The year of organized homeschooling has come to a close and now we can have a peaceful, joyful Christmas. More than that, I hope that by employing these challenges, you have enjoyed a more peaceful year. If you didn’t get to many of the challenges this year, there is always next year! Plan 15 minutes into your calendar during the weekdays to take action and next year can be THE year for a more organized homeschool. Here’s what to do this week:
#1 Discuss stress and God’s peace
Go over this short explanation of stress with your children. Talk about how you each experience stress. One interesting new research finding is that if we don’t believe that stress is negatively affecting our health, it doesn’t affect our well-being, even if stress levels are high.
While the word stress isn’t in the Bible, the Bible has a lot to say about fear, worry, and the peace of God. Find a verse to memorize that will help you when dealing with stress.
#2 Christmas Eve
#3 Christmas Day
#4 Discuss the joys of the season
I have a journal that I used to record the best memories of that year’s Christmas. Sadly, I got away from the tradition. But this year, I will ask the kids to complete this journaling printable I created. It will be fun to read them together in future years.
I have a little bonus mission for you to end the year.
Review the past year and set new goals.
Tom Dixon wrote about goal setting for Psychowith6 and Michael Hyatt has created free videos around goal setting. I love to set goals because they can turn what feels like a humdrum existence into an exciting adventure. I want my children to know how to set goals as well. I absolutely LOVE these student goals forms from Baking, Crafting & Teaching.
Finally, I want to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. It’s been a privilege to take this organized homeschool journey with you. Do you know someone who could benefit from this series? Please share it with them.
Do you have company coming for the holidays? Even if you don’t, this week we will get your house company clean (well, I’m actually not going to come and help you, but I can tell you what to do!). The holidays will be more enjoyable if everything is in order. But don’t worry. The process will take less time than you think.
#1 List rooms that require extra cleaning
Ask the kids to help you come up with the list. Sure, you could do it yourself, but this is a good learning opportunity for them. Where will your guests be spending their time? Discuss how to prepare for guests with your children.
If you won’t be having guests, what rooms could you clean that would give you a sense of peace as you celebrate?
Include appliances as well. For example, when people come to my house for Christmas, they want to put things in my oven and refrigerator. That means these appliances need special attention.
#2 Declutter
Most of you are about to acquire more stuff–whether it’s gifts or outright clutter from a white elephant game or two. Either use this time to declutter company areas of your home (like the fridge) or to make room for gifts you’re likely to receive. This is a great time to teach the kids to declutter and to make it fun.
#3 Team Clean
There are a couple ways of team cleaning that I’ve used effectively. First, the whole family works together. We go room by room and I give instructions to each child. It’s amazing how quickly this gets my house clean. The key is NOT to allow a child to leave the room. Instead of saying, “Please take this upstairs,” have them put the item in the next room that you’ll be cleaning. Most mothers reading this will know exactly why I have this rule.
The second team clean approach is to have kids pair off. I like this approach less, because it requires that I check teams’ work. I may also have to show each team what to do. But if your children are great about doing theses cleaning chores and they already know what to do, this kind of team cleaning can quickly get the house clean. If you choose this approach, you may want to have each room or area that needs special attention on a 3 x 5 card and hand one to a team to accomplish. When we team cleaned this way when I was a child, we raced the other team. There was an adult on both teams, however, so keep that in mind. It does motivate!
#4 Team Clean
You say you didn’t take the time to do the previous steps and company is coming TODAY? Use this two-hour checklist to whip the house into shape. If you all work together, you could easily get it done in less than two hours.
For those who keep a traditional school schedule, half the school year is nearly over. It’s time to see how far we’ve come and to determine if any changes to our curriculum would move us forward. Simple Homeschool and The Mommy Mess both have great questions for us to answer as we do this mid-year review. Upside Down Homeschooling shares a free mid-year review printable just for this purpose.
#2 Discuss changes for what doesn’t work
If you’ve determined that a particular curriculum doesn’t work for you or your child, you don’t necessarily have to quit using it and buy something else. Would you like it better if:
You did half of the exercises / activities?
Your child began using the curriculum independently, with others, or with you?
You used it as a supplement, pulling out the most valuable material?
I’ve used all three of these approaches to a curriculum that at first didn’t seem like it was working and have had great success. I encourage you not to wait until after Christmas to make the change. It may make a world of difference in how you see the curriculum.
#3 Research options
Sometimes, no matter what you do, a curriculum or teaching approach just isn’t the right fit. Then it’s time to do some more research. If you did the curriculum challenge, you may want to return to the information you gathered then.
#4 Purchase / List items
Fortunately, many curriculum providers have materials on sale and many homeschoolers like you choose now to sell their used curriculum. You may pick up a bargain.
How have your curriculum choices been working for your family so far?
I don’t know about you, but with all the holiday happenings, my hot spots have been blazing out of control. What’s a hot spot you say? FLYLady would tell you it’s a place in your home where you tend to drop things and run. Unless you regularly clear these places or devise a plan for keeping them clear, you can have a hot mess. In just a few simple steps this week, we’ll take care of our hot spots.
#1 List all hot spots; identify the worst
With your family, make a list of all the places where stuff tends to accumulate. In our home, that’s our entry way, dining room table, upstairs landing, and entrance to the storage area. Right now the worst is the entrance to the storage area.
#2 Clear a hot spot & prevent it from heating up again
Work on your worst hot spot today. Declutter it and clean it. Teach the kids where to put items. Our dining room often becomes a hot spot because the kids don’t know where to put the mail that is often left there. I have been teaching them to put it in my mail slot in my kitchen. Problem solved. Need ideas for managing paper clutter? Be sure to read my advice on Davonne Parks’s blog.
How can you prevent it from becoming a mess again? I have two suggestions. First, come up with a practical way to collect the clutter. For example, I repurposed a toy chest into a place for winter coats in my entryway. The kids don’t want to take the time to hang them, so I accepted that and allow them to stuff them out of sight. Do you need a basket to collect items that can be sorted later? Ask the kids and your spouse what would work and give it a try. You can also find great hot spot prevention ideas on my Organized Homeschool board on Pinterest.
You can always evaluate the success of your first effort at controlling the hot spot later and try something else if need be.
The second suggestion I have is to make clearing the hot spot a chore that is done once or twice a day. Our entryway is assigned as a chore twice a day, for example, and these two suggestions have kept the area from becoming a disaster.
#3 Clear another hot spot & prevent it from heating up again
You guessed it. Now that you’ve addressed your biggest hot spot, move on to the second biggest.
#4 Clear another hot spot & prevent it from heating up again
Now you’re a pro. Clean a third hot spot and determine a way to keep it clean.
Do you have any hot spot dilemmas? Areas that you just can’t seem to keep free of clutter?
It’s Thanksgiving week in the U.S. If you did the Thanksgiving challenge, you’re all set to use the time to teach kids how to cook. Yes, you can count it as home ec! I remember cooking for Thanksgiving with my mom and I know my kids will remember it, too. It’s a time for making memories and delicious food, too! Here are the easy steps to take this week.
#1 Find books or videos that teach cooking
I’ll be sharing some great kid cooking pins on the Organized Homeschool board. Be sure to check them out!
There are many kids’ cookbooks out there, but this is the one I’m buying for my daughter for Christmas. It gets good reviews from most, so we’ll see!
There are plenty of kid cooking videos on YouTube, but you might enjoy teaching the kids how to bake a turkey. Although I don’t use this exact approach, it’s a pretty good basic video.
#2 Involve kids in table setting and cooking
I like to keep Thanksgiving as low stress as possible, so I do much of my cooking and table setting the day before. Teach the kids how to help and they will be even more excited about the meal. If you aren’t eating at home, you can still have your child help prepare a dish or two to take with you.
My favorite thing to have my children help with (the same thing I did as a child) is tear the bread for my mom’s stuffing recipe. But now that my kids are older, they like to help with just about everything. If your children are quite young, I promise you there will soon be a day when they can be a big help.
#3 Thanksgiving
Enjoy the holiday! I am so thankful for my readers. There are few bigger blessings for bloggers than to have people read what they write. Thank you so much for reading, commenting, and sharing.
#4 Put Thanksgiving items away
Put all the special dishes and decorations away (unless you’re celebrating late) and you’ll be ready to decorate for Christmas whenever you choose. The day after Thanksgiving is our decorating day. It’s such a blessing to have the children help decorate. If you’re decorating this week, ask the children where things should go. You’ll be testing their memories, their decorating skills, or both!
How do you get your children involved in Thanksgiving preparations?
In another week or so, the Christmas sales begin in earnest. Let’s take a little time to get organized this week so we can take advantage of them.
#1 Make gift shopping list
I will admit that I get a little excited when I see things on sale–sometimes to the point that I buy things I don’t need. Before we start our search for deals, let’s make a list of exactly what we need for gifts. Use the planner links from The Christmas Plan Challenge or grab this AMAZING free planner from HEDUA.
What gifts do you need for:
immediate family
extended family
homeschool friends / groups / teachers
church friends / groups / teachers
mail carriers / hair dresser / other service providers
charity
#2 Make clothing & other shopping list
Now we’re ready to make a list of clothing needed for the holidays, but don’t limit yourself to that. This is the time of year to buy any type of clothing. Many stores have summer clothes on sale as well, so shop now for next year.
This is also a great time to purchase other items you know you will need in the coming year. Is your computer nearing the end of its life? Buy one now on sale, so you’re prepared.
Are there any non-perishables you need for holiday baking and cooking? Add them to the list and avoid the long lines.
#3 Research flyers & sites
Is your mailbox full of catalogs? If you don’t have any gift needs that can be met by a particular catalog, recycle it right away so you’re not tempted. Do the same with sales flyers that come with the newspaper if you get it. If you do find something you need on sale, add the particular sale price information (and any coupons) to your planner so you can compare.
I’m not one to shop the stores on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, but I love to shop online. When it comes to clothing for myself (I purchase most of my clothing this time of year), I usually order only from stores that have a physical location nearby. It makes returns much less of a hassle. Check out your favorite websites for deals and check out bfads.net. This website does a great job of sharing the best deals. I also love to check Amazon’s Lightning deals at this time of year. I already scored a great deal on a Christmas gift for my college student!
I highly recommend you start your online shopping with Ebates. Doing so can earn you significant cash back. Just set up an account and click on the store of your choice. Shop as usual and get money back!
#4 Add sale dates to calendar
Once you know where you want to shop and for what, it’s time to add the days and times to your calendar. I like to set reminders on my iPhone for lightning deals.
The great news is the window for getting good deals has expanded greatly. Last year, for example, the online sales started the week of Thanksgiving. This year, you can already get great discounts. Gone are the days when you had to sit by the computer on Thanksgiving night waiting for the clock to read midnight. Happy shopping!
Are you a Black Friday shopper at the stores or online?
I’m a Christian psychologist turned homeschooling mother of six. My life can be a little crazy, so I look for sanity-saving ideas to use and share. I hope you’ll read my About page to learn more.
