New Homeschooler, new member!

[mommytimes3]

Hello everyone!

I am Mandi, from Ontario, Canada, newbie here, and a new homeschooler. I have 3 great kids, dd 8, ds 6, and ds 5, so I school Grade 3, 2, and k/1.
This is my first official year of hs (I pulled the kids from ps in April). I have purchased a Sonlight Curriculum from K-5 used...and am trying to wrap my mind around the organization...any help with that would be wonderful! I just can't seem to get the schedule made up. Kids are enjoying doing the work that I have for them....but it can be hectic here at times, as I run a dayhome as well (bills have to be paid!)
Looking forward to getting to know more homeschooling families and getting new ideas!

mandi

[gwtw-mom]

This is rather lengthy, but I have some tips that have helped me survive the wild world known as homeschooling.

First of all, welcome to the wonderful world of homeschooling. It is challenging, but I love it.

This will be my third year homeschooling. I also work from home as a corporate transcriptionist. Here is what I do to get things on track.

First, I plan out my week on Sunday evenings. It helps me kind of get in the groove for the coming week. I do the lesson plans for both my children (K and 2nd) and even take the time to cut out anything, look ahead to the next week for things I might need for science experiments or art, and get a good grasp on what we're covering for the coming week.

Second, I paper clip everything for the week together in the appropriate lesson manual. For example, with math, I will tear out all the worksheets from the worksheet book, any tests that will be done that week, or any other activities, paper clip them all together (in chronological order) and place them in the math book.

Third, during the week I keep a large desk calendar near the school area. I've already written the lesson plans (in pencil) on the calendar. Once one of the kids completes the assignment for a particular subject, I check it off. If we don't get to something that day, I simply erase it and add it to the next day.

I have to keep a log of all school activities for my kids (Missouri requirement), so I transfer that information to my log book on Sunday evenings. That also gives me a chance to grade any tests, record those scores in my grade book, or just review and see if they need additional help with anything.

One last thing, we don't do any formal school on Fridays. I double up math on Mondays, Reading on Tuesdays, Grammar on Wednesdays, and Thursdays are for tests and catch-up. It's nice knowing we have a free day of the week to do artwork, a craft project, read a fun book, or just go to the park and have fun. This also gives me a chance to work on other things around the house.

Last year I also started chopping up my housework so I wasn't up at midnight cleaning my house. I do laundry and change bedsheets on Mondays, dust on Tuesdays, clean bathrooms and kitchen on Wednesdays, and mop/vacuum on Thursdays.

I plan out my meals for the month and grocery shop only once per month. I also do the same for toiletries; I only shop for those items once per month as well.

I hope some of these ideas will help you. Organization is the hardest part of homeschooling and trying to be organized and work from home is really difficult at times.

Good luck!
Tammy

[Vjumpstart]

A good resource for helping to keep/get you organized is Managers of Their Homes by Steve and Teri Maxwell. More info can be found at www.titus2.com. They also have a lot of other resources.

Vicki (HS mom of 4 for the past 9 years)