This is a guest post by Esther Littlefield of WellnessMomLife.com. Be sure to grab her great freebie!
When my husband and I first decided we would homeschool our daughter, I had a few stipulations. He had always thought homeschooling was a good idea. I, on the other hand, thought it was crazy. Not because homeschooling is crazy – but I knew myself, and I knew my daughter. I anticipated that it would be a big challenge for me to tackle the homeschooling thing.
Between my husband and I, we have 2 businesses, plus I have my blog. I also lead a women’s Bible study, run a local business networking group, and help out at our church. So when we discussed it, we had to come up with a plan that would allow to us balance our marriage, homeschooling, and both our businesses.
All three of these things – marriage, homeschooling, and having a business – are hard work in and of themselves. They can also be an absolute joy. But when you combine them together, you can create a potential implosion if you are not intentional about how to balance them all.
Here are a few tips that we have found to work for our family, and I hope they might help you, too, if you’re in a similar situation.
5 Keys to Balancing Marriage, Homeschooling, and Business:
Be willing to frequently evaluate your roles and time commitments.
When we first started this adventure, we agreed that I would be the primary homeschooling parent. However, we both wanted my husband to be involved on some level, and so our plan was to have him do the homeschooling one morning a week.
Since my husband’s hours are flexible, and he works from home on Fridays, we decided that Friday mornings would be his time to do the schooling. This allows me to attend my networking group, as well as run errands and have a little bit of time to myself.
There is no magical solution for this, especially if you both have businesses or other responsibilities. The key is to have frequent conversations about how it is going, and be willing to make adjustments as needed.
Give each other space for free time.
Due to our situation and our schedule, we have more time together and with our daughter than the average family, and we love that. However, we also both have outside pursuits that allow us to have breaks and enjoy things that are important to us.
For me, I have a weekly Bible study I lead, and that has become something I look forward to every week. He has his time to play video games with friends or go play his guitar with some other guys. This free time is important for both of us, and this is key to both of us maintaining wellness (and sanity) in our lives.
Schedule time together.
On the other hand, since we do spend more time together than the average family, it’s easy to neglect spending intentional time together. My husband and I spend a lot of time around one another, but how much of that is truly engaging in quality conversation? Or time away from our daughter?
We have found that scheduling a couple nights a week to spend time together – instead of working on our businesses – is important. We also make it a point to have a date night at least once a month. We have to be intentional about maintaining our connection and improving our communication.
For each family, it may look different. But just because you may spend more time together at home doesn’t mean that you are actually focused on each other. Scheduling this time shows that you value each other and your family.
Show respect and appreciation for each other’s roles.
Finally, it’s incredibly important when you are balancing marriage, homeschooling, and business(es) to be sure to respect each other and the work that you do.
The best way you can respect each other is to show appreciation for the things you each do every day. Whether it’s little or big, taking the time to show appreciation can make your spouse feel incredible.
Put your spouse’s needs before the kids and the business.
This is always a tricky one. But clearly we homeschooling moms love our kids. We spend all day with them, we teach them, we take them places – we invest A LOT into our kids. Sometimes this dedication to our kids can come at an expense: we end up neglecting our husband because by the time he is home, we are spent.
I’ll admit that there are days that I completely fail at this. As soon as my husband walks through the door, I want to tap out. I want to be done, and I’m not very invested in him or his needs.
But the truth is, if I neglect my husband, I’m actually neglecting our family. If I push him to the bottom of my priority list, I am slowly killing my marriage. And this is not good for my kids or for me.
If this is an area you struggle with, I can relate. I’ve created a free download for you: “10 Tips for Putting Your Husband Before the Kids”, which you can grab right here.
This job of parenting and homeschooling is not easy. Having a business can have huge risks, stressors, and it can be an emotional roller coaster. Marriage can have it’s challenges. Using these 5 keys to balance all of this can produce less stress and more wellness for you as a family!
Which of the 5 keys that I mentioned do you need to implement today? Share in the comments!
Esther Littlefield helps busy moms find ways to take care of themselves by sharing her personal journey of failures, triumphs, and tools for success so that they can experience wellness & achieve balance. Find her at WellnessMomLife.com
Most young kids may answer, “Jesus!” enthusiastically when you ask what Easter is about. But the truth is, it seems to be all about the candy and toys. As homeschoolers, we have the time to counteract the cultural message to share our faith with our children at Easter. Here are six powerful ways to do that.
#1 Attend a passion play.
Most of you have children who aren’t ready to view the Passion of the Christ. Truthfully, I don’t think I was ready to see it! I was unable to eat or sleep after viewing the violent depiction of Jesus’ crucifixion. But many churches and some theaters present the true story of Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross in a way that children can appreciate. My dear homeschooling friend became a Christian after seeing a church’s passion play. Don’t underestimate the power of these presentations. This year my daughter is participating in our church’s play. I’m hopeful it will give her an even deeper appreciation of Easter.
#2 Study the Scriptures.
No matter what Bible curriculum you’re using or where you are in Scripture, it’s a good idea to spend some extra time in the Gospels in preparation for Easter. Or use a Lenten devotional as a family in the evenings. My church has a mid-week service during Lent that has us studying the events that led up to Good Friday. No matter how many times your children have heard them, God can give them a fresh perspective on Jesus’ love.
#3 Use resurrection eggs.
Whether you make your own set or buy one, resurrection eggs are a tangible way of teaching the important truths about Easter. Each egg contains a symbol and Scripture. You can open a new one every day or hide them all and review them to tell the whole story.
#4 Watch Christ in the Passover.
Read Exodus 12 to review the Passover instituted for the Israelites, then watch this video to see the amazing parallels between Jesus and this sacred meal.
Even though our feet aren’t dirty like the disciples’ were, kids still cringe over doing this task. We did this for co-op and I don’t think any of us will forget this lesson in Christ’s humility and His example for us all.
#6 Make Resurrection cookies.
You’ll have one last chance to tell the story and to get kids involved in the telling of it with this delicious recipe. Eating these cookies on Easter morning can become a wonderful tradition and celebration.
My kids’ and my favorite memories of Valentine’s Day are the games we’ve played. Whether you play any of these 90+ games with your family, co-op, church, or in a classroom, you’ll be blessed. Be sure to pin this post and check out the other amazing Valentine’s posts in this Homeschool Days Blog Hop at the bottom of the page.
Back to Back Challenge – Kids sit back-to-back with a partner and arms interlocked and try to be the first pair to stand up.
Breathless – A relay where teammates pass tissue hearts to one another using the suction of a straw
Candy Ball – Candies are wrapped up in a large ball made of Saran Wrap. Players can unroll to get the candy until the next player rolls doubles in dice.
Don’t Break My Heart – The child who is it is out of the room when the heart is chosen that has a candy marker that they cannot eat. Played like Don’t Eat Pete.
Don’t Break My Heart! – Kids have to pass a tissue paper heart around to their team members using clothes pins without tearing it.
Fill My Heart With Love – Counting printable game for toddlers using a dice and heart markers.
Find Your Heart Mate – Kids find the person who has either the answer or the math problem that matches them (written on half a heart).
I Heart Counting – Preschoolers look for hidden, numbered felt hearts and match them to the corresponding heart on a board. Also with Hershey’s kisses.
Kissing Booth – Guess how many Hershey’s kisses are in a jar.
Discover the Verse – One word of a verse having to do with love is put on a construction paper heart. Kids work together to put the verse in order.
I’ll Tumble for You – Valentine’s version of Jenga with love-related questions
Licorice Race – First person to eat the whole piece of licorice without using their hands wins.
Marshmallow Ball – Get as many marshmallows into your partner’s mouth as possible.
Stealing Kisses – The child who is it doesn’t know who has taken the chocolate kiss from the middle of the circle and asks, “Did you steal my kiss?’ until discovering the culprit.
Spot the Hearts – Put hearts around the room and see if kids can find them all
The M & M Hunt Game – Teams receive clues as to the location of baggies containing M & Ms. They take three from each location and don’t know the point values of various colors until the end.
Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve – The person who is it tries to guess who has a heart on his sleeve since the other kids’ hands are hidden behind them.
What Kind of Candy Am I? – See which team gets the most answers correct on this printable questionnaire.
Minute to Win It Valentine’s Games
Minute-to-Win-It games are so much fun. You can create your own list of games to be completed individually or in teams in one minute. A few of these links include score card printables.
A Bit Dicey – Using a tongue depressor in the mouth, see how many dice can be stacked on it in one minute.
Apple Stack – Stack as many apples as you can in one minute.
Bottle Drop – See how many conversation hearts you can drop into a bottle in one minute (distance makes it harder).
Candy Corn Stick Up – Whoever has the most candy corn (Valentine’s colored) standing up at one minute wins a point for their team.
Candy Pick Up – Using chopsticks to move various Valentine’s candy from one plate to another, the child who moves the most wins a point for their team.
Chop Stick Dig – Kids fill up their cups with as much candy as they can using chop sticks to pull it out of a bowl of popcorn. They have one minute before turning the chopsticks over to the next person on their team.
One of my favorite things to do is talk curriculum with homeschooling friends. If you do too, I think you’ll love this list of top picks from other homeschoolers in the Educents community. You may discover a new resource or decide to give something you’d checked out before a second look.
If you’d like to learn more about the resource, just click the link! If you want to get more involved in the Educents community to learn more about homeschooling and the curriculum offered on Educents, join the Educents Facebook group!
“As a child, I always hated math, even though I was good at it because it was soon boring. When I heard about Fred, I knew he had to be a part of our homeschool. My kids absolutely LOVE when it’s math time, and they are learning a ton about how to apply math to every day practical situations.”
“The writing portion of this resource was the first time EVER that my oldest son ever willing wrote anything! He was excited to write instead of hating it.”
“I absolutely love Magic School bus and all it has to offer. Each month you get a different science kit to take a Magic School Bus adventure. If you search really hard, online you can even find curriculum to go with each science kit and the episode from the television series.”
“My favorite resource at Educents at the moment is Life of Fred. There are so many to choose from I picked the Elementary Series. My kids love these books; we have them up to high school now. My most recent order was Life of Fred Chemistry. My kids will do these without arguing and love Fred and Kingie!”
“I love Times Tales because it’s made this year’s math lessons so much easier! My kiddos quickly mastered their multiplication tables in one sitting with the movie. It’s been such a blessing–instead of drills everyday, we can take more time to learn the actual concepts behind the facts!”
“The Magic School Bus Science Club is something your child gets in the mail each month, for a year! It includes numerous experiments per month, along with most of the materials required. (except household items such as scissors and tape). It is an incredible hands-on learning experience that helps children love science and have fun! My sons who are 4 and 6 absolutely love it!”
“Life of Fred Early Readers series has been a game changer in our homeschool! Both my 6 & 4-year-old boys beg me to do their reading lessons now that we have added Life of Fred. I have noticed an increase in their fluency and comprehension.”
“All three of my girls, ages 8 down to 4 loved watching this DVD and learning the stories. In 1 hour, both of my older girls had memorized their upper times tables! And the real kicker is I was only trying to teach one!”
“Learn to Mod Minecraft is an amazing program that teaches my son, a Minecraft lover, important computer programming skills through a game he loves to play. The lessons are easy to use, fun and engaging. I love that he is a learning a skill that I am not able to teach him.”
“My son loves history (he gets it from me), and I love to throw in “extras” to feed the need for more than what our curriculum calls for. Mini-units are great for that, and this was one of our favorites because we both love Ancient Egypt!”
“The violin starter set includes everything a budding violinist needs to begin their studies. The instrument is well made and economical. The lessons that are included are a huge money saver!”
“We LOVE Magformers in our homeschool! They are a high-quality toy that provide hours of creative play. They are a great way to bring the fun back into your homeschool; your kids won’t even realize they are learning all about structures and geometric shapes and architecture (bonus!).”
“A great resource for young astronomers is the Spectacular Space Unit Study. From writing, reading, math, and crafts, this complete unit, with its simple terms, will spark the interest of even your preschoolers!”
“I love the way the math is naturally integrated into Fred’s life, showing the importance of it in day-to-day life. The chapters are laugh-out-loud funny, and I often get asked to read “just one more.” I’ve never been a huge fan of math workbooks and worksheets, so the combination of math and story is a major win in my books!”
“We have these cards laminated because we know they’ll be used for years to come. My son, who learns best through rhyme and tactile input, is learning to write digits using these easy-to-remember number formation poems! I have reduced the size of the cards, added a ring binder, and now have a portable number set. We also use the cards for matching games and learning about quantity. Such a great price for all of the value provided by this set.”
What homeschool resource did you use this year that you would recommend? Leave your recommendation in the comments!!
It’s fun for me to see what posts were most popular with my readers in the past year. I’m sharing them with you for two reasons. First, you may have missed a good one! Second, these posts help me plan the content that best meets your needs in the coming year. If you have a request, I’d love to hear it via the comments or at psychowith6 at gmail . com.
Now here are the top posts of 2015 in order. Click the titles to read.
You should definitely pin this post so you can return to it to liven up your language arts studies this winter. Look for more ultimate list, grammar, and game posts in 2016.
If you’ve ever been criticized for giving up your education or job to homeschool, I think you’ll appreciate this post. It definitely prompted the most comments from like-minded moms. It was also a post about my faith in Jesus. Look for more faith-building posts in 2016.
I wrote this post because researching curriculum is a real crazy-maker. If you’re looking for science curriculum for next year, definitely check it out. Even though this post was a huge investment of time, look for more “best curriculum” posts in 2016.
The crockpot is a huge sanity saver for me. Fortunately, my family loves the meals I make with it. If you want dump and dash recipes, check it out. Even though I love sharing these easy recipes, I’m not a food blogger. I can’t promise more posts like this in 2016. However, you can always find great crockpot recipes on my Pinterest board.
I honestly expected to get a lot of push back about sending my child to a public high school. I am a homeschool blogger after all. But instead, I heard from so many of you that you were relieved to hear my story. I’m so glad. Expect to hear more honest stories about my homeschooling life this year that I hope will encourage you.
I discovered this quarterly planning method by accident, but it has been a huge sanity saver for me. I hope it works for some of you, too. My readers are crazy about printables and I plan to provide more of them in 2016.
This post has three magic words in it: best, free, and grammar. I was honestly surprised by the quality of the grammar websites available. I will be linking to these and other free grammar resources when I publish my elementary language arts curriculum in 2016. Just a personal note that the curriculum has taken me longer than I expected to finish, but I’m committed to it. I believe it can help kids become excellent readers and writers and these are critical skills for homeschool success.
I have published other fitness articles like this one for moms that haven’t gotten the attention this one has. I think parents are really interested in keeping their kids active. Look for another post on this topic in 2016.
I wasn’t surprised that readers liked this post. It’s food, after all. And sandwiches and leftovers get boring. I won’t be sharing more lunch ideas in 2016, but definitely check my Pinterest board for more.
Kids who fight is a huge problem and there aren’t many good resources for dealing with it. I think this tool is a powerful one. I will definitely be sharing more on sibling rivalry as well as parenting in 2016.
Now it’s your turn: what do you plan to do more of next year? What do you plan to stop doing in 2016? Let me know how I can help this year.
You know what the hard way is. You wait until you absolutely have to get curriculum, ideas, and your homeschool space in order. You stay up late, get irritable, and feel like you’re behind before you even start.
Then once you make it past the back-to-school rush, you find yourself wondering how to get dinner on the table when it’s covered in school projects, how to stay connected with your kids as mom and not just as teacher, and how to get ready for the holidays when it’s all you can do to teach and keep up with the laundry. You even wonder if you’re cut out for homeschooling since you can’t seem to figure out how to balance it all.
You troll the Internet for answers, pinning things that seem like they could help, and downloading creative worksheets that you think will help your child finally grasp a concept you’ve been trying to teach. The problem is you have no idea what to do first and if you can even find the resources you need again when you decide.
That’s the hard way: last-minute, go-it-alone, willy-nilly.
There’s an Easier Way to Organize Your Homeschool Life
#1 Plan Ahead Instead of Waiting Until the Last Minute
Planning ahead is the best way to save time, money, and stress in your homeschool life.
You save time when you plan ahead. When you make a list of everything you need for science, you only have to make one trip to the grocery store. When you register for outside classes before there’s a waiting list, you don’t have to waste time trying to find other options. When you have the kids put their shoes by the door at night, you won’t be late for a morning appointment because someone couldn’t find theirs.
You save money when you plan ahead. You get school supplies, curriculum, and gifts at the best price. You don’t have to spend extra money on gas driving around looking for what you need because your regular store is sold out. You don’t have to pay extra for expedited shipping.
You save yourself stress when you plan ahead. You don’t have to worry that you’ll let everyone in your co-op down. You don’t have to worry that your child will be miserable because you didn’t register for the team in time. You don’t have to feel like a failure as a mother and teacher.
Planning ahead is the easy way to organize your homeschool life.
#2 Get Advice Instead of Going it Alone
Getting advice is the best way to find what works for you, what works for your children, and to be encouraged.
You find what works for you. The main reason we don’t ask for advice is because we think we have to make our own way. We think we’re unique and we need a custom solution to organizing our lives. The truth is we’re not that unique. Other homeschooling moms like you have been down this parenting, homeschooling, homemaking road and have discovered solutions to the problems you’re experiencing. It may take you years to figure out answers on your own. Ask for advice!
You find what works for your children. We have the same view of our kids. It’s true that there’s no one else exactly like your son or daughter, but there are plenty of other kids who are strong-willed, anxious, or dyslexic. We can read books, see professionals, and Google, or we can get help that’s much more likely to work for our child by getting advice.
You’re encouraged. When we keep our difficulties to ourselves, they loom large. They take on nasty personas that tell us we aren’t cut out for this–that other moms are doing it better. We think our kids may be better off if we quit. But tell a homeschooling veteran what you’re insecure about and I’m willing to bet she will laugh and hug you and say she’s been there. She’ll say that if she can do it, so can you. You’ll have the encouragement you need to keep doing what you do.
Getting advice is the easy way to organize your homeschool life.
#3 Follow a Sensible Plan Instead of Working Willy-Nilly
Following a sensible plan is the best way to achieve your goals, find balance, and maintain organization.
You achieve your goals. Without a step-by-step plan, we won’t get what we hope for from our homeschooling lifestyle. We can end up spending lots of time on subjects we and our children hate that aren’t even required because we saw a great lesson plan on Pinterest. Or we can fail to adequately prepare our students for college entrance exams when college is extremely important to our family. A reasonable plan that fits your priorities will help you get what you dream of in your homeschooling life.
You find balance. A huge list of ideas for enriching your studies of history doesn’t take into account your schedule, your marriage relationship, or your budget. The best homeschooling plan is worth nothing if it runs you ragged, causes conflict in your marriage, or puts you in debt. In contrast, a sensible plan will help you keep homeschooling in its proper place. You’ll thrive in the other areas of your life as well.
You maintain organization. Binge organizing sessions whenever the mood strikes are very unlikely to result in lasting change. Instead, you need to develop good organizing habits that will maintain the order and peace you crave. Habits are borne of small, consistent steps. A sensible plan will outline potential steps so you don’t have to wonder what to do.
Following a sensible plan is the easy way to organize your homeschool life.
The Easiest Way I’ve Found for Organizing My Homeschool Life
I’ve struggled to organize all the aspects of my homeschool life and keep them that way over the years because I waited until the last minute, went it alone, and worked willy-nilly. But I had finally had enough. I needed a sensible plan that incorporated other homeschooling moms’ advice and allowed me to plan ahead. But I couldn’t find one. I found organizing calendars that were created for housekeeping, but nothing that was specifically designed for a homeschooling mother’s needs. So I created my own.
The Organized Homeschool Life is an easy-to-follow plan that will help you develop lasting organizing habits 15 minutes at a time. It’s a plan that reminds you to plan for homeschool tasks, holidays, and seasons well in advance. It is the result of the advice of many homeschool moms who’ve solved the problems we struggle with. And it’s available now. I will be using it all year to organize my homeschool life the easy way. I would love for you to join me.
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.
