go crazy. Now maybe you LIKE crazy... 

 

You could consider meds for the ADHD. I'm just reading between the lines there. I'm not saying you should, just that you *could*. It would make things more efficient, and you wanted efficient. It sounds like you'd like him to be able to focus and do a little independent work. That's age-appropriate it would help with that.

 

You might do a sport instead of that 2nd day of co-op. A sport that would help tame his body so he could focus and work more efficiently. ;)  With my dd, we ice skated daily. With my ds, we've done gymnastics and swimming. Now I've got him doing swimming and running. So, you know, whatever it takes.

 

As far as staying off the internet, when I want to do that and be really SURE I'm not getting sucked in, I check my morning email and messages on my phone. I don't keep it on all the time anyway, so I turn it on, check, then turn it back off. That means I don't sit down at my regular, big screen computer and get lulled in. Works for me. Then I tell my personal discipline when I'm ok to sit down at the big computer. 

 

I really agree with Carol on the co-op thing. He's coming from school, yes? Do you think you're being sort of reactionary or trying to balance out concerns over social or something? You might want to slow down there and check the balance. 

 

[PeterPan]

It's Impossible to use only one resource per subject!

 

Not true. You can use one resource, double pace. ;)

[heartlikealion]

our co-op meets twice a month. I tried to tell dh I don't really look at them as a replacement for any subjects we teach. Dh says he's going to help homeschool this year but I reminded him that twice a month his day is co-op day and he can't even drive the kids there because he wouldn't be back in time for his work shift so basically those days will still be mine.

 

I couldn't commit to co-op if it was more often. It's too disruptive for us. It's 45 min. away and inevitably I spend money on lunch or have to pack food because it's lunch time when we get out.

 

Currently cleaning the office and still checking the internet lol :o

[displace]

No devices/computer use in the schooling area.

 

I knit during those waiting on a kid gap moments.

Fabulous idea to craft while waiting!!

 

No electronics won't work as I'm taking notes, etc. but we could minimize it.

[displace]

Along those same lines (no park days because *mornings*), I hunted for classes and lessons that were high quality and also geared toward regular schoolers. That way they would be late in the day, and not interfere with our homeschooling life and its general relaxed 'feel'. And (bonus!) DD always knew a variety of kids--public schooled, homeschooled, private schooled, combo; which was nice. I NEVER let a provider tell me that they reserve their after school spots for 'regular' school kids, which some did try to do.

 

Now we also did classes during the day that were specifically geared toward homeschoolers, but that is different from things like piano or voice or sports lessons with a broad audience of participants that tended to be short and mostly after school hours.

For an example, what kind of after school classes are there? Besides tutoring places or maybe high school college prep stuff, I've not heard of it and I'd like to investigate.

[displace]

I didn't either. Everyone has their own plan.

I have to say though for some subjects we had several resources, for others maybe only one - like spelling in earlier grades.

 

Beginning with early teens, I transferred more responsibility onto the student. I had a dayminder where I wrote down what needed to be completed that day in each subject. He looked at it and checked things off. There was some flexibility but we had a goal and most days we reached it.

I involved the student by asking how long do you think this project / assignment will take and he had some input.

Of course, I still supervised, assisted when necessary and made sure work was graded promptly.

 

I had a separate plan for housework and other household stuff. Laundry and prepping vegetables could be done while ds did some reading or work that did not require me to be right there.

At a certain age - cannot remember exactly when - I went grocery shopping while he was doing some work.

We took some mini breaks and one longer break over lunch. During mini breaks, ds was outside a lot because we had animals and he checked on horse water, collected eggs from chicken coop, etc. I figured that got him up and moving and was good for him.

 

We kept outside obligations to a minimum because we lived very rural and a trip into town was a 1.5 hour round trip.

He played soccer with the local team and we went rollberblading with the homeschool group. I did not outsource academics until he was old enough to take dual enrollment classes at the local CC.

Great idea for chores during downtime. I think on breaks I'll exercise with DS.

[trulycrabby]

I only had one student during the three years I homeschooled, but choosing open-and-go curriculum really helped me stay efficient.

 

I also did the teacher-intensive subjects in the morning, then independent student work in the afternoon.

 

We never did co-ops as I did not know of any in my area that were academically vigorous, but we are lucky enough to have two local science museums and a planetarium which all had educational outreach programs and/or homeschool classes. A local biotech company has camps in the summer which fulfilled my lab requirements.

Edited August 4, 2017 by trulycrabby

[Robin M]

During the week, my kiddo isn't allowed to do any technology until 4:00.   I hold myself to the same standard which enables me to be fully available if he needs help or we are working together, plus I get more done.  To do lists help me be more efficient as well.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Robin M

[Carol in Cal.]

For an example, what kind of after school classes are there? Besides tutoring places or maybe high school college prep stuff, I've not heard of it and I'd like to investigate.

 

Sports leagues.

Musical instrument lessons

Choral music\

Robotics

Art

Ceramics

Gymnastics

Dance

Foreign language

Kumon

Math Olympiad

Logic teams

Presidential Fitness class

Woodworking

Knitting

Crochet

Sewing

Ice skating

Mock trial

Debate/Forensics

Toastmasters (there is a version for kids)

4H

Scouts

Junior Naturalists (at the local zoo)

Various classes at natural history and science museums

Drama

Ballet

 

You can drive yourself crazy with the selection once you start digging into this.  But don't think about that.  :)

Edited August 4, 2017 by Carol in Cal.

[PeterPan]

During the week, my kiddo isn't allowed to do any technology until 4:00.   I hold myself to the same standard which enables me to be fully available if he needs help or we are working together, plus I get more done.  To do lists help me be more efficient as well.

 

You have officially raised the bar. You are the woman! I've NEVER been that strict with myself, but I do have a no tv till 3 policy, etc. :D

[regentrude]

Maybe for some. Most of our coop is science stuff so I will not do as much science but probably still some (unless we can't afford the time). The problem is we can't skip two whole days of all LA, but I'll probably be able to skip some on alternate days.

 

I knew I shouldn't have signed up for two coop days! It's only for two months though, so if it's really bad I'll rework it for the spring. (And I almost signed up for another day!)

 

I have found coop to be the worst enemy of efficiency. 

 

If efficiency is your goal, I would cut coop out, or do at maximum one day. 

[Lang Syne Boardie]

About the time spent "at elbow" waiting for child to finish their lesson - that's when I grade all my students' work. I mark it the same day, as it comes in, while they are studying. I like to check work the same day, for lots of reasons, but I don't like staring down a stack of homework at night. So I'm working while they're working. If there's nothing to grade, I work on next week's lesson plans and schedules, or pre-reading or studying teacher's guides.

[displace]

During the week, my kiddo isn't allowed to do any technology until 4:00. I hold myself to the same standard which enables me to be fully available if he needs help or we are working together, plus I get more done. To do lists help me be more efficient as well.

I think this is he way to go for both DS and I and DD. And usually we have extracurriculars in the evening so it would really restrict usage all around.

[displace]

Sports leagues.

Musical instrument lessons

Choral music\

Robotics

Art

Ceramics

Gymnastics

Dance

Foreign language

Kumon

Math Olympiad

Logic teams

Presidential Fitness class

Woodworking

Knitting

Crochet

Sewing

Ice skating

Mock trial

Debate/Forensics

Toastmasters (there is a version for kids)

4H

Scouts

Junior Naturalists (at the local zoo)

Various classes at natural history and science museums

Drama

Ballet

 

You can drive yourself crazy with the selection once you start digging into this. But don't think about that. :)

Ok, these are similar to coop offerings around here.

 

Honestly, I say coop but they are more : pay homeschool teachers for child to take a class. Most are during the day. Other places like museum classes or zoo classes are during the day too. Private lessons and sports can be afternoons easily here.

[regentrude]

During the week, my kiddo isn't allowed to do any technology until 4:00.  

 

He does not need a computer for any of his school work?

[displace]

I have found coop to be the worst enemy of efficiency.

 

If efficiency is your goal, I would cut coop out, or do at maximum one day.

I know 😩 I knew I made a mistake doing coop two days. I heard such Great Things about a STEAM group and I caved for a second day but I'll likely cut out coop unless it's afternoons only in the spring. DS is so super social that he needs kid interaction daily and it's easier with kids on a more regular basis instead of the round robin groups we get with sports, extracurriculars, etc. and where we live, the kids all go off to do their extracurriculars so we rarely meet up with kids just to play. That's what we actually need.

[displace]

At least during coop I will have plenty of planning time, which I never had before.

 

And today I dragged myself away from the boards for a few hours! 😆

[Robin M]

He does not need a computer for any of his school work?

 

 

He has a internet disabled laptop which he uses to type his stuff. If he needs to do internet research, he'll do it in the afternoon on my computer. He has a tendency to get in trouble with the internet if left to his own too long.  

[NancyNellen]

I have found coop to be the worst enemy of efficiency.

 

If efficiency is your goal, I would cut coop out, or do at maximum one day.

THIS.

Edited August 5, 2017 by NancyNellen

[Carol in Cal.]

. DS is so super social that he needs kid interaction daily and it's easier with kids on a more regular basis instead of the round robin groups we get with sports, extracurriculars, etc. and where we live, the kids all go off to do their extracurriculars so we rarely meet up with kids just to play. That's what we actually need.

OK, but you could send him off to THOSE extracurriculars--they would take up less time, and he would get to know school children in the neighborhood.

[kroe1]

No advice as only the Betty Ford Clinic would have a sliver of hope of getting me off the Internet. I t is a ridiculous time waster.

[maize]

OP, when looking at limiting your internet usage you'll need to start by figuring out what role it is playing in your life. Is there a need it is meeting?

For myself, I discovered that when I tried to avoid the internet completely during the day I was becoming increasingly stressed as time went on. I figured out that I was using those bits of online time to destress; as an introvert in a household of kids I NEED to take mini-breaks throughout the day and hopping on my phone for a few minutes here and there serves nicely without pulling me in and not letting me go the way that, say, reading a novel would.

Edited August 5, 2017 by maize

[displace]

See? I stayed away! Actually I was just perusing instead of responding. I do think the internet helps me relax some when I'm stressed and just want to read the news. But I use it more than necessary.

Edited August 6, 2017 by displace

[Soror]

For me-

 

PLANNING- knowing what we are going to do before we start the day- I do a general plan for the year then 4-6 wks at a time more specifically

 

ORGANIZING- everything is where it is supposed to be so we don't waste time hunting things down (and my kids all get distracted by clutter)

 

CLEANING- in the vein of organizing if we start the day in a clean house things run more efficiently, food takes less time to prep, chores take less time, etc

 

Efficiency in materials is deciding what we are using and why and then adapting curriculum for our usage. Just because we are using a curriculum doesn't mean we have to do it to a T. We do the parts that work for us and skip the rest. Also, I tend to use fewer resources these days, in the name of sanity and not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. The more transitions you have the longer school takes. 

 

No electronics until school is finished AND it is after 3pm. I can't imagine trying to finish school if my kids got to play games in the middle of the games, no playing until work is done. Ds does use the computer to type things up and dd does some science online, otherwise they are off.

 

I try to stay off electronics during school time, some days I do better than others. Things run much better if I keep my visits until after they are done and spend little breaks doing little jobs around the house.

 

I generally do deep cleaning and organization once a season during break weeks. I don't generally have enough time during the school weeks to do all I'd like so we use breaks as a chance to catch up. I also have lowered standards on some things, clutter isn't much tolerated but dust is often overlooked :) 

 

[ktgrok]

There are apps you can put on your computer to limit your time on the internet, or to limit certain websites at certain times etc. Check out Freedom.