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Organization

3 Ways to Instantly Gain More Time in Your Homeschool Day

May 27, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

With the growing amount of digital curriculum and multiple devices that most homes have now, you’re supposed to get more time in your homeschool day. But I find the opposite is true.

More than ever homeschoolers are stressed to the max with growing to-do lists.

When I read that some homeschool days are 8 hours or longer, I’m shocked. And all I can think of is how every bit of learning is sucked out of a day. I shudder to think if the homeschooled child will grow up loving to learn.

I started homeschooling where we only used the computer for after school time. I’ve also homeschooled where things have changed to family members having multiple devices each. That doesn’t always equate with more time.

3 Ways to INSTANTLY Gain More Time in Your Homeschool Day. Read the tried and true tips at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I have 3 ways to help you instantly gain more time in your homeschool day.

Minimalist Game is not for Mindless Morons

ONE/ I talk many times how everything we needed for living overseas had to be packed into just two suitcases per person.

One small thing that gave me big time-savings results instantly without overwhelming me in ridding myself of clutter in an almost 4,000 square foot house was to play the minimalist game.

On the first day of the month throw away one thing. It can be anything, a homeschool book or something in your kitchen.

On the second day, chunk two items.

On the third day, pitch three items and so on for every day of the month.

What works best when you’re overwhelmed in the day is to have a solution that is easy and simple to implement.

Solutions that require tons of energy just don’t work because of our homeschooling lifestyle.

The return on the minimalist game is that less to organize and less to clean in your day frees up time in your day for other things like spending time on yourself, on field trips or just resting.

In addition, instead of feeling like you’re paralyzed before you start a project like sorting through all of the books at the end of the year and deciding whether you need it or not, it becomes a doable and easily conquerable project.

TWO/ Set up your children’s learning area where they can manage it, not you.

Another mistake I’ve seen which wastes value time is rounding up the curriculum for the day.

Even preschoolers can be taught to take and return their learning toys to the right places. By training my sons from the time they were young that everything has a place, I’m spared stress in the morning.

For younger kids, use rolling storage. True, you may need to roll it out in your learning area, but they learn to put it away and learn from a young age to not leave things out.

It takes time to set up a learning area, but it’s so worth the effort. I start by measuring every book and every item that each child will need for the year. Then I decide the storage containers.

Some years, we used stack of drawers and other years, I used baskets on bookshelves.

Start slowly, again, by measuring every item so that it fits into a storage container.

Your day should start by your children getting their own supplies while you enjoy some last minute time to yourself. Your day gets off to a much better start and you don’t waste time collecting curriculum.

THREE/ I’m not saying switch your homeschool approach, but I am saying to tighten it up.

I’d like to tell you that there is one homeschool approach that works better, clutter wise, than the other, but there is not.

Each homeschool approach brings its own amount of curriculum clutter. And then add to that enthusiastic teachers and we can over teach. We’re just doing too much for our student.

In addition to your children having their own learning space setup to suit them, you need to see ways that you can slash your teaching.

There simply is no need to do every math problem or to assign homework in homeschool.

Look at these practical ways that have worked for me through the years.

  • Never cover one subject when you can cover two subjects at one time. If you’re going to survive and thrive in homeschooling, you must abandon the thought of keeping subjects separate. For example, if your child loves science, then his reading assignment or literature should be about famous scientists and how-to books. Forget trying to cover the extra reading of literature if you can get a two-pher out of it. The same idea applies for history. Leave the reading of literature that you couldn’t work into your day to your child’s spare reading time or for leisure. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that readers don’t need to be channeled to read literature that you have removed from your formal day. It’s okay to not leave all the choices up to the kids for what to read during leisure time.
  • At a certain stage, my boys always seemed to want to start to fighting when our day began. One remedy was to have one or two of them do their chores while I worked with the other one at the table. This not only worked off a bit of energy, but it kept them from not being around each other constantly. The added bonus was that chores got worked into the day and made my day shorter.
  • If your child is steadily doing math, which should be done every day, cut back some lessons to half.
  • In addition, if you have a strong math guy like I have, then focus on reading a living math book for the day and move on to another subjects that requires attention. Sure, my math lover didn’t mind doing extra lessons and he could from time to time. But also, as the teacher, I needed to guide him to using his time to investigate other subjects and strengthen in skills in them. So if covering a subject orally can be reinforced that day through a book or audio book, do it.
  • Give each kid his own printed schedule. Teaching your kids to stick to a routine helps them to move through their day quicker too. Are you using my teacher and student schedules?

Expect the Unexpected – Roll with It!

THREE/ School like you live life. Plan for the unexpected.

I have a method for cooking each week. I cook a bit more at the beginning of my week. If I cook chicken, I make a bit more in the beginning so that I don’t have to cook at the end of the week. I already have my chicken cooked for my chicken tacos at the end of the week.

Homeschooling is the same. Unless you need to, quit trying to balance the days.

My advice is if you can squeeze more school into the beginning of your week before it gets busy, then it’s less that needs to be done at the end of the week.

Homeschool from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m for three days and then for the last two days quit by noon.

You’ll gain way more time in your schedule by pushing a bit in the beginning and the best part is if that something unexpected comes up, you’re still rocking on fine.

Let go of stressful homeschooling because I’m telling you in the end what matters most is the time spent together. Make room now for more of it.

With the growing amount of digital curriculum and multiple devices that most homes have now, you're suppose to get more time in your homeschool day. But I find the opposite is true. More than ever, homeschoolers are stressed to the max with growing to-do lists. Having started homeschooling where we only used the computer for after school time and homeschooling now where things have changed to family members having multiple devices each, I have 3 ways to help you instantly gain more time in your homeschool day. Click here to read these tried and true tips!

You’ll love these other tips!

  • Teach Your Homeschooled Teen the Art of Studying (without nagging)
  • 7 Homeschool Lies I Want to Tell My Younger Self
  • Should You Switch to a 4-Day Homeschool Schedule.
  • 26 Best Fifteen Minute Self-Care Tips for Homeschool Moms
  • 7 Advantages to Starting Your Homeschool Year in the Summer 
  • How to Use Summertime to Put a Foot in Homeschooling
  • 10 Biggest Homeschool Burnout Triggers (and how to cope)

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Be an Exceptional Homeschool Teacher, Homeschool Simply, Organization, Teach/Which Subjects to Teach/Cover EVERYTHING Tagged With: homeschool, homeschool challenges, homeschool schedules, homeschoolmultiplechildren, multiple children, relaxedhomeschooling, schedules, teachingmultiplechildren, time saving tips

2017-2018 Academic Calendar – 2 Pages Per Month (Amethyst)

May 3, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Grab this beautiful and in color 2 page per month academic calendar. You get ALL 12 months. It’s academic because it begins in July when you begin homeschool planning. And it has 12 months if you’re like me and plan year around. You’ll love this Amethyst color option. Use it to begin building your 7 Step Free Homeschool Planner. Click here to grab it!

Today, I am sharing the second color choice for the 2017 – 2018 Academic Year Calendar –2 Pages Per Month at a Glance. It is the Amethyst color option.

Let me remind you of where all the color choices are for this option so you can be sure to look them over each year. They are kept here at Step. 2. Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers.

Curriculum Pages for Planner

The second thing I want to remind you of is that I have FREE calendars that are made for a quick glance that I share on the same step, Step. 2. Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers and planning calendars are also different because they are for planning and tracking school weeks. The homeschool planning calendars are kept at Step 5a. Choose Unique forms JUST for You! and I will be sharing them soon too.

The two page spread I share today is for keeping appointments for any of your family’s needs whether it’s personal or homeschool.

Grab this beautiful and in color 2 page per month academic calendar. You get ALL 12 months. It’s academic because it begins in July when you begin homeschool planning. And it has 12 months if you’re like me and plan year around. You’ll love this Amethyst color option. Use it to begin building your 7 Step Free Homeschool Planner. Click here to grab it!

Grab this beautiful and in color 2 page per month academic calendar. You get ALL 12 months. It’s academic because it begins in July when you begin homeschool planning. And it has 12 months if you’re like me and plan year around. You’ll love this Amethyst color option. Use it to begin building your 7 Step Free Homeschool Planner. Click here to grab it!

Also, this two page spread can be used in a home management binder, blogging planner, financial planner or fitness planner.

My copyright allows you to print it off as many times as you need it for your needs.

Hope you love the new color choice amethyst and you can get it now for just $1.50!

TOS

Important: READ THIS FIRST.
Before you email me asking where your download link is or tell me that it is not working, read this to ensure that you get your pretties timely and that you don’t pay for something and not get it.

• All my products are digital. You will not receive a physical product for anything in my store. A digital physical year calendar does not mean a physical product or calendar.
• Downloads are INSTANT. When you pay, you will receive an email with a download link INSTANTLY. Depending on your internet connection, the email could be just 30 seconds or so, or a bit longer. The point is it will be soon, not a week later,etc.
• The email with the download link will go to the email you used for paypal. If you used your husband’s paypal, your downloads will go to that email. Please check that email and your spam before emailing me telling me you can’t find it.
• Please put my email tina @ tinasdynamichomeschoolplus dot com (of course substitute the right symbol for dot) in your address/contact list so that your product does not go to spam.

MY GUARANTEE: To treat you like I want to be treated which means I know at times technical problems may cause glitches, so I will do everything possible to make your experience here pleasant. I value your business and value you as a follower. I stand behind my products because they are actual products I use and benefit from too. Though I cannot refund purchases after you have been given access to them, I will do what I can to be sure you are a pleased customer.

You can grab this newest beautiful color option for only $1.25!

And the next year’s calendar is ready too. You’ll love getting two full years use out of the 2018 to 2019 2 page calendar.

7 Easy Steps – “Tons of Options & Pretty Color” Begin building your free planner

Step 1. Choose a Pretty Front/Back Cover

Step. 2. Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers

Step 3. Choose Goals/Objectives

Step 4. Choose Lesson Planning Pages Right For You!

Step 5a. Choose Unique forms JUST for You! Not a kazillion other people

Step 5b. Choose MORE Unique Forms JUST for You!

Step 5c. Choose MORE MORE Unique Forms Just for You!

Step 6. Personalize It

Step 7. Bind it! Love it!

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Curriculum Planner, Homeschool Tools, Storage, & Accessories, Organization Tagged With: 2pagepermonthcalendar, academiccalendars, calendar, homeschool, homeschoolplanner, lesson planner, lessonplanning, new homeschooler homeschool organization, organization, organizedhomeschool

The Perfect Personal Planner: 5 Questions to Ask (before you buy)

December 20, 2016 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

The Perfect Personal Planner 5 Questions to Ask before you buy @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Life is full of seasons of change and for the first time this year I will be using two different planners. One planner will be the one I always use each year, which is my 7 Step Homeschool Planner and the other one is a new personal planner.

My homeschool planner is considerably thinner now that I am down to homeschooling one son and my personal life after school (taking care of aging parents, guiding young adults on career and education and keeping up with my husband’s new career) is considerably fuller.

Choosing a personal planner can be just as overwhelming as choosing as a homeschool planner.

Because I had used a personal planner in my LBK (life before kids) when I was important busy working in a law office, I had some previous experience using one prior to switching to exclusively using a homeschool planner. Life comes full circle for sure.

Personal Planners that Fits a Homeschooling Lifestyle (or don’t)

I’m sure my personal planner will be a journey like my 7 Step Homeschool Planner has been, but there are few questions I had to answer before I chose one.

I thought you could benefit from my brainstorming questions.

One/ How big do you want it? Size matters.

One reason for choosing a personal planner is because I still want this baby to fit in my purse. This is the hardest part for me because by nature, I tend to like large size planners, which give me a lot of room to write.

But I’m sucking it up and going tighter and smaller to keep my personal planner fitting in my purse because I need to be able to not carrying too much in my hands as I take my mother in law back and forth to the doctor for her appointments. Besides my other hand is for more important things like coffee or iced tea.

Pointer: Remember if you use a smaller planner, you may need to only keep half the year in your planner for the daily pages. I’m keeping the glance at a view for the whole year, but scaled back my daily pages to only 6 months because I want journal pages to write notes in. I’ll see how I survive.

Two/ Do you want to reuse a binder or choose one already spiral bound?

I know that I will be using my binder a lot and so I wanted one with rings and chose a faux leather one to refill. If I stick with this method, I think I would be willing to cough up the bucks for a leather one that will last.

But that also leads me to my next question.

Three/ What type of refillable calendar pages do you want?

Knowing that I want as much room to write on my journal pages and daily pages, I chose a one-page-per-day layout.

Four/ What type of journal pages do you want?

I chose simple colored pages because I’m still waffling about how I want to make my lists and take notes, so I chose Filofax ruled and plain personal size pages to keep it simple.

Five/ What kind of extras (i.e. glam) do you want to add to your planner?

Then my favorite part is choosing all the pretty stuff to go in it. I do like some of it, but I’m not into turning my planner into a scrapbook. Who has time for that while homeschooling? Inspiration and enhancing yes, but dawdling and idling no.

Having inspiration in my planner is important to me as I use it everyday. Like my 7 Step Homeschool Planner, I have to add a few smokin’ hot things I love.

Here is what I’ve added so far.

Posh bookmarks.
Michaels carries a lot of the Recollections brand, which I like for my planner.

Planner Charm (everybody needs one or two)

Here is the planner charm I using right now which is the Creative Year Sky Blue Tassel & Feather Planner Charm.

creative-yearThen you never want to leave home without having an accessory pouch and well if it’s gold, it just makes things better! ha.

Must have accessory pouch for a personal planner @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Not only can you include in the pouch a few mentionables like paper clips, small tube of lip balm and a rubber band, but any small unmentionable you want to as well. (wink).

I got my gold accessory pouch from Michaels and used it this year and I think I can get another years use out of it.

And a few pretty page markers for your personal planner while you homeschool @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

And then I love having more than one way to spot sections in my planner, so I have been using these Creative Year Blush Magnetic Bookmarks too.

Will you be using two planners this next year too?

It has been a longggggg time since I have and I’m so giddy to jump into using it and I’m sure I will have some pros and cons next year after I start using it and I won’t forget to share them with you

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Organization Tagged With: diy, organization, organize, organizedhomeschool, planner

DIY Undated 12 Month Calendar | Organized Planner

December 18, 2016 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I created this diy undated 12 month calendar so you can use it in multiple type of planners. Too, look at my Homeschool Planner for more free beautiful forms.

Remember this? I loved sharing my free printables and tips for my home management binder.

But it’s in need of an update.

It’s been about four years since I’ve updated it and a lot of things have changed.

DIY Undated 12 Month Calendar | Organized Planner

The first thing that I need to update is the diy undated 12 month calendar.

The last set I did to use in the home management binder was hard to use.

I’m not sure what I was thinking when I created it.

Home Management Binder @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool PLus

I must have had an out of body experience because it was so hard to read.

Of course, like I said that was almost four years ago and my experience in printables has grown tremendously (thank goodness).

Today, I have updated this set of undated monthly calendars because it is the one I prefer to use in my home management binder.

I prefer to use this set because I can add two or three years of the same month in my binder, which is a huge motivator for me as I track and plan our family life and look over the past year, current year and next year.

DIY Undated 12 Month Calendar @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

By simply filling out the calendars as needed, I have a ready made calendar at my finger tips.

However, the other thing too that unnerves me about writing in planners and calendars is that I’m a little obsessed with having lines to write on when I add a date or track information on my planner.

DIY Undated 12 Month Calendar | Organized Planner

So not only did I make the calendar pages easier to read, but I added lines for writing.

Too, for my home management binder, I wanted a full page to write on and I also added a place at the bottom of each month for note taking.

Of course you can use these fee calendars on my

  • free student planner,
  • my free 7 Step Homeschool Planner
  • or my free Home Management Binder.

How to Get the Free Printable

Now, how to grab the free printable. It’s a subscriber freebie.

When you sign up to follow me, you get access to this freebie.

 1) Sign up on my email list.
 2) Grab the printable now – instantly.
3) Last, look for my emails in your inbox as a follower. Glad to have you.

I hope you love the update.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Leave a CommentFiled Under: 2. My FREE Organizing Printables {Any topic}, Home Tagged With: calendar, curriculum planner, diy, freecalendars, homeschoolplanner, lesson planner

Homeschool Organization – Why You’re Still Drowning in Clutter

October 31, 2016 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Homeschool Organization - Why You're Still Drowning in Clutter @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Getting rid of the kids is one option for homeschool decluttering. (okay, okay). Today, I’m sharing homeschool organization – why you’re still drowning in clutter because understanding why we save things helps us to part with them.

The Big Four Barriers to Homeschool Decluttering

Telling you that I have a regular routine to declutter and why you should too won’t have one ounce of meaning or motivation to you unless you understand why we all keep clutter.

On top of that, homeschooling just adds another layer of stuff to what we already have in our home.

Before we can address workable solutions, we need to conquer our fears, which are the barriers to homeschool decluttering.

Look at these four reasons why you can’t let go of clutter.

ONE// The one day thinking.

It for sure is the most crippling mindset, which is one day I will need it.

TWO// It may be worth something one day.

This is especially hard for us as homeschoolers because a lot of us by nature are frugal or thrifty, but can that be misguided thriftiness?

THREE// My ________ (insert family relative here) saved it for me all these years or gave it to me.

My mom and I are real close, but unlike me she saves everything. She had things from my high school and elementary years which were sentimental to us both.

However, she didn’t just have a few things, but tubs and tubs of them. I have no room to store them, but I am thankful for technology today because I am able to capture numerous photos of them.

FOUR//  It’s worth too much to just throw away.

The somebody, somewhere in the world will be able to use it that can’t afford nice things is another mindset setback for decluttering.

You and I both know as teachers that before we can correct negative behavior with children or find a solution to their problem we have to understand and identify the behavior first. Decluttering our homeschool is similar.

Confession time. Which one are you or do you want to silently stalk here? That is okay too because I will be addressing each of these barriers in upcoming articles with solutions and tips.

You won’t have to wait too long for some help, look at these articles right now.
5 Homeschool Things to Toss By the End of Summer, Top 10 Tips for Maximizing Space in (Really) Tiny Homeschool Spaces and How a 31 Day Menu Plan Makes You a Healthier, Better & Smarter Homeschool Mom + Free Editable Planner.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Home, Homeschool Space, Organization Tagged With: home organization, homeschool clutter, homeschoolorganization, new homeschooler homeschool organization, organizationalprintables, organizedhomeschool

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