HOW TO ORGANIZE IT ALL

Keeping Track of Schedules

How to keep track of what multiple learners are doing and where they are going?  Different families use different systems and my own have evolved over time. For the last few years I have simply used two white boards. 

• Board #1 is where we keep track of learning assignments for each child.

  • Each child has a section of it where we write their learning activities for the day on it plus any ongoing deadlines. Kids and parents can see what’s on the list from across the room.

  • Kids cross off task when they’ve finished them.

  • At the top of the board we list what time stuff is happening that day like this:

    • 9:00- Online3g webinar

    • 10:00-12- Piano lessons

    • 2:00 Mom picks up H. from class

    • 3:30-4:30 Leave for Art

• On project days they make their own learning lists.

• Board #2 has the days of the week listed on it and lists reoccurring activities by day of the week, such as group classes, webinars, private lessons and other weekly commitments and due dates. It also lists off to the side a list of subjects we typically tackle that day so that we don’t forget to do one thing that’s less thrilling (usually grammar is what gets ignored.)

How to not spin too many plates

1. Early on in my homeschooling career a veteran homeschooling mom recommended teaching all or most of your kids the same history and science topics but at different levels of difficulty. That advice was a life saver in the beginning. The longer you homeschool, the easier it gets to individualize instruction more and more for each child. But as you start out that advice will simplify your planning and time management.

2. Outsource a subject or two or three that you’re not an expert in, via a webinar or online class or to a local expert. Perhaps you enroll a child in a class, or join a co-op and swap expertise, or form your own informal co-op. If you love teaching history, teach history, but if teaching writing makes you nervous, find a writing teacher.

3. Project days are my favorite days. These are the days when one child says, “Mom I’m going to research how to build a trebuchet so I can build one that hurls tennis balls,” while another kids says, “Mom, I’m going to watch this Great Courses lecture on infectious diseases and take notes and then have a super math day, “ Or, "Mom, I’m going to go do my Daily Observation, then sketch, then practice cursive in the rabbit enclosure. Is that okay?'“ These are days your kids dig into what interests them and you coach and guide (this means virtually no reminding or nagging!) Let the kids take the lead more these days and you offer support. Some ask, why not do this every day? Some families indeed do that, but in our house that results in kids avoiding disciplines/tasks/skills that they are weak in or find boring. Which would lead to big gaps in what they can do and know. A well rounded education requires competency across disciplines not just mastery of your favorite stuff.

BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF and YOUR KIDS

You will have great homeschooling days. And you will have lousy days.

You are going to have a steep learning curve. The kids aren’t the only ones learning new things. You are learning how to teach. On the job. With no training. That’s tricky.

As a gut check, remember that professional teachers spend one to two years in graduate school studying theory and then six more months practicing with master teachers after getting a bachelor’s degree in the subject area they planned to teach (for middle and high school teachers at least.) You aren’t getting that advantage.

So cut yourself some slack when you’re not awesome at it immediately. (I don’t walk into your accounting office or dental office and expect to be able to do your job with zero training just because I’ve been inside a dental office or had an accountant look at my taxes before. That would be either astoundingly arrogant or naive or both!) Recognize that becoming a skilled teacher takes time.

On the lousy days, I try to remember the overarching benefits that we’ve experienced from this unexpected homeschooling adventure.

Homeschooling has allowed me to be with my kids during the best part of their day, from 8 to 3 p.m., when they are happy and energetic. Usually, I don’t have to drag them out of bed to meet someone else’s schedule. Better yet I don’t fight with my kids about homework from 5 to 9 pm! I don’t need to nag and cajole them into doing homework of questionable value during the witching hour after they’ve been at school for 6 hours, after sports practice, after youth group, and thus are tired physically and emotionally. Instead, I get to be with them when they are their best, not when they are tired and spent. And our time from 3 or 4 pm on is our own.

I try to remember that homeschooling has enabled my kids to grow in their areas of strength or giftedness that wouldn’t have been possible in a class of 35 because I’ve been able to give them the gold standard of education: individualized instruction. I can give them space to dig deep into the things they excel at or have potential to be great at. Homeschooling has also meant that I’ve been able to support them in areas of weakness — without them feeling dumb or mocked— and provide them with the extra support they need to overcome their challenges. That is huge. Their sense of self and their own potential is intact.

On really lousy days when we are all in a funk, I call a halt and we simply read books or play games or take a break from each other and decide to have a do-over in an hour or if it was really really lousy, we call it a day and start over in the morning. That’s okay too.

Ultimately, I remember why we made this choice and why we still do it. My reasons will be different than yours, just as our kids are different.  What matters is that the kids are developing a love of learning, effective critical thinking skills, and powerful learning habits which will make all the difference in their futures.  In the end, I can see that my kids are thriving and that’s what makes even the lousy days worth it.