Handy Homeschooling Tips

Binders make great places to store art and school work...

 Earlier in August I had grand plans to start official school early.... I know because these photos were dated Aug. 5th.  Where did the time go?  And what is official school?  Perhaps I should just call it "work at the table time" because somehow that always feels official.  This year 2-year old sissy made her own binder because she wants to do "school" just like the big kids.

Indoor Recess gets creative...bowling with a giant package of paper towels...

Love all things "Melissa and Doug" brand..

 My Mother-in-Law sent a bunch of these sturdy plastic educational place mats up in a package this year and they are wonderful tools to use when teaching or reviewing numbers and skip counting.

End of the hallway "school" storage...

 Keeping all of your items clearly labeled really helps.  If you have toddlers in the house, put drawers up and out of reach.  Soooooo much less temptation and eaiser to put things back at eye level for older kids.

The central hub...

 So over the years I have found that keeping a whole lot of people working together is a full time job requiring management skills.  Other then trying to remember to laugh and smile more, a home management binder is a must.  I always have some sort of planner each year but this year I printed one off one for free at http://strangersandpilgrimsonearth.blogspot.com

I love having one binder to grab and go anywhere in the house and beyond and have everything at my fingertips.  I know, I should have a smart phone to do it all for me, but I'm a tactile learner and need to flip pages and write things with a real pencil and hear the sound.  It sounds like I'm getting something done other than just winning the "cleaner upper pick-up after everyone" award.

My Office in a Box

Did I blog about this already?  This has been so handy while living daily life with nursing baby, reading to little ones, putting out fires, etc.  I store my home management binder in here along with my Bible, a current book I'm reading, a magazine article, Thank-you cards to write, a blank notebook and pen, an advertisement or whatever is currently floating around and doesn't have a home... this could get dangerous.

So when I get a moment to nurse baby I grab one thing out of that basket to work on.  I always know that I have a place to store my planning calendar, ideas that pop into my head, Christmas list plans, things to write about, school goals for the kids, doctors and dentists numbers, etc.  It's just so handy and so small that it makes me feel that life is under control because it all fits into that tiny little box. 

So, the reality, of course is life is so huge and wonderful and amazing and scary all at the same time that I need to know it can all be put away and dealt with another time, perhaps tomorrow if it's getting to late, or the next hour after little ones are down for nap, or maybe in 20 min. after we go for a walk, or when I can think straight when other people are out for their walks.....

I posted a page here Overwhelmed Offices?  It's got a photo of our dry erase board and blank wall calendar.  Yes, I keep one calendar blank just so I can look at it and breathe....empty spaces make me feel like everything is going to be OK when life gets crazy.  I'm not sure why but I need to look at one nice calendar with nothing at all written in the squares.  It reminds me that life is wide open waiting to be filled and to be careful about what I fill it with.

I am trying to show how and not show off...this just works for me.  I try to glean from others and implement new ideas and strategies to running my home more efficiently.  Some days I feel like I've really got it together and other days.... WHAT AM I DOING? rings through my brain.

Then I remember I'm just walking the path God has set before me.  I don't walk alone.  When I rest in His peace I enjoy everything, even the business of being available to so many human souls at the same time.  When I fret and become impatient, I loose that joyfulness and become edgy and irritable.

Oh that I could stay teachable all my life... oh that my children would forever learn new things....and that through it all we could be tenderhearted, loving, and forgiving one another daily.