How do you get these things done? I was desperate to have food in the house last week, so took the fam out during school hours to get groceries. I had several older people comment about why the boys weren't in school. We are super busy weeknights and I work weekends. My days were the only time to clean and do errands. Now I feel as if we will get "caught" if we go out during school hours. This is a small town and people have always made it their business to make other people's business their business too. Maybe I will feel better about it when I get that paper back from the state approving us for homeschooling... Also when we are doing school work at home, I just can't get the housecleaning done. The boys have tons of questions and need things explained. I am finding that I am lucky to get laundry and dishes done and I can see my floor. Not that it is clean, but I can see it. We haven't even finished unpacking from moving in... :lol I guess it may never get done.
Aurie, I see there are a few threads started by you that I, as a newbie have similar questions about. Thank you in advance. In Alaska we are very pro homeschool but let me tell you some things, many of the kids up here are homeschooled just because mom is too lazy to get up and get them on the bus, they learn nothing then when mom gets sick of them they throw them in school and they fail. It is so sad. The fact that most of your day is eaten up schooling SHOWS you are teaching them. What I was getting at thought with the pro homeschool is that we see a LOT of kids out and about with parents. These are a few things that I have pondered for our future if we continue homeschooling. What I have considered is 'swapping kids' and having a fellow homeschool mom take mine for a day and teach them which a) gives them exposure to other teaching styles, a plus, may not be same curriculum but maybe do it once a week and make that day a day that you teach one agreed upon subject that is not directly curriculum specific? try not to make it just the 'fun' day though because then your child/ren will associate the 'other' teacher with fun and you not, know what I mean? b) you get a day to do stuff and so does she. We do recess mid day twice a week usually, we run errands etc. I give DS the grocery list, he is in charge of reading and crossing off etc, that stuff, it is 'recess' or break time but ALSO working time kind of. When he gets older I will have him 'estimate' in his head if he can or even add on calculator how much groceries will be, something like that. I quiz him when we are out. He is only K so there are not many math things he can do yet like that but when I purchase something I ask him how much change I should get back, ask him what day of the week it is so he remembers when we go to the post office what day we already went, just little things like that. If our break is 2 hrs then so be it. I have him help me put things away (classifying/sorting/neatness by putting away bags etc). That type of thing. Just some thoughts. About running into others, no good answer for you on that one as the homeschool/anti homeschool debate will be on in some cases, I know I used to be anti homeschool for so many reasons BUT I kept my mouth shut unless asked
I take off one day a week for errands and stuff, usually Friday. We go to Story Time and the park, and then do all my errands. I've had a few people ask why my oldest wasn't in school. When I say we homeschool, that's always been the end of it. It does still make me nervous when they ask. He's only 5 so I expect more people to comment as he gets older. As far as housekeeping goes, I've enlisted the help of my boys. The oldest two pick up their toys and stuff before bed, and it's their responsibility to keep their room clean. At 5 yrs and 3 yrs clean is a relative term. My oldest ds also likes to help out with other cleaning, so I really encourage that. Basically I just try to make sure the house is fairly neat every night. In the mornings I tidy up the kitchen and start a load of laundry before we start lessons. Then I just try to sneak in a few minutes throughout the day to get stuff done. I can't imagine trying to do all this while unpacking. I think if you can see your floor you're doing great Lisa
I get my house cleaning done by getting my dd10 to help whenever I need it. She can vaccum, sweep, sort laundry, and pick up and put things away. We do a little everyday so it doesn't pile up on me. On Tuesdays I take dd3 to story time in the morning where dd10 does some of her work. The we go run errands after that. We get home, eat lunch and then dd10 finishes her work in the afternoon. We have never been asked why the girls weren't in school. Dd10 tells anyone who will listen that she is homeschooled though and we have never had a problem. She told some ladies at church she is homeschooled a few weeks ago when she was talking about a field trip to the Alamo. Well today when I walked in from running errands my phone was ringing. It was one of those ladies from church telling me she picked up some great info for me on Texas History to use with dd10. I was shocked! Now how thoughtful is that?
I say make house cleaning part of your hs. Call it home ec. I think it is very important to learn to take care of the house. Give your kids little chores to do each day. My son has chores he must do everyday. As for doing errands also consider this school work. Having them read the shopping list is a great idea. We do a lot of comparing when shopping looking for the best deal. This is math. I have had people ask why my son is not in school and I say or he says that he is homeschooled. Some people wrinkle their noses, others say good for you. But to be honest I don't care what they say. This is my choice to hs and to bad if they don't like it. Good Luck!!
Amy, we also incoperate housework into our day. one of the things the kids are responsible for every evening before bed is to have their bedrooms picked up...this is much eaiser now that in our new house we have been blessed with smaller bedrooms, but a HUGE playroom, so other than a few special toys and books and stuffed animals all the toys are in the play room...makes picking up easy. the kids are compleatly responsible for having their toys picked up in the playroom also... the key to this is to make sure everything has a place and it can be put there without having to spend alot of time on it (ie, a bucket for blocks to to in rather than stacked on the shelf) i built deep shelves all around the playroom and we got a bunch of those clear plastic bins and labled them with names and pictures of what goes in each box so there is no reason for them to need any help from me, i just set the timer for 10 minutes..or 15 if its a disaster in there and they get to work, it usually takes less than 5 minutes! as far as the other housework goes, vacuming, dusiting, laundry etc i have no problem offering a reward system for housework, as kids a reward worth working for can be ice cream, tv, pizza etc... as an adult housework is still rewarding you just dont need ice cream to tell you that any more, so we have a chore chart, each kid has all the chores they are able to do listed and get a sticker each time it is compleated..at the end of the week anyone who has x amount of stickers gets to have the treat with us. as far as grocery shoping, errands and being out in public goes i dont think there is anything wrong with going during the school day, we usually have time to finish our work even if we do spend 3 hours running around! if someone asks why we are not in school i am not shy about telling them we homeschool, however sometimes if it looks like it will only be a passing comment...the clerk at the store, the lady at the drive thru (cause mom loves mcdonalds fries when everyone is good shoping! ) i will also tell them its a "teacher work day" well it is, im the teacher and ive got work to do today!! seems like ps kids are out every week for one of those anyway why can we have them too!!
At our house we all work together to keep the house clean. We do this before we start school for the day. Working together as a family helps out alot. My husband when he is off work helps out too. I usually don't get a chance to leave the house for errands until after the younger two take a nap (which always lasts until after school) So we haven't had rude starangeer ask why my kids are with me. If someone asks just say you are homeschooling or that school today is only a half day. You can also have t-shirts made with your school name that they wear when you are out.
I take my kids out during "school hours" all the time. I just make sure school is completed before we leave or when we get home. No big deal. Now, I don't live in a huge city, but I never really had anyone comment. Someone may ask if school is out that day and I simply say, "yes." Well, it is. lol. Housework can be a chore to get done. Sorry for the play on words. lol. If I worked all day and kids were in school all day the same chores would have to be done, right? So why now do them during a break? Or just wait until school is over. Me, I do chores during school---while the kids are doing independent work. Also, my kids do chores. Instead of doing them after school we do them before school. My kids wake up, get dressed, make thier beds, have breakfast, do their chores and then have school. Not everyday is picture perfect but we try, well at least try enough before dh gets home. lol I have lists in a few rooms of what needs to be done and on what day. They just take a look and pick a few. Homeschooling really does allow for more school time and more housecleaning time once you get it down to a science. Run your house like you would any job. Now, I am not perfect. I have days where I don't get dressed and my dishes are still not done and it is dinner time. However, I try my best to maintain order. It makes life easier. I HATED laundry and it always seemed to take forever. Then I decided to do laundry on Mondays and Thursdays. Somehow all my laundry turned into a small easy chore. Really. Now, I have recently fallen off the wagon and I am paying the price. I am a firm believer in schedules and lists. I just wish I was a firm believer in sticking to them. lol. However, on a routine day it is best to have a routine. This way when those crazy days come, you won't feel to behind. Now, I need to go catch up on my laundry. lol.
Yep, we do the same thing, do house work as a chore, it works out wonderful. Give them little jobs and they love it. Errands I use to worry about it, now if I have to go I go and don't think nothing of it.
Sounds overwhelming, but you can do it. Just step back and take a breath plan then re-attack. Keep in mind that small amounts of time total up to a lot of time. YOu can make progess in small bits of time here and their. If you just moved into a home, and are homeschooling also you are entitled to clutter etc. Don't worry about what others think about your kids being at the store with you. Realistically 2-4 hours of HS time equate to a whole day at school or more. As far as getting the housework done, spend 20 minutes each day before do anything else. In this time you can clean a bathroom, start aload of clothes, wash dishes, do meal prep tasks that will make things easier later. Consider doing some homeschool work at the kitchen table so you can field questions while cooking. Can you fold laundry/iron or pay bills in the school room while the kids work? On sat. we have a power hour, it is amazing that when we all work non stop for an hour what can get done. One of us mows the lawn, while another vacuums & dusts and cleans the stove or microwave or refriderator. We take a recess for a cartoon and lunch and I usually get another 20 minute job done during this time while the kids eat. then we continue school and finish up. My spouse takes the kids outside for park time, bike time, or whatever after he gets cleaned up and has a snack when coming in from work. I use this time to either take a short nap, or get another chore done. Focus on the kitchen and baths as emergency areas, then make gradual progess on all others. You will make it, just dont put to harsh a time line in effect.
Check out www.flylady.net She has lists on there for you to print out. Easy ways to catch up and get things done. What I get out of it most is encouragement! About cleaning... I know...my husband thinks I'm weird! I bought 3 timers and they help more than I thought they would. I CAN'T do schoolwork with a house that is too out of control. It keeps my attention and makes me uncomfortable. We also live in a small town. I get out with my children all the time. The people in town know me and my kids. We did not like the "everyone here knows everybody's business" thing either, but I don't hide. Hopefully they will be nice to you. Yes, you will always get questions. We went to Walmart today and got at least 2 questions. I actually had someone ask my daughter about a month ago if she was homeschooled! I was floored - they usually ask why they are not in school. What I think is weird is when I see other kids at Walmart who are school age. I am afraid to ask! Anyway, check out flylady - I really need the encouragement and my kids use the printouts. Sabrina
I have heard it said from veteran HS'ers that either the house is a wreck and school's going well, or school's a wreck but the house is very neat. You can't have it both ways, lol! First of all, don't feel guilty about having the kids with you running errands during school hours. To be quite blunt, it's no one else's business! They have no idea what your children are or are not learning, how many hours you've invested in "school" that day, or what your plans are for later that day. If you want to blow off a day every so often, that's YOUR choice. You can make it up later. You don't have to give anyone any explaination. One of the reasons we get up at 6 is that I can get stuff done early BEFORE I have to get out and run errands. By 10:00, I've gotten 2-3 hours accomplished, and if I don't do anything else school-wise the rest of the day, it's OK. As far as my house goes, it's usually a mess. But I DO have laundry under control! The kids empty their hampers in the middle of my living room on Sunday night. We sort it while Dad reads to them. I get the whites on to soak, and turn them on to wash when I go to bed. In the morning, the whites go in the dryer, and I put on a second load. I do laundry all morning and into the afternoon. Around 1:00, my kids do a half-hour of silent reading, followed by my reading aloud to them. On Laundry Day, the kids fold clothes while I read. How long I read is dependent on how quickly they fold. Sometimes they will listen for a chapter, and then we'll listen to "Adventures in Oddyssey". Clothes are then taken upstairs and put away IMMEDIATLY.
My theory is this day to teach won't be here again, but the dirt will. If there's an errand the husband can't do it waits until I can get out. He even takes my mom to her appointments.
I like flylady too. Here book sink reflections is great and has all of the lists in there. Great way to babystep and not get overwhelmed.
We always stress to the newbies to look at their weekly schedule FIRST and then plan their week. I know that sounds crazy but.... it works. For one week you track everything you do and when you do it. There is a tracking sheet on www.hsiz.org under file library you can use if you want. Ok...after you track NOW you take a blank plan sheet and you write down what you want your week to look like. This always helps to know how much time you spend doing things when you plan it out. Sure...I could probably clean the bathroom in 15 minutes but....that is only if I put on my speedy shoes and....honestly...that never happens. This is also a good way to see ok...on Monday we have Music so...what else is over there that we need to take care of this week. It's a gradual process. I always say it's like losing weight...slow and steady. A lot depends on the age of your kids as to how much they help out. It may be easier to do it yourself BUT...if you never teach them how to do it they will never know how.
Thanks She and everyone. I am going to check out FlyLady, but I also like the above list. You all are awesome!
I take my daughters shopping with me. They take some of their work that they can do on their own and they sit in the cafe at our local grocery store and work while I shop. What does not get done, they do when we get home. No big deal, as long as they do the work and learn their lessons.
we do house cleaning in the afternoon (so it looks decent before DH comes home) I've tried washing dishes while the kids work, but you can't help when you have wet hands. DH doesn't understand that very well.
I have taped spelling list or dictation to the cupboards so that I could read them while doing dishes!
Errand day... We had dentist appointments today and ended up having an errand day....great thing is, we met another new homeschool family at one of the stores!
