Homeschool Classroom for Four

Avoid Homeschool Burnout...

I've heard it said that if you are new to homeschooling, and you haven't felt like crying several times in the first few weeks, then you are not really homeschooling. We feel the full impact of our own character flaws as well as the faults in our children.  Part of homeschooling is developing patience. Now is the time to adjust, to find better ways of doing things that aren't working out, and develop good habits while establishing a routine with a flexible schedule.

A plan and a schedule...

is of utmost important for getting homeschool done. Sometimes we plan more than we can possibly do. We must be realistic in our planning, but with creativity, often we can increase productivity in the time that we have.   There are a number of very good homeschool planners available for purchase that can really increase your productivity and help you keep up with the records, your homeschool schedule, and details of your homeschooling experience (No easy task). You can find many helpful ideas, forms, and information that puts your family on the right track.

Children's Chores

In order for a parent to be free to homeschool, many household chores must be delegated to the children. Summer is the best time to establish chore responsibilities and teach children how to do their chores well, but if it is not going well, the only way to fix it is to devote some time each day to teaching your children how to do their chores.  This will pay off in the end, but for right now, it seems to be a heavy burden. Don't feel stressed about the time it takes to get school days going somewhat smoothly. This is just a fact of life.  The whole process is a learning experience.

Help Your Children Develop Life Skills:

Learn to value the living experiences that your children are learning through as well as the academics that you are seeking to teach.  It is all part of a balanced life and preparation for maturity.  Many practical skills are essential for your children to learn and home is such a well equipped training ground for young learners. A favorite resource of mine that is a tremendous help to scheduling in a large family is Managers in Their Homes (MOTH for short).  After more than 20 years of homeschooling, I have never seen another product as helpful for managing homeschool and life for a large family.

Advice to New Homeschool Parents:

My advice to new homeschool parents is to give yourself some slack during the first month or so of school at home. Try to find enjoyment in the process.  Do not allow yourself to be stressed.  Maintain a sense of humor and try to keep the an encouraging atmosphere that has built in rewards for accomplishments. You must establish some sort of accountability program that all the children understand which will encourage hard work and completion of assigned tasks.

Incorporate an Accountability System in Your Homeschool Organization:

That's where an accountability system that includes checklists or charts are needed.  Such a system will have definite, predefined requirements along with planned rewards or planned withholding of privileges to correspond with the child's effort and/or accomplishments.

More than one of my children has expressed dislike for checklists claiming that they can get their work done without it. But Mom knows better. There is some laziness as the heart of every human being and that includes my children. They don't want a checksheet because it makes them have to work hard every day. If a system is used properly, parents are daily aware of what is accomplished by each child and make sure that the privileges or lack of priviledges that in contengent on their work, is delivered. This also teaches the valuable lesson of good  consequences for good behavior or or bad consequences for bad behavior.

One of my favorite verses that I remember when I am feeling stressed and burdened is "Come to Me all of you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." I receive peace of mind when I leave the outcome to Christ. I must give it my best effort, but He brings the fruit, He accomplishes all good things.

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(Thanks to the Reed family for sharing their homeschool classroom picture above....Thanks, Heather!)

Read about the Simmons family's Year Round Homeschool Schedule.  It has built in time to de-stress and pursue your hobbies and interests.

Read how one family avoids homeschool burnout....a different approach.

And remember to avoid financial burnout by checking Best Homeschool Buys.com for great prices on Used Homeschool Curriculum.

Used Homeschool Curriculum Searches for Textbooks and Workbooks

homeschool classroom, homeschool, Pictures of Homeschool Classrooms, homeschool classroom pictures, classroom organization, pictures of homeschool classroom, photos homeschooling classrooms, homeschooling classroom pictures, homeschool schedule are some of the homeschool curriculum and other resources that homeschool families need. What homeschool books are you looking for? Go to our MASTER MENU or use the SEARCH box in the sidebar.

The Old Schoolhouse has paired their one-year print subscription with the Schoolhouse Planner to provide you with the ultimate in organization and encouragement. U.S., Canadian, and other international residents can purchase these bundles for only $44--that's a savings of $20!

But Hurry! Only 250 of each bundle is available and many have sold.

International residents have their own special bundle! A one-year print subscription and the Schoolhouse Planner are only $54.00. This is a savings of over $30!

Canadian residents can enjoy a TOS Encouragement Bundle for only $44! Save $20 and get a one-year print subscription and the Schoolhouse Planner! )

Check out Cindy's New Organized Mom Super Set! It is full of great ebooks and audios that will help take you by the hand and plan the best homeschool year ever! Plus! When you purchase your set you get MORE help with record-keeping, organization, and setting up your home to learn--you also get access to Cindy's Organization 911 Seminar Set and her newest Seminar Set, Let's Get Organized for the New School Year.

Easy Record-Keeping for the Reluctant Homeschool Mom!
By Cindy Rushton

Record-keeping!  Does your hair stand up when you think of record-keeping? Do you begin to grind your teeth?  Did you feel like skipping this article just because it seems impossible for “EASY” and “Record-keeping” to ever go together??

Relax.  I know that there is not a “one size fits all.” I know that in spite of how hard we may search, there is not a perfect system for every mom!  That is OK! My prayer is that if you are in need of some ideas to make a couple areas a little easier or if you have no idea of where to begin, that you will find a few ideas as you come home with us to see how simple record-keeping CAN be.  Ready for some quick tips??? Here we go…

--> Find what is mandatory. Every state and school district has differing requirements. Find other homeschool families in your area and see how each of them manages their homeschool records. Find the easiest way possible to meet the requirements. Make it as DOABLE as possible!

--> Choose what works for YOU. Every mom has her favorite method that works JUST for them whether a planner with reproducible pages… a ready to use planner… a simple spiral notebook… binders… a filing cabinet… computer… etc, etc, etc!  Before you consider anything else, look at who you are.  What makes you feel more comfortable? What helps you to feel more accomplishment?  Whether formal or informal… detailed or not even written down… YOUR way is the best way!  Decide what works best for you!

--> Document daily! Don’t let it build up. Jot it down throughout the day. When my children were little, I kept one journal for everything. I kept it out on my desk so I could just jot down what we were doing as we did it. It was amazing how much easier that was than even waiting till the end of the day. As they got older, I transferred this process to them. I had always made it easy. So, transferring it to them did not overwhelm them. I began this process by letting them keep up with their reading log. The rest was easy after that. They now keep their records just like I used to. At the end of the month and again at the end of the semester I go through making sure that everything is on target and also look to see how well they are keeping up with my overall schedule. Without good records, this would be impossible.

--> Keep all of their work in Notebooks. We keep ALL of our written work in a binder of some sort.  Then, we take it further… we keep ANYTHING that can be pressed in binders.  Anything left?? Yes! Then, we take pictures and keep THEM in the binders! (Hehe!)  ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that can be studied can also be kept in Notebooks in some way.  We keep anything that would expand a study and build a great collection of information on topics we study… great quotes, definitions about a subject being studied, diagrams, character sketches, pictures, coloring sheets, art prints, poems, Bible verses, narrations, Bible word studies, on and on!  Our main reason for Notebooking in this way is that if our children are going to spend their time DOING something, it ought to be worthwhile enough for us to KEEP IT.  This teaches them to value their work, do a great job on all they do, and that ALL areas of life are truly educational.

--> Scrapbook events, activities, fun studies, and projects! Scrapbooks/Yearbooks for what are REALLY doing throughout our school year is not only fun, but it helps to preserve the memories of ALL that we are doing in our family.  There are just some things that our children are learning that are impossible to document without scrapbooking! Get out of the old “school” box and really document your family’s education. You won’t be sorry!

--> Use planning sheets designed JUST for homeschooling. Don’t let commercial record-keepers keep you from homeschooling with a lifestyle of learning! Look for printable pages that are designed just for the homeschool mom. You can find great options everywhere!

--> Buy resources that are designed just for you. We have an entire line of resources that we now have available through our bookstore. Check out our Make Your Own Brain-in-a-Binder Printables. It is designed specifically for the homeschool mom who wants pages designed for every area that must be balanced in the busy homeschool family. Also, check out other great resources by homeschool writers and even pages that are included in many homeschool books (we always try to include pages that we use in our books).  Now, you may be like me. You may prefer to make your own planning pages. That is perfectly fine! You can tailor your pages to fit exactly with your family needs. Just be sure to use what works for you!

--> At the end of the school year, file all records together. This may seem to be a mute point, however this will save your brain! At the end of our school year, I gather everything together and add them into one big binder. I date the binder and store it away for my children’s permanent file. Be sure to pull all of your records together into a set and safe place. When you get discouraged along the way, just look back and see how far you have come—it will be a HUGE blessing!

Ok...So, Are You Ready?

So, what about you?  Still scared about Record-keeping?  Why not think through YOUR OWN way?  Try your spin.  Use what is easy, simple, and will give you more time with your little ones while helping to keep things in place for you.  Most of all, find a way that can capture all of these precious memories of these days for you so you will have them to look back upon tomorrow!  Have fun! EVEN with Record-keeping!

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Need MORE Help?

Check out Cindy's New Organized Mom Super Set! It is full of great ebooks and audios that will help take you by the hand and plan the best homeschool year ever! Plus! When you purchase your set you get MORE help with record-keeping, organization, and setting up your home to learn--you also get access to Cindy's Organization 911 Seminar Set and her newest Seminar Set, Let's Get Organized for the New School Year.

Yep! Both! Complimentary!  Get your set here:

I wrote last year about our success with  our Year Round Homeschool Schedule.  If you haven't settled on a good schedule for your family, you might want to read here about what Cindy Rushton is offering that you can help you (Free for you). It concerns developing a good schedule for your family. This is the story:

Cindy was telling me all about her Ultimate Homeschool Expo.  She has just finished adding all of the resources into the Ultimate Homeschool Expo virtual library where everything is ONLINE for your convenience. Cindy builds a  exclusive Membership Site that includes everything from the UHSE in one place--it has audios (from all of the sessions and from the bonus gifts that her speakers give to us), ebooks, complete unit study guides, articles, printable notebooking pages, cookbooks, on and on. I can't believe all of the things that we receive for only $39.95. But she is offering a sampler FREE...

I am so excited that Cindy has given me permission to give my readers a sampler of one of her free gifts that is part of the Membership Site. This gift is an ebook and audio set that Cindy normally sells on her website.

I just listened to this and it is so practical and helpful, just what what I need to help me set priorities and set up the routines that will help us accomplish our goals.

Listen to.....

Scheduling ABC’s Audio Workshop with Cindy Rushton

Let Cindy show you her secrets to developing a homeschool schedule that works for your family!
Download by Mp3
http://tinyurl.com/2cpsb9  (you may have to copy this url and paste into your browser

As a  picture captures a thousand words, a gift like this lets you see the value of the Homeschool Expo Library.  And, just think...this is only ONE of the homeschooling helpful gifts included on the Homeschool Expo Membership Site. There are hundreds more!
New homeschooling ideas and classic homeschooling ideas are ready and waiting to encourage homeschool families.  Join today and get set your next homeschool year.

Kid's Chores

Tips for Successful Kids Chores

Homeschooling families have to be organized to get the household chores done.  The benefits of developing a better system for your children's chores is two-fold:

1) The house cleaner and straighter

2) The children learn to work (and hopefully develop a good work ethic and an appreciation for what others do for them).

I want to encourage you in the worthwhile endeavor of teaching your children to work in the home and with the family. This e-book - Tips for Successful Kids Chores will help you improve your home chore plan. You will find suggestions for implementing a chore program in your home that includes your children. Here you will find some ideas for how it is done in other homes. Also, you'll find chore ideas to give to your children so that they can to work as part your family team.

Included in this booklet are the following sections:

1. How to organize your children’s rooms including how to perform a 3 day blitz!
2. How to deal with unsavoury attitudes over chores
3. Age by age chore suggestions & help
4. Zoning your child’s room
5. Dealing with Chore Allowances
6. Motivation for training your children to do their chores
7. How to set up your chore pocket system
8. Chore cards for children from preschool to young teen (Separate File)

This is mostly a total system to enable you get your chore plan up and running but also has a chore pocket system that adds some fun to the process. While the booklet will help mothers with kids of all ages the pocket system is mainly for children from preschool to 10 years of age.

This booklet, Tips for Successful Kids Chores, is offered free from CurrClick for the last week of December 2008.  Every week CurrClick offer certain free downloads primarily for homeschooling. Sign up for the CurrClick mailing list to find out what is free each week.  It is a great deal for homeschoolers, especially those that enjoy making lapbooks and notebooks in their studies.

For my best tips for avoiding homeschool burnout see post on Homeschool Stress.

Used Homeschool Curriculum Searches for Textbooks and Workbooks

children helping household chores, kids chores pictures, kids chores pics, kids chores, kid chores, images of kids house chores, helping household chores, chores for kids around the house pics, children\s chore pictures filterui:imagesize-medium are some of the homeschool curriculum and other resources that homeschool families need. What homeschool books are you looking for? Go to our MASTER MENU or use the SEARCH box in the sidebar.

Lane and Nathan loving a science experiment.

Over the last 22 years of homeschooling, we have had to develop daily schedules each year that fit our family. Having a schedule gave us a flexible structure that helped us in reaching our goals though we rarely had days that fit the schedule without adjustments.

Year-round Homeschool

Besides having a daily schedule, we roughly followed the public school's schedule...starting in August and ending in May with the flexibility to take trips with Dad during the school year. However, we found a better way, when we decided to homeschool year round.

I have found that even with my best intentions, it is hard to have school in the summer as thoroughly as during the rest of the year. It may be just me, but I believe I am conditioned to feel the need to be off the school routine more during the summer. Also, since we have friends or family that follow the traditional school calendar, a summer school schedule cuts into some of the activities our children might be invited to do. So…we take about 4 weeks together off during the summer or maybe even 6 weeks.

The beauty of it is you can plan your 36 weeks of school and fit them in however you want to. If you want to do more than 36 weeks, that is fine, too. My preference is to try to keep the children reading, at least for pleasure. Even in their weeks off, and sometimes I have them do a ½ lesson of math, just so they don’t forget what they have been learning. We don’t do writing requirements when we are off, and if the reading of math doesn’t get done, it’s OK. It is encouraged though if we are not too busy.

The week off every 4 or 5 weeks is for my rejuvenation, too. I get to catch up on things and even tackle some projects that I don’t normally have time to do. This helps me not to feel burned out. It also gives our family a chance to concentrate on practical living skills and learning in other ways, including following interests to a greater degree.

Planning your homeschool schedule is a very individual thing and we have tremendous freedom to set up our time in a way that works best for our own family. Here are some great ideas to think about when you plan a schedule for getting homeschool done.

Used Homeschool Curriculum Searches for Textbooks and Workbooks

our homeschool schedule, Rod and Staff English 4 schedule, year round homeschool schedule, Year-round homeschool are some of the homeschool curriculum and other resources that homeschool families need. What homeschool books are you looking for? Go to our MASTER MENU or use the SEARCH box in the sidebar.

Homeschooling moms must juggle teaching with housework, cooking, shopping, mothering, being a good wife.  My best advice is for you to PLAN & PRAY...

Here is a list of planning tips:

1.  Write out goals for the family as a whole and for each child. Make sure that the goals are realistic and not idealistic.  They are to aim for, but not to cause discouragement.  Keep in mind, the beauty of homeschooling is its flexibilility.  These goals will allow you to be focused in your planning.  You will be able to achieve more with goals than without.

2.  Declutter the house. There are excellent books available to help you with this task.  Basically, you need to throw away, give away, or store enough stuff to make your home easier to keep in order and more peaceful to live in.  It is great to have a "clean out" day with the whole family involved.  With some children, though, this is difficult when they don't want to let any of their possessions go.  If you have room in the attic, let your child pack a box of toys to store there rather than having to give them away or throw them away.  (My daugher-now 18-still remembers and reminds me that I got rid of some of her dearly loved stuffed animals years ago!  I learned my lesson and never again did I make a decision about her things without letting her be involved!!)

3.  Work up a new chore chart, post it, and make sure everyone is doing their part. If the children have gotten rusty on completing chores over the summer, or if moms and dads have been slack on holding them accountable for their work, then it is time to get the chore routines back in gear!  This is essential for me to have time for homeschool.  These days it is so easy to make chore charts on a word processor.  When we started homeschooling, over 20 years ago, I made them with paper, pencil, and ruler.  My children always enjoyed marking off chores and receiving a  sticker to mount on the chart when all their daily chores were completed.

4. Plan for meals;  keep them simple. We mostly have cereal for breakfast.  Sometimes one of the children cooks breakfast.  I always encourage them to take on more responsibility and learn how to do new things. Lunch is usually sandwiches, leftover pizza, soup, and/or fruit.  As soon as the kids are old enough, they make their own lunch.  They really enjoy being able to decide what they want and fix it themselves.  Then occasionally, I make lunch for everybody.  Supper is the meal that needs to be planned for.  You will feel twice as burnt out if you are scurrying around in the late afternoon trying to make a good supper for your family without a plan in place.  I recommend once a month cooking to supply 2-4 meals weekly from the freezer.  Oooo....that takes so much pressure off of your daily schedule.  Cooking one or two meals that take a substantial amount of time is a lot easier than cooking like that every day.  Plan some quick menus to fill in the rest of days a week.  Again, be realistic in your meal planning...but plan you must.

5.  As good as planning is, it falls far short without prayer and seeking wisdom from the Lord.  As I tell my children, reading the Word and prayer ALWAYS has priority over homeschool academics.

Proverbs 16:9 says "The mind of the man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.