This list of ideas could easily be called 5 Ways We Make Homeschooling Easier or 5 Ideas for Getting My Homeschool Act Together, but I had just fought a decimals to fractions battle that took me the edge (again) and I was feeling more homeschool hate than homeschool happy, ya’ll.

So, since I’ve already blown the cover off the happy homeschool mommy façade, let’s just get it all out there. Homeschooling, at least at this house, is not homemade bread in the morning while the kids practice their violins en masse, and then skip off to sketch in their nature journal. It’s a much more raw, real “eat these day old packaged donuts while you do your math and I don’t care how many tears you cry you are doing your science” kind of day to day flow. Think more desperation and less Duggar.

The truth portrait I am painting here has three purposes: 1. To shine the light on the fact that the choice to homeschool a decade ago didn’t turn me more patient, more perfect, or more Pinterest worthy. Homeschooling is just an extension of our (very chaotic) life. 2. To dispense with the idea that homeschooling is day after day of shiny, happy people reciting multiplication facts and King James scripture. 3. To show that even in the chaos that is sharing every aspect of life and learning with my children, we have found some tools for dialing down the crazy.

Five Things I Hate About Homeschooling (and how I make them more manageable)

1. I’m outnumbered.

I know that whether I homeschool or not, this would be a reality in a family with four kids, but there is something about the homeschooling process that really drives home the limited resource that is me.

Knowing that I cannot be in all the places at all the times has necessitated that my kids practice independent learning. They have to be capable of staying on task and working through their own questions. Not only does this make it possible to stretch the one-mom resource a bit further, but it also teaches the kids to take ownership of their own education.

Busy Boxes

This is a skill that we start to learn before we ever learn to read or write.  When my kids are little/preschool age, I begin to use what I call “Busy Boxes.” A busy box is basically a big o’box of age appropriate activities that are meant to keep little ones independently occupied. Pulling all of these activities together in a box makes them seem special to the child and keeps them readily accessible for use when the little one needs some quiet time. It also helps teach the child to focus on the activities available, thus teaching focus and independent learning.

Currently, I am using Busy Boxes for my Kindergartener to have some activities to do while his older brothers and I are occupied. I have divided a plethora of activities into five separate boxes that are labeled with the day of the week. Inside the boxes are building toys, fine motor skill activities, learning games, and more.  Each Tupperware container also has a reward chart taped to the lid. As he completes an activity in the box, he is rewarded with a sticker. A full sticker chart means that he gets to choose a little trinket. This keeps him motivated to stick with his box and complete many of the things inside.

~Our sticker chart and some of the contents of our Busy Boxes

2. They are always here.

Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, are spent with my kids. I know for some moms just reading that is enough to make you wait by the door for the big yellow bus, (no shame) but I actually, really, pinky-promise swear that I enjoy being with my kids. The thought of not getting to share the majority of their day with them makes me more than a little sad. I am genuinely grateful that we get to spend our days together.

So, I love my kids, but I am completely over the mess they make. I know that all kids make messes, but kids who spend their entire day in their home have even more time to wreak havoc as they whirlwind through each room. Disaster area X 4 is way more than enough to make me want to hide in the pantry with the good chocolate.

Chore Packs

To calm the chaos, we have to have a chore system in place. Everyone who does their part to mess does their part to clean. I have learned that my kids function best with a written list for chores. We have done a variety of things in the past, but I decided to create chore packs for each of my kids this year. I’ll be honest, these packs are mostly for me. It is so easy for me to just do the job myself. To stop the enabling, I need a structured list that forces me to force them to do their part.

Each list is organized (and color coded) by the day and by the room. Our chore charts hang on a ring on the side of the refrigerator where they cannot easily be forgotten.

3. My home is the Bermuda Triangle for Pencils.

Every day we sit down to start school. Every day no one can find a pencil. Every day, I start rubbing my temples to keep the explosions in my head from coming out my mouth.

Supply Stashes

To head off the headache before it starts, we have supply stashes in the various places where learning happens most in our house. There is one upstairs and one downstairs and even one in the laundry room with extras just in case. Having the supplies we need within easy reach makes it that much easier to grab a pencil and get to work.

~Make your own Lazy Susan Supply Caddy. It's easy! I promise.

4. I’ve got books. They’re multiplying.

You know how they say not to take your work home with you. Well, when your work is in your home, it’s hard to not let it take over your entire life.  Let’s just say, books everywhere, and yes, I know that I could do my part to stop the literary expansion by purchasing less books, but let’s not meddle.

Workboxes

To keep the books at bay, we use a system called workboxes. Workboxes are like the next level version of Busy Boxes. Not only does this system keep the kids school work in order, but it also accomplishes the need to keep the kids independently working. Workboxes can be organized a variety of ways, but we like the single drawer method cause it’s so visually organized. Each subject that each student needs to accomplish is housed in one drawer. All the materials that they need to accomplish the work in that drawer are kept in the drawer, as well. When it is time for the kids to start working independently, they start at the top and work their way to the bottom. The drawer system that we have allows them to remove the entire drawer and take it to their workstation, so they can complete the task and then return it to its place.

 

5. There are no substitutes.

For us, our specific family, there are no substitutes for the value that we gain from the homeschooling lifestyle. But, that is not the kind of substitute I am talking about. I am talking about a substitute for me-the teacher, the lone educator. There are no substitutes when I am sick. There are no substitutes when I am up to my eyeballs in work. There are no substitutes when I want to play hooky and binge watch Orange is the New Black. There are no substitutes when I am one multiplication problem away from going 50 shades of crazy.

Memory Boxes

Because I know that the buck stops here, I have to put systems in place to make my job as teacher to all easier and more effective. A Memory Box is one of many tools we use in our homeschool to make things run more smoothly.

The Memory Box is for anything that we are trying to learn by memory, which includes Bible verses, poems, and famous quotes. The system is made up of an index card box and plastic dividers. The dividers are labeled as daily, odd, even, five days of the week (Monday-Friday) and the numbers 1-31. New memory work is written on an index card and placed in the Daily section of the card box. As we learn that card, it is moved back to the Even/Odd section, and then the Days of the Week section, and then the numbered Days of the Month. In this way, we are reviewing our memory work daily, then every other day, then weekly, then monthly.

For more detailed instructions on how to make your own memory box, click here.

I don’t do things like the memory box because I am an overachieving perfectionist. I do them because I am exactly the opposite. I am far too flighty to consistently remember to do something as frivolous as memory work unless I have a system in place. The system keeps me accountable and motivated when I am anything but. It’s just one more tool that I can use to make homeschooling work for us and to keep me from being the crazy lady flagging down the big yellow bus and bribing the driver with the good chocolate to take a few extras.