We have gone through our first year of homeschooling, and while it was satisfying academically, I noticed that my household suffered. We usually started at 8 am with a 1-hour break around 11.30. We were somehow still busy at 4.30 and even then there would be things I hadn't gotten to. It was mainly my 3rd and 1st graders, with sporadic lessons for my preschooler whenever he was in the mood. This fall I will be starting with him for real too. How do I manage cooking, cleaning, laundry, yard work and still have time for myself? Not to mention swimming lessons etc. I thought about cooking at night for the next day, but that means I am still busy in the kitchen after the kids have gone to bed, and then I just plop into bed exhausted. The children definitely help with chores etc, but there is still a lot to do. And at night I like to have some time for myself to read or to chat with Dh or watch an episode of the Simpsons etc. How do you all do it? Thanks for reading
I would love to hear others too as this was my first year too. I struggled too and so this summer I have been thinking about how I can make things go smoother this coming year! Just some of my ideas I am hoping to make work! 1. School wise- I have more time this summer to prep more of our subjects for the coming school year. I am making notes, etc. of when I need certain items or books and where I can get them the week before. Also, a friend and I are swapping kids for several hours to prep for the coming year. *Also figuring out what my limit on activities for each child too- so we aren't gone too much during the week.* 2. I know you said the kids do chores and so do mine, but I'm taking another look at what else can they do- here are some of my thoughts- they can be taught how to sweep properly- walk the dog more and feed the cats- have them pack a lunch the night before like 2 or 3 times a week to save me time during the day- maybe I can fit in a load of laundry or dishes at that time! Of course this all takes time to teach properly but my hope is that in the long run it pays off =). And I'm still thinking of what else! (Also I am looking at what can my kids be taught to do on their own subject wise this year and I check in with them on- and setting up workboxes for this and teaching them again). 3. Food prep- Come late this month or early Aug. I will be making stock of things that can be frozen- pancakes, waffles, french toast, muffins, etc. and casseroles for dinners. That way as we get settled into a school routine I have some freed up time from making meals- and especially on days we have to leave early or be gone at dinner time. 4. Ask the hubby to do one thing- mine likes to vacuum and is willing to do it once a week for us =) and even surprises me with doing the dishes once in awhile! 5. Set a timer for 30 minutes while the kids have a quiet time- do a chore or 2 that needs to get done. Or take 15 minutes of that time for myself during the day too! I, too, need some quiet time in the evening- I don't like going all day just to plop into bed- I need to be revamped too! Can't wait to hear what others do! =)
We've been HS'ing for 3 years. I also work from home. My office & the school room are the same room (a spare bedroom). That room is a tornado year-round, but the rest of the house stays clean & dinner is always ready, because I have a husband who'll get mad if he comes home from work and finds a mess or doesn't have anything to eat. Here's how we roll: Monday is kid laundry (done by the older with a little help from me) and bowling league. Loads are put in and taken out throughout the day. It doesn't really interrupt the routine at all. Tuesday is adult laundry (and should be ladies' weekly Bible class, but I usually don't go). Again, laundry is done throughout the day and doesn't interrupt the routine. Wednesday is church. (Younger has to take a nap that day, because we're out later than usual.) Thursday is a weekly conference (online) for work and therapy for my oldest. Friday is a standing playdate with a friend from 20 years ago who just happens to have two homeschooled boys the same ages as my kids. (Weird how life works out that way.... and both of us are many, many, many miles from "home", too.) The daily routine: 6:30 - dh gets up 7:30 - everyone else gets up 8:00 - dh leaves for work, we get breakfast, get dressed, watch the news, check email, etc. 9:00 - school On normal days, school is from 9-ish to 11-ish for the older, break for lunch, and then finish after lunch if necessary. On busy days, we only do the 9-11 stuff. On light days, we'll work all day long. For the younger, school is an hour or less, and then he has free time, reads books, watches PBS, plays on the computer (educational games only) or whatever. 11:00 - lunch (Thursdays, I have a meeting at 11 while the kids eat) 12:00 - free time (Thursdays, we're getting shoes and getting out the door) 1:00 - either school, free time, or therapy... depends on the day (I'm able to run errands with the younger on Thursdays while the older is in therapy.) 2:00 - either errands, bowling league, or school... depends on the day 3:00 - Done! (Free time for naps, xbox, tv, books, legos, running errands, or whatever... doesn't matter) 5:00 - dinner (If leftovers, we microwave. If not, I start cooking at 4 or 4:30.) 6:00 - clean the house (kids pick up the clutter, I do the dishes & vacuuming) 6:15 - leave for church (Wednesday only... returning around 8:30 or 9) 7:00 - dh comes home (we watch TV while he eats... kids usually play upstairs) 8:00 - bedtime for the kids 9:00 - dh & I go to our separate offices to work or just mess around on the computer midnight - we go to bed I try to plan meals ahead of time. I go grocery shopping at night, usually Sunday night after the kids go to bed. I usually try to cook all the meats at once (George Foreman grill and/or oven ... easy, peasy), so that my prep time is next to nothing throughout the week. I can cook a month's worth of food in 2 hours if necessary (which I always do when I leave dh home alone or have surgery or something). Throughout the week, all I have to do is heat up the meats & veggies in the microwave, perhaps boil pasta or put fries in the oven, or whatever. Dinner's a cinch. Hope that helps!
oh my gosh, 2littleboys!! Thank you so much for taking the time to write your schedule out like that Cooking a month in advance and then just microwaving it...I could do that. as long as DH doesn't find out. He insists food only tastes good while its fresh off the stove. Of course I have occasionally cooked a meal ahead for the next day, but when he finds out, he claims it tastes terrible etc etc etc But this would save so much time, the meals I cook usually require about 2 hrs. On the other hand, I have 4 burners on my stove, so I could make 4 dishes at the most in the same 2 hrs. Sea, thanks for your post too! Your comment about sweeping made me laugh, I just had my 7 yr old sweep the dining room and kitchen before I came on here. he didnt do too bad. Also loved your idea of giving them certain subjects they can do by themselves with minimal input. One more thing I thought of: I need to limit myself on the laptop/pc...all too often I am trying to find new and interesting things for them to do, while they just wait. So definitely less screen time for me!
I get my screen time while the kids are doing independent stuff... whether it's handwriting or Legos. Also, you can still cook fresh meals... all you really need to do is pre-prepare the meat (freeze or fridge immediately so it doesn't dry out!), which is usually the thing that takes the longest. Salad, bread, steamed veggies, pasta, gravy, etc. all take only minutes and are best when served fresh.
I've been told that very few hs'ers can get it "all" done. Either school's going great and the house is a mess, or the house looks great, but school's sort of fallen aside....
Wait? You're supposed to be able to get it all done. Oh well. The only time my house is clean, and laundry and such "on top of" is during the summer. Other than that....I do rush loads of underwear, and overnight loads. My kids will not be here forever, and someday when my house is clean and organized, I'm going to wish they were here. (to do it for me!!! LOL ). Anyway....no one EVER said you have to have it all together. And if someone else is placing that on you....let them keep their own house clean! Enjoy the mess. Enjoy your kids. Live your life. It will be there tomorrow. Promise.
Jackie's right. It's impossible to have both. And like 2littleboys, my husband gets upset if certain things are not done so I try to focus on keeping those things up and let the rest wait til the weekend. You have to realize that homeschooling is a full-time job. If you're not teaching and driving to activities then you're reading over the weeks lessons, planning or researching on the internet. There are just so many hours in a day. Don't beat yourself up trying to do it all. If you do, you'll get burn-out. Of course, we can get burned out just from schooling alone! There are some things you can do to free up a *little* time. One thing is SLOW COOKER! And when you do use the slow cooker, pick recipes with few ingredients. For instance, one of our faves is pulled beef sandwiches. All it is a beef roast and a bottle of BBQ sauce. Another thing we do is before school starts we take about 15 minutes and cleanup the house. I assign everyone jobs. We set the timer and go! It's a fun "game" and some things get picked up/cleaned/put away. I try to remember that these years will someday be over and I'll have plenty of time to get it all done.
You don't. No one can do it all. Homeschooling is equal to a full-time job especially as your children get older. Prioritize and choose where to put your time. Get help if possible and cut out/cut down things that aren't necessary or important to you. It helps me to have specific tasks for each weekday. I have 2 days for laundry. I separate the house into 3 areas and we clean one each of the other days. So nothing is all clean at once, but it keeps it from getting too bad.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around doing school work at 4:30! There is no way I could do that. We're done by noon or 1pm. Is there some things you could alternate days with? Like Science Mon and Wed and History Tues and Thurs? It sounds like a really long day for little ones. After lunch, my kids either start a load of laundry, or do bathroom cleaning or trash detail, or whatever needs doing that day. I'm not one to get all fussy about how my house looks, I've come to understand that with kids and pets, it's not going to be perfect. I won't try to make it look like no one lives here. Dinner takes less than an hour to fix, unless I use the crockpot or something, then it's just a few minutes in the morning. Me time is after dh and kids are asleep, around 11 or 12. Take it easy on yourself and don't try to do it all. It'll never happen!LOL
I think my biggest problem was the 1st year we home-schooled. I would make them "do school" for so many hours a day and we really struggled. Now - I do school year round (minimal during the summer unless the kids are up for it and want to do more) - they do school stuff when it's too hot outside to do anything else (today 102 in the shade - so they will read) Even with a high school kid now, I try to have most of the school work done in the morning and we leave 1 or 2 subjects for night time. He likes working outside on the farm and I want him to be able to - but I also want him to do his school work. My house - well that's usually a "need to clean this disaster area" type event I mainly try and keep the kitchen clean (with the help of kids) and rooms movable. My husband does dinner at LEAST 1x per week - it can be on the weekend or whatever, I now schedule it for him. He has to plan it and get it done. Yes, it is in the middle of the week and definitely 1x on a weekend. I like once a month cooking and will try and do it again soon to prepare for fall when I have 3 in PS and 2 at home.... we run around a lot more then. I always try and meal plan though... I now have a 1 week dry erase calendar where I write the meals for the week. I use emeals.com for the meal plans and shopping lists as well - saves time and money in the long run as long as I stick to it! I also have a monthly dry erase calendar on my wall - and if the event isn't on there, I can't guarantee you'll get there because I might have something else planned. My 5 year old has simple chores she has to do and her own chore chart for "check marks." She makes her bed, picks up her clothes, feeds the dogs, picks up toys, sets the table, gets dressed etc. There is no rule that says you have to do it all.
This will be my 16th year home schooling and I have NEVER gotten "it all" done! You must make priorities and those will change from year to year. We have 365 days to fit 180 days of academics. We have 12 years to hit academic subjects. NO school gets ALL the books/materials finished perfectly. NO mom gets ALL the cooking/cleaning/laundry done perfectly. 1. Ask your dh what things are most important to him. 2. What things are most important to you? 3. Use those two lists (yes, write them down) to set your priorities for ONE month. Priorities in July will be different than priorities in December! Don't compare yourself, your home, your school to anyone else. An example from my house: Clean laundry is important to both dh and myself. I do laundry most days. Because that is important also to dh , HE HELPS with it! Many days I'll wash, dry, fold his clothes.... I'll leave them neatly stacked in a basket for him to put his own things away. A dear friend of mine told me that her husband would be very unhappy if he had to put his laundry away at the end of a long day. Another example: School is the most important thing I do. Both dh and I agree that this is our #1 priority... from August to May. We do summer school, but it falls from the #1 spot in the summer. If I've got a full school day planned, then laundry may not be done that day, supper will be very simple, and a quick whole family chore time will be planned. Remember the 10 minute tidy from Big Comfy Couch? Set the timer and have fun getting the common rooms as clean as possible in 10 minutes. Oh... did you notice I said "common rooms"? Close bedroom doors. The whole house does not need to be picture perfect every day. My dd30 wants her kitchen really clean every day. If her kitchen is clean then she can relax after she gets home from work. I want a neat living room... meaning tidy.... not dusted, vacuumed, and perfectly decorated. Someone else might want the bathroom as clean as possible and another might want the bedroom nice at bedtime. One more thing.... my baby is 15 years old... three of my six are grown and out of the house.... I wish I would not have stressed over "getting it all done" as much. Pick what you CAN get done and do the rest as you can!
I didn't read all the responses, but there is no way I could handle school lasting that long to begin with. We are almost always done by lunch time, some days there may be science experiments or movies or games after lunch, but there is never any bookwork done after lunch. (Now if Garrett were home, he may have stuff to finish independantly after lunch, but he is older and it's a way different world.) I also learned last year that if I didn't cover the "fun stuff" first, I tended to not even bother with it.. fun as in science, social studies, art, music, etc. So we start with that stuff now.. it gets about 2 hours of our time. So if we start at 8, by 10 we are moving on to the "important" things like math and language arts. That still leaves us 2 hours to do math and language arts for 2 kids. Afternoons are when we clean up stuff and I fold the laundry that I did in the AM, I find time for me then, where I unwind in front of some trashy tv or surfing the net. I try to get the kids to remember to clean up their toys before bed, so when we get up in the AM we can walk through the house, but that doesn't happen all the time.
We too have generally finished school by 1.30pm, 2.30pm at the lastest. Some days we finish just before lunch at 12.30. As long as we get in a good 3 hours, then that is generally enough for the kids, and for me! The afternoons are for hobbies, sports, baking and housework. My house is never perfect, but I fit in cleaning up just after lunch for an hour, then cook every day. I could never manage it if we worked until 6pm at night, and I think my kids at least would be too tired to learn much at that time! I read somewhere that 2 hours of homeschooling is equal to a day in school. Remember in school they are not sitting down learning for that much of the day. A lot is taken up with play time, and other non-learning activities.
I don't agree with this. When I worked in the public schools I observed several different elementary classrooms in different states. In each one I observed the students engaged in focused learning time. I've observed in a couple private schools too and didn't see much difference. There were no big transition times. Transition time was rather minor with the majority of the time spent learning. Now Kindergarten classes may not have as much time in focused directed learning, but the "non-learning activities" are actually part of the lesson plan since kids that age do learn well without structured instruction. That said, if the opening poster feels like schooling is too much for her family she can prioritize. If she is happy with the academics she will have to cut back her expectations elsewhere. No one can do it all.
For me it all snowballs. My expectations/desires for the housework being done stems from feeling like I can't school well in a disastrous environment. I think it's going to be "interesting" (read I'm totally freaking out) to see how school goes this fall with my kids. I have the element of a 2nd grader who needs to stay on task and accomplish 2nd grade, a kinder who I can be more lenient with but who is constantly asking to do school, a pre-k'er who is the same as the kinder, and a toddler who wants to do what the others are doing but doesn't always have the skills at this age. The whole idea is daunting. And it's made worse by the thought that my house might be in chaos around us. I'm working to get my kids more involved in the chores, if THEY are busy doing something helpful while I am doing something that needs to be done in the house they AREN'T doing something else destructive that I will just have to clean up in a few minutes. This has been so great the past month or so. I'm also going to do as much planning ahead as possible, have each week's lessons organized and ready to just pull out for the younger set and have my oldest son's stuff organized and ready to pull out as well. I think that the less time I have to spend prepping during the school year the more time I have to put on keeping up with the house.
Embassy, I think it depends on the school. We had LOTS of down time in the classroom. Time spent going to/from "specials", bathroom time, time spent disciplining, etc. Also, there's lots of down time for the "bright" student, who finishes in the first 15 minutes, and has to figure out how to entertain himself while the the teacher is busy with the other reading group, or he understands his math and has to sit and be good, listening to something he knew rather instinctivel last year. And when bright students are left on their own without anything to do, they have a tendency to FIND something, and it usually something mischievious!
Still haven't read everything, but see there is talk of hours at home compared to PS, first you can't compare apples and oranges. BUT, I really think that you can get what you need to do for K in 30 minutes a day, 1st in an hour, 2nd in and 1 1/2 hours, 3rd in 2 hours, etc. Going up 30 minutes for each grade. I think for preK you ocul do it in a few minutes a day scattered through-out the day... like counting the steps as you go up them or the colors of the grapes you are eating, or that the picture of a pig you just colored started with a "P" that says "puh". (that would put 12th graders at about 6 1/2 hours, and really that seems like a good number to me.)
