April 24, 2012

Sometimes School Doesn’t Look Like School {Don’t miss the giveaway!}

Welcome back to 10 Days of Large Family Homeschooling
Start at the Beginning of the Series

Click here to enter the Moore Family Films Giveaway!

If you have been a reader of Raising Arrows for very long, you know how our family tends to put outside-the-box homeschooling far in front of traditional schooling methods. We choose to make the extracurricular intra-curricular and we are typically rather creative with our schooling.

This kind of methodology stems from our theology. We believe a child’s education is not meant to make them rich so they can retire happy. We believe true wisdom comes from knowing the Lord and all aspects of a child’s education must be subject to the Lord’s leading.

At the Midwest Parent Educator’s Homeschool Conference in Kansas City this past weekend, my husband and I had the express pleasure of spending time with convention speaker, Israel Wayne. My husband interviewed Israel on his stance on homeschooling and I want to share with you this vision in the video below (if you cannot view this video, please click here.)

In the near future, I will be doing posts on what an education based on this understanding of Scripture looks like, but for now, I want to offer you some quick out-of-the-box ideas for what school looks like when it doesn’t look like school…

Working alongside Mom & Dad

So much can be learned by working WITH someone on a project or even in everyday duties. Our children will all run households of their own someday and will need to know what it means to live life as a man or woman who seeks after Christ in all they do.

This requires patience on the parent’s part because children are not always going to live up to your dreams and expectations, but what God calls you to, He will equip you for and you can LEARN patience. So, take the time to mentor your own children because all the book-learning in the world cannot take the place of a truly interested and loving parent walking alongside their child.

Keian making coffee

Real Life Learning

Kevin Swanson of Generations with Vision made some really great points this weekend about taking knowledge and “plugging it in to something.” He said we often approach education as the be all end all sort of like learning to ride a bike by taking Bike for 12 years and never getting on one. Our children need to know WHY they are learning what they are learning and how it fits with the ultimate goal of knowing, loving, and serving God and loving and serving others (again, a hearty thank you to Israel Wayne for bringing this Truth to our family!).

Blake digging

Entrepreneurships

In the spirit of plugging a child’s knowledge into a real life scenario, entrepreneurships are a lost method that must be brought back! Our children need real life application in a career field before they commit to years of study and work for that field. I’m not an advocate of wasting time and money, so I would much rather waste a little bit of time and money giving my children opportunities to make informed decisions. A quick note here: do not for a moment think a college counselor or someone at a career fair is a good representative of what a career field is truly like. They are there to tell you what you want to hear. You need to meet real people doing the real job and find ways to get your children working with them in real situations if possible. Many young people see glamour in a job and totally miss the truth.

Field Trips & Vacations

I grew up going on vacations that were edu-cations so this has been something that has come naturally. Even when Ty and I go places without the children, we tend to visit museums and other historical and informative sites.

When you have a large family, it is often much nicer and easier to go on field trips without a huge group of people along, so years ago, I quit going on organized field trips with homeschool support groups because it just seemed like utter chaos. I’d rather take my time with my own children, guiding them through the field trip and not have to compete with their friends and a lot of extra noise. I am sure they learn much more when we do this as a family.

Meg riding

Delight-Directed Extras

I have been a HUGE fan of delight-directed homeschooling ever since I read Gregg Harris’ book The Christian Homeschool.

Think about how you learn as an adult. Aren’t you more apt to study and research and grow and learn when wanting to know more about a subject that truly interests you? Your children are the same way! And since God has wired each and every one of them differently, it is so very important we study our children and learn who they are and what makes them tick. This is one of the beauties of the homeschooling environment! Don’t squander it trying to fit into the box.

Multimedia

This is the section where I tell you not all media is bad. In fact, it can be an awesome learning tool, especially for children who are visual learners. My children have learned so much about Ancient Egypt and the Crusades and even how to make maple syrup from multimedia sources. We listen to CDs, watch DVDs, and use computer software like World Book on CD-ROM on a daily basis. The technological age does not have to be something that warps our young people’s minds. It can be harnessed and used for good if we are always diligent to keep it in check.

That is exactly why our family has chosen to invest money in family films that give our children more than just entertainment. And this is the reason I am pleased to offer my readers an opportunity to win a family film from Moore Family Films!

Please click here to enter to win!

And thank you for thinking outside the box!
{to discover if you are thinking inside or outside the box, click here!}

The 10 Days Series is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutually beneficial projects. Visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Click the image below to visit all the 10 Days posts!

April 23, 2012

The One Room Schoolhouse Model {and Welcome Home Link Up}

old school

Welcome back to 10 Days of Large Family Homeschooling
Start at the Beginning of the Series

I am fascinated by old schoolhouses. Perhaps it is because I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie or because my own father was schooled in a one-room schoolhouse in rural Kansas. Whenever we pass by one of these dilapidated old buildings, I stare and wonder at who might have gone to school there so many years ago, trudging through thick snow in black boots and prairie dresses, lunch pail in hand.

I now have my own one-room schoolhouse of sorts. No, we don’t trudge through snow to get here or wear prairie dresses (except when we are pretending) or eat our lunch from pails (except when we are pretending), but I do teach in a way that is rather reminiscent of days gone by.

Why a One Room Schoolhouse?

Some of you may be scratching your heads wondering why I feel so strongly about this, especially considering the one room schoolhouses were NOT homeschools. While I do believe taking education out of the parent’s hands and making it the government’s responsibility was not a good move, I do believe many of the one room schoolhouses based their design on what was already happening in many homes of the day.

In fact, homeschooling used to be the norm in which most children learned alongside their siblings whatever it was their parents deemed necessary for them to “make it” in this world. I believe it is imperative we find our roots in this way of educating.

In the Subscriber Pack (free for the taking if you sign up for email updates from Raising Arrows – see blue box below this post or my sidebar to sign up!), I’ve included 12 Ideas for Creating a One-Room Schoolhouse. I won’t be going through all those ideas here, but rather choosing a few I feel are the most integral to the task of turning your homeschool into a one room schoolhouse. As I go through these ideas, I believe you will begin to see why I like this model of education.

1. Start with the Bible.

Before every bit of Christianity was removed from the public school system, the Bible was the book by which all things were judged and measured. While I do not believe the one room schoolhouses executed this in a manner befitting of Deuteronomy 6 where the Israelites were exhorted to teach the Lord’s ways to their children day and night and everywhere in between, I do believe the rural schools, like where my father attended, did acknowledge God as the ultimate authority. My homeschool must reflect this as well.

2. Work from youngest to oldest.

This is one of those classic one room schoolhouse paradigms. The younger children, whose attention spans were considerably shorter, had the teacher’s focus at the beginning of class. It wasn’t until about a year ago, I began to follow this model. I had always set my school up with the intent that I would school the littles in the afternoon after all the bigs had finished their work. However, more often than not, I never got around to schooling the littles. Once I started making them the first thing on my list for the day, it was amazing how much we accomplished!

3. The trickle-down effect.

One room schoolhouses were conducive to exposing younger children to what they would be learning in upcoming years. By the time they were being taught in the upper levels, they had more than likely heard all the material several times.

The way we capture this in our homeschool is through something I call the trickle-down effect. I encourage the younger children to stay in the room and play quietly while I read to or have discussions with the older children. While they may not catch everything that is being said, I am always surprised by how attentive they are and how much they do manage to absorb. (If you are looking for ways to engage your children in meaningful and educational conversation, read this!)

We also have our older children give verbal reports and plan activities for the littles based on what they are learning in school. Typically, our younger children end up joining in with their own impromptu reports, repeating what their older siblings just said. I couldn’t ask for a better teaching opportunity!

4. Plan school around the needs of the family.

Back in the one room schoolhouse days, the family was still in charge. School was secondary. If there was work on the farm, school could wait. If it was time for harvest, school let out.

We are not a homeschooling family…we are a family who homeschools. If we are constantly trying to make our lives fit into the confines of a traditional school day, we will quite possibly miss out on some awesome opportunities that have value far beyond what a textbook can teach. Don’t let school rule your family or ruin your family.

{You might also be interested in my post – Does That Count As School?}

5. Seek mastery.

Years ago, the standard of the one room schoolhouse was the standard held by parents at home. That standard was mastery. Somewhere along the way, we lost the drive to master a subject and became complacent and willing to substitute “good enough” for “well done.”

I have high expectations for my children. I am not wanting to make round pegs fit in square holes, nor frustrate my children, but I do expect them to do everything “as unto the Lord.”

We don’t go by grade levels, we don’t push through textbooks so we can get to the other side, and we don’t consider a C to be average.

As I look through this list, perhaps it isn’t the one room schoolhouse model I am truly after, but rather he Deuteronomy 6 schoolhouse I am after. For one room schoolhouses, despite my imaginations, were not perfect; however, Scripture always is. And maybe, just maybe, what the one room schoolhouse tried to do had already been done.

So, while I look to the one room schoolhouse as a model, it is not because I believe it was the epitome of proper education. It is simply because I believe the one room schoolhouse of yesteryear in rural Kansas can teach this public-schooled mama trying-to-make-her-way-as-a-homeschooler a thing or two.

Looking for more on homeschooling a large family, check out these tips!

And have you snagged your FREE Homeschooling with Purpose eBook yet? Like the Raising Arrows facebook page, click on the Only Likers button and download your book today! This ebook is free for a limited time only, so don’t miss it!

schoolhouse photo credit

April 20, 2012

Keeping Track of Your Homeschool

planner

Welcome back to 10 Days of Large Family Homeschooling!
Start at the beginning of the series.

If I could choose the one homeschooling conversation I tend to have over and over with other homeschooling moms, it would hands-down be the “homeschool record-keeping” conversation. Frankly, it is not my favorite conversation, but it sure does keep a lot of moms up at night.

Tonight, I hope you rest easy…

What are your homeschooling laws?

Before you ever begin to try to keep track of homeschooling, you need to know what exactly you are required to keep track of. States vary from super strict to super lenient, so be sure to check out your state laws on HSLDA.

By the way, a lot of states have laws that say something like:

Student attendance must be equivalent to the public school’s (i.e. 186 days per year, 1116 hours per year).

If that is the case with your state, then please, read my post on How Many Hours it Takes to Homeschool.

Decide how you want to keep track.

I live in a state where the laws are not very strict, so my keeping track will look quite different from say, homeschool moms living in Pennsylvania. Once you know your state’s law, you can make a more informed decision about HOW you are going to keep track of your school year. From one mom to another, my biggest piece of advice is

Don’t make it harder than you have to.

Here are some ideas to choose from:

Attendance record – Similar to public school, you keep track of every day school is in session, assuming your day is similar in hours to a public school day.
Homeschool Planner or software – These can be in the form of paper files or computer files. The best ones are the ones that can be used over and over. Here is an extensive list of planner pages and software.
School Binder or notebook – This is an easy way to keep track that doesn’t require any forethought. After your school day, you simply write down all you’ve done that day that constitutes school. You WILL be surprised!
Assignment sheets – Another easy way to keep track is to let your assignment sheets serve as your record. Put them all into a folder and call it good.

{Note: If you are looking for help in creating a transcript for your child or for simply understanding how to keep track of it all in high school, I HIGHLY recommend The Total Transcript Solution from The HomeScholar. Phenomenal product and very easy to understand and implement!}

Now, that we’ve established how you are going to keep track of your year, let’s figure out the day-to-day stuff.

As I mentioned in my Organizing the Large Family Homeschool post, I have adapted over the years, so let me give you some posts from here at Raising Arrows that reflect some of the things we have done in the past to track the day to day homeschool assignments.

1. Large Family Workboxes – I used a modified workbox method for years, but as my methods of homeschooling began to change, I realized my workboxes sat fairly empty and were taking up more space than I wanted to allow them.

2. Assignment Binders – These were super helpful when I was pregnant. One of the best parts was they were color-coded by child – oh, how I love my color-coded children! However, once they wore out, I did not replace them because my oldest was no longer doing any worksheets and again, my methods of homeschooling had changed to more of a lifestyle of learning rather than textbook oriented. However, at the time, they were a lifesaver!

3. Markable Assignment Cards – I only used these for a short time, but thought they deserved a mention anyway.

4. Quick and Easy Assignment Cards – When my 7th born had colic, this was how we rolled. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. This is a great method for the morning sickness days as well.

Currently, I do a full-blown planning session on Saturday or Sunday night using planning pages I printed off the internet. These are also how I keep record of our days. I’m trying to be a more intentional planner while I can be.

A word to the wise: when you aren’t in the throes of morning sickness or a new baby, it’s a good idea to do a chunk of planning so that when that time does come, you can avoid the Mommy-Guilt and Shame On Me Syndrome.

And now for the Grand Finale…

What do I keep?

Short answer: Only keep the really important stuff.

Large families often struggle with the issue of how much to keep when it comes to school things. It would be easy to end up with boxes and boxes of papers by the end of your homeschooling career if you don’t choose now to take the minimalist approach.

Here are my guidelines as to what makes it into that precious “School Box”:

Was it a momentous occasion? – Was it the first time Junior wrote his name? Was it the first essay Susie wrote that actually made sense? Was it a project that had been slaved over and finally accomplished? Those things are box-worthy.
Does it show progress? – I try to keep papers and worksheets that show definite progress from one year to the next or from one task to the next.
Will I be sorry I didn’t include it? – The shapes book my 6 year old made isn’t nearly as important to me as the All About Me book he made the same year. I won’t miss the shapes book, but I would be very sorry to not have the book that tells me all about his likes and dislikes, dreams and aspirations as a 6 year old.

Another large family tip pertaining to the School Box -
Label everything with a name, age, and date. I put everything in one box, but even if you separate out into individual boxes, you will want to remember exactly what age they were.

Now, I hope you have a blessed day and restful night!

**********************************************************

In the Subscriber Pack (FREE to blog subscribers – just enter your email in the big blue box below or in the sidebar), I’ve included some resources to help you keep track of your homeschool. Once you enter your email address, you will be asked to verify your email and the next time a post goes out, you will find a link at the bottom of my post with a password and link to the Subscribers Only Site. Enjoy!

Don’t miss the other blogs participating in the 10 Days Series! Click the button below to find a listing of all the blogs and topics!

April 19, 2012

Organizing the Large Family Homeschool

supplies organization

Welcome back to 10 Days of Large Family Homeschooling!
Start at the beginning of the series.

I love the concept of cutesy color-coordinated and labeled organizing, but putting it into practice confounds me and feels rather time consuming. I want quick and simple homeschool organizational methods that will work for the large family household.

So, in this post you will find a smattering of simple ideas based on what we do to keep our homeschooling materials organized.

BOOKSHELVES ARE MY FRIENDS.

I have yet to meet a homeschool mom who doesn’t like bookshelves. They are an absolute necessity in a large family household! I have my bookshelves divided up into 3 different sections.

1. The main bookshelves.

main bookshelves

This conglomeration of bookshelves is in our “sitting room”. My mom and my older kids painted the long bookshelf brown to sort of match the other shelves so it doesn’t stand out as badly as it did when it was a dingy white. Most of what is housed here are our family’s personal collection of books. I do keep the Phonics curriculum in here and a few extras like that. But, for the most part, these are just books that the children can get out any time they like.

2. The Books of the Year.

This bookshelf sits in our dining room and houses all the books that will be used during a particular school year. I also put any books I plan to read in this shelf as well. This keeps everything for the year in one place so I don’t spend precious time hunting down that one book we need to finish our Ancient Egypt study. This has been a huge time saver and probably ranks right up there as one of my favorite homeschool organizational tips.

3. Corporate Studies bookshelf.

corporate bookshelf

When I use the word “corporate” I mean anything we do together as a family during our homeschool day. The corporate bookshelf is home to our Bibles, our devotionals, the read-aloud history books I have all the children listen to, our art curriculum, some audios and DVDs from Vision Forum, and a few of the series books we are working our way through. (Elsie Dinsmore, Little House on the Prairie, and The Boxcar Children)

THE HOMESCHOOL CLOSET

homeschool closet

I have had some type of homeschool closet since the very beginning of my homeschooling years. In our new house, it literally is a shelved closet in the hallway. Prior to that, it was a cheapie stand-alone storage closet with doors. I consider this to be one of the essentials of homeschooling organization. Homeschool books are not used every year, even when you have back to back to back children. You have to have a way to store all the unused curriculum.

This is also a good place to put those items you use only occasionally that would be in the way if left out. Since our new house had so much space in this closet, I decided to use a portion of it for workbooks we use every day as well as scratch paper for the kids to draw and write on. {If you look closely on that bottom shelf, you will see the bulk box of crayons I bought from Discount School Supply }

MOM’S BASKET

mom's basket

This is the basket of curriculum and extras I am currently using. The things in this basket are used nearly every day. It sits beside my chair where I am most likely to be sitting while using these items. It’s a handy place to put them so that all I have to do is reach down and grab the next thing. I started doing this when I was pregnant with #6 and our school room was downstairs. I was too worn out to make the trek down to that dingy, dark basement, so I hauled everything I needed upstairs and put it in a basket by my chair. Since then, it has become a staple of our homeschool organization!

School Binder for Mom

household notebooks

Not long ago, I introduced you to my revamped household binders. My school binder was one of these. This is where I keep lesson plans, notebook paper, pens, any extras I want to use in our homeschooling, but haven’t quite figured out where to put it, etc. I’ll talk more about planning in tomorrow’s post, so you can see a little better how I use this binder.

LIBRARY BAG

library bag

I used to use a Library Box, but it wasn’t very portable. When my friend , Stacy, started selling Thirty-One Gifts, I got this large utility tote from her and it has been great! We keep all the library books in here and then just grab the whole thing and go! It’s tough and holds up to the massive amount of books we bring home from the library. It’s also a gauge as to when to stop the children from bringing us more books while at the library. If the bag is full, we leave!

Organizing Extras

Plastic tubs and totes – They make a size of plastic tote for everything! Currently, I use 2 small pencil boxes to hold crayons for all the kids. I used to have a box for each child, but decided this year that was a waste of space. Two boxes have been plenty for all the children to use together. Besides, they were dumping them all together anyway!

I also use a tub for paints and another for extra supplies like glue, brads, magnet tape, and such.

Metal containers – I don’t use a lot of these, but I do like them for pencils and paintbrushes (see the photo at the top of this post). We also keep our mail in one and we used to keep our napkins in a couple, but have since started using a basket on the table.

Baskets – Oh, how I love baskets! They make the ugliest of things look lovely.

Laminator – For a large family, it is imperative you take as many measures as you can to make things last. A laminator helps with that. Amazon runs specials on this laminator a couple of times a year or you can buy it at WalMart for a little better price than Amazon’s every day price.

Binders & Page protectors – I love the versatility of binders and page protectors. Everything from ebooks to nature notebooks can be put in binders. I even know some homeschool moms who use page protectors as a way to reuse workbook pages. I actually keep a stash of page protectors and notebook tabs on hand because you just never know when you are going to need them!

Other organizing ideas we have used over the years

Things change and as homeschooling families, we learn to adapt. Here are a few organizational tools we have used in the past. Perhaps you find just what you need amongst them:

Workboxes for the Large Family
Assignment Binders
Our Homeschooling Spaces over the Years
How We {used to} Homeschool Preschool & Kindergarten

If you have enjoyed this post, be sure to sign up for Raising Arrows email updates below and get your FREE Subscriber pack for the 10 Days Series. And don’t miss the limited-time offer FREE ebook Homeschooling with Purpose – just for Facebook likers! Details here.

April 18, 2012

Affording the Large Family Homeschool

Welcome back to 10 Days of Large Family Homeschooling!
Start at the beginning of the series.

For any family seeking a private Christian education in the home, money quickly becomes an issue. While programs like K12 and other public-school umbrellas exist, they do not offer the freedom of choice so many homeschoolers are looking for. Nor do they offer a Christian education.

Most homeschooling families opt to buy their own curriculum so they can truly be in charge of their child’s education. When a homeschooling family has many children, curriculum buying becomes an exercise in creative frugality.

Here are a few ways you can save and stretch money in your homeschool:

1. Buy supplies in bulk.

My absolute favorite place to get school supplies is Discount School Supply. Every year, I order all the paper, pencils, crayons, paint, craft supplies, etc. we need for the year (and often, they will last longer than that). I buy crayons in bulk, pencils in bulk, glue in bulk and whatever else I know we use a lot of. Discount School Supply’s prices are amazing and the shipping is FREE if you have an order over $79.

Another place we buy from is Miller Pads and Paper. I have never purchased from them online, but they go to a lot of conventions and I buy things from them like dry erase lapboards and specialty papers. They are also a terrific source for higher level art supplies (I need to keep this in mind when getting extras for See the Light Art!)

2. Utilize free sites.

There are entire websites devoted to offering free curriculum like Ambleside Online and Old Fashioned Education – there is a great list of free curriculum sites on Successful Homeschooling. Free curriculum websites are amazing resources that often use public domain materials. If you go this route, I would highly recommend investing in some type of eReader like a Kindle or Nook so your children are not confined to staring at a computer all day. I also like Sherry’s (Large Family Mothering) idea of investing the money to print off free books and then bind them yourself.

There is also a new website, FreeHomeschoolDeals.com, that offers several freebies every day, including free Kindle ebooks. And on Fridays at Gricefully Homeschooling and Kathy’s Cluttered Mind there is a FreeBee Friday with a link up where other homeschoolers can link up their freebies.

I also use places like Homeschool Share for free unit studies (like when we needed a Farmer Boy supplement for our Little House on the Prairie study). And of course, never forget your local library!

You could easily pull together a full curriculum for all of your children with all the free stuff on the internet. It would take a little diligence, perseverance and time, but it is definitely doable.

3. Dream big and one at a time.

Most homeschool moms go into their school year with a budget in mind. They say things like, “I have $500 to spend for the entire school year. How can I get the biggest bang for my buck?” I would like to encourage you to come at your budget in a little different way.

Rather than seeing your children as a collective, look at each child individually and their individual interests and needs. Include the things most people consider “extras” and dream big. You can always pare down from there.

For instance, we’ve decided our youngest children only need Phonics and Math. The rest of their schooling can come from books we already own, library books, or just plain life. We focus the bulk of our budget on our older children and increasing our own library of resources. (by the way, the numbers in the photo are random )

I start high with my homeschooling dreams and work my way down when deciding on a reasonable amount to spend each year. I write down each child’s name and all the items I think they could use in a year and the price of each item. From there, I start paring down and searching for online resources to replace some of the items until I land on a more reasonable number.

Dreaming big for each individual child teaches you to see each of your child’s strengths and weaknesses and interests in the context of education and discipleship. You may find yourself very surprised and very excited by the prospects of budgeting this way because it gives such insight for each child. In the Subscriber Pack, I’ve included a Budget by Child sheet where you can try this method of planning.

Subscribe to Raising Arrows here:

4. See your purchases as an investment.

This is the number one thing I tell homeschooling parents of many. Your purchase today will be passed down from one child to the next. If there is a curriculum you really think would benefit your homeschool, but the price feels too hefty, don’t always walk away from it. Consider how many of your children will be able to use it and other places you can scrimp in order to purchase it. The money you spend now will be well worth it in the long run.

And I want to urge you to realize your child’s education is not just about academic scores. This is the very reason I wrote Homeschooling with Purpose. Homeschool parents have to move beyond test scores and textbooks as their measure of success. Get your free copy of Homeschooling with Purpose until the end of this month by liking the Raising Arrows facebook page and clicking on the Only Likers button!

And don’t miss the other blogs participating in the 10 Days Series! Click the button below to find a listing of all the blogs and topics!

April 17, 2012

Avoiding Chaos in a Large Family Homeschool

Welcome back to 10 Days of Large Family Homeschooling!
Start at the beginning of the series.

Herding cats.

That’s what my husband tells people we do. And yes, sometimes herding cats is a good way to describe the large family life.

Every child is unique and homeschooling a large group of children with varying interests and aptitudes can be just as chaotic as it is rewarding.

Today, I want to share with you some tips and tricks for avoiding the chaos!

1. A Daily Schedule or Routine.

One of the first things you can do to make life less chaotic, is to adopt a daily rhythm to your life that incorporates all the things you need to get done in a day. If you are a regular reader of Raising Arrows, you know how I love to talk about finding out if you are a Schedule Family or a Routine Family and all that entails. It is so important to have a clear idea of how your family runs naturally, so you can harness that and focus it into something that works FOR you rather than AGAINST you.

Lists and charts and plans only work when you can implement them. Sometimes the lack of implementing a plan is laziness and sometimes it is simply the wrong plan. So, be diligent about finding something that works and trying it for a week or two before deciding if it needs a little tweaking or a toss out the window.

Read what other large families are doing. There are plenty of large family blogs out there and they almost always share their daily schedules. But remember, no two families are alike and you will not be able to entirely implement anyone else’s schedule. I spent many years trying to be exactly like the other large families I knew and failed miserably because we weren’t them and our circumstances were very different. Glean what you can and then make it your own.

at the computer

2. Plan when you can.

There is a vicious cycle that can occur in a large homeschooling family. You need to plan your school day/week/year so things run smoothly, but you are so busy running your large family, you can’t find the time to plan.

That’s why it is crucial you plan when you can.

I do a big overview planning of my school year in the early summer, but I plan specifics every weekend. Truth be told, I look forward to my weekly homeschool planning sessions. Coffee in hand, books all over the place, and a feeling that I am actually accomplishing something is a very happy place for me.

But, not always can I manage my weekend planning session. Sometimes the weekend is just too busy or we are out of town, or some other project needs me. Yet, I know if I don’t plan, I won’t get much accomplished. Because of this, I know I have to find snippets of time somewhere in my day to plan homeschooling stuff.

One of the best ways to do this is to keep a notebook and pen handy and make a list of what you hope to get done that week in your homeschool. If you manage to transfer it to an actual homeschool planner template, then great. If not, no problem…the plan is still there.

3. A crew of vikings.

Yeah, that was random. But, allow me to explain.

Years ago, I heard Gregg Harris give a session at the Midwest Parent Educator’s Conference in Kansas City entitled Row Yourself to the Battle. Vikings never had slaves row them to their next battle, they always did it themselves. And if one viking didn’t do his job, they all paid the price. We brought that concept into our home and homeschool by giving our children a meaningful part to play in the family. Everyone has a job. Every job is needed. Everyone in the family rows, we row together. And if someone is left rowing all by themselves with a project, you will often here,

“Where are the vikings?!”

4. Discipline with purpose.

We’ve all done it. At some point in our parenting we have dealt a punishment that either didn’t fit the crime or made absolutely no sense at all. Despite the mistakes, we should all try to be purposeful in how we discipline. We should strive to make our disciplining biblical and relevant.

This If-Then Chart is a great place to start. It lists the offense with the discipline and the Scripture to back it. I also really like Wise Words for Moms and Parenting with Scripture.

5. The little things that matter.

What are the little things that matter? They are your little people. Your babies and toddlers are a super important part of your day and without a plan for them, you will either spend all day putting out fires or all day playing. There are tons of posts here on Raising Arrows pertaining to homeschooling with toddlers. Do a quick search in the sidebar search box for “toddlers” or Google something like “homeschooling with toddlers“.

6. Free yourself from distractions.

You already have a lot going on, why add to it? My two biggest distractions during school hours are the computer and a messy house. I call it Brain-Clutter and Eye-Clutter.

The computer is my main researching tool and it keeps my always-thinking brain quite happy with information overload. But, this is not a good thing when I should be teaching school. I avoid the bedroom where my computer is until AFTER school hours.

Before we went to a One-Day Home Blessing, I required our weekly chores to be done before school hours for the simple fact I needed a clean home (no eye-clutter) in order to be my most productive. However, I would be more likely to recommend you go to bed with a clean house rather than what I was doing…letting everything go once supper was over.

By the way, if going to bed with a clean house seems like an impossibility to you, may I gently suggest this ebook:

7. Stay calm.

This may sound trite, but if mama is calm, life feels more manageable. Here’s a prayer just for you, homeschool mom!

To download a full-size copy of this prayer along with many other free printables and forms relevant to this series, enter your email below. You’ll find the link to your Subscriber Package at the bottom on my emails to you.

And don’t miss the FREE ebook, Homeschooling with Purpose – a limited time Facebook offer! Go to the Raising Arrows Facebook page and click on the Only Likers tab to snag your free copy!