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Blurring the Line Between Living and Learning When Homeschooling

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I remember the year I gave up boxed curriculum because it was not only terrifying, but I felt overwhelmed.

Giving up a boxed curriculum was a relief though because it helped me to understand the difference between teaching a child and teaching a curriculum.

On the flip side, it brought on greater responsibility as a mentor, which is the part that is overwhelming because I didn’t have a teaching background.

From Homeschool Fear to Focus

Fear of our children being left behind can paralyze the best homeschool mom, and I think it’s a justified fear. Nobody wants to feel they have invested 15 years or more of homeschooling only to feel like a failure.

However, I also believe that fear can be turned to focus. Focus gives you a direction and clarity in your school.

Up until the time I let go of the boxed curriculum, the line between living and learning was not blurred.

School was my focus and not learning. I was curriculum driven instead of family-focused.Blurring the Line Between Living and Learning When Homeschooling @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool PlusFocusing on testing, schedules and the approval of my in-laws did not allow me to discover how unique my children are.

Since we all want to succeed, blurring the line between living and learning has to be viewed as a positive.

Belief comes from your heart and from the desire to do the best with the precious children God has given you. I struggle too with not falling victim to this world’s institutionalized way of thinking.

3 Ways to Blur the Line Between Living and Learning

1.Schooling only from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. has to be abandoned and it is a heart wrenching struggle.

Somehow we think that if we keep the exact school hours of public school that we will meet our  goals. The longer you homeschool, you come to appreciate it’s important to have consistency, but it is quality that really matters.

For example, a twenty minute interactive grammar lesson each day is of more value than endless hours of worksheets with no purpose.

From struggles throughout the years though can come conviction.

2. Looking back, it wasn’t the boxed curriculum I needed to let go of, but it was my own view that boxed me in.

Curriculum laid out can save lots of teacher time prep. Don’t take an all or nothing view to curriculum like I did. I thought I either had to lesson plan or use a boxed curriculum.

I soon learned that if I used only part of a boxed curriculum and put together some of my own lesson plans that it was still a good value for my money.

Do a unit study, but follow a textbook if you are more comfortable. Try a hands on math project like a lapbook.

Read your history textbook but allow your boys to draw cartoons illustrating the history. For your girls who dream about fashion, let them draw costumes for that time period.

For science start a bug zoo jar collection with your little ones.

Surprise your teens who need a social outlet by going to a movie theater first thing in the morning and feel homeschool freedom.

Pack a lunch and drag all your art supplies to the park. Lay out there on a blanket and enjoy your nature journal as you praise the Creator along with your children.

It doesn’t have to be about wild abandonment of tests, schedules or textbooks if you want them.


3. Blurring the line means we are keenly aware of allowing our everyday life and experiences to train our children.

Day to day meaningful conversations become a normal part of teaching your children.

The longer I homeschool the harder it becomes to describe in my lesson planner what was parenting and was what homeschooling. Some days there is just no difference between the two.

It is about getting to actually know your son or daughter that you thought you knew so well before.

Allowing your children to hear your expressions each day of your deep love for Godly things and His creation becomes more parenting than homeschooling.

Each year as I homeschool I am humbled about things I have learned. Sharing what I have learned hopefully helps you to blur the line between living and learning.

Blurring the line between living and learning – how do you do it?

You’ll love reading a few other tips:

Hugs and love ya,

 

Also, check out:
Top 5 Mistakes of New Homeschoolers
From Struggling Homeschooler to Empowered Educator
How to Fake Homeschooling

Get Organized – Rev Up for the New Homeschool Year

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

The secret to getting organized for the new homeschool year in next to no time is preparation.

Thinking now about long and short term storage options, you can set up a simple system that will save you precious time during the hectic pace of the new homeschool year.

Get Organized - Rev Up for the New Homeschool Year @Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Long Term Homeschool Storage Options

1. Free cloud storage and portable devices.

You may think it goes without saying, but storing as much as possible on free cloud storage or portable storage devices is a great reminder.

Print off the list of your e books or what is in the cloud and keep it in your planner. Having the list of your materials at your finger tips will help you avoid constantly accessing on line free storage or plugging in your portable devices when lesson planning.

If you have been homeschooling for a while, it may take some time to scan paperwork onto your computer. However, it is well worth the time instead of digging through boxes.

You are the only one to know whether you want to save an original piece of artwork or that creative essay that you thought would never happen.

2. Tubby mom.

Whether you are new to homeschooling or in my case last year when I was getting ready for a big move overseas and didn’t know my storage options, huge plastic tubs or totes are perfectly acceptable for storage.

If you are new to homeschooling, it is hard to know what you want to save and what to pitch in the beginning.

Keep all the paperwork and pieces of arts and crafts in large tubs and when you have a system, then pitch what you don’t want.

Try to avoid throwing all the school work together in the tub in the beginning.

A simple system for organizing within a tub like using notebooks, binders or even small boxes does not create mounds of work to sort later if you change your storage system.

3. Over sized 3 Ring Binders. (5 inch)

If you have the space for it, over sized 3 ring binders are one of my favorite organizing tools.

Though they can be expensive, the binders I purchased have held up well through the years.

Using 3 ring binders to organize for homeschool @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I have not only used them to store paperwork long term, but I use them for my huge recipe book.

Adding page protectors to the binder to keep precious keep sake paperwork in prevents it from being dog eared and over handled.

It takes time to add the page protectors, but I also like to be able to flip through the pages when I want without handling the kids school work too much through the years.

4. In the box options.

Depending on how much you have to store, you may be able to use shoe boxes and huge diaper boxes that were meant for the trash.

It doesn’t take much work to make the boxes pop with some color by covering them with beautiful bright colored fabric and you have some swoon worthy storage.

If you are not feeling too crafty then store bought options overflow too.

Short Term Homeschool Storage Options

Teaching your children from the beginning to put away their books and paperwork each day will not only lighten your workload, but it is an important organizing skill to teach your kids.

1. Humble Plastic Drawer  – Not So Humble

Plastic drawers are some of my favorite ways for the boys to be sure they put away their supplies.

Each year, I measure my biggest or longest book, which normally is a high school book and make sure the drawers fit.

I have had good success with well made drawers at the Container Store though they are more expensive.

2. Slim 3 Ring Binders & Folders.

Slim color coordinating binders or folders for each kid or color coordinating by subject gives them a tool that is not too hard to handle.

Having tools that are handy and within arm’s reach will help your child to be organized on a daily basis.

3. Hanging Up Storage.

Take advantage of walls, closets and doors to add more hanging store.

I used hanging storage for games, flashcards, crafts and things used on a daily like supplies and headsets.

I love the beginning of the new school year because it means I can hoard get all new organizing tools that I am excited about and that are swoon worthy too. It makes me feel like I can justify the cost too because I normally can use the organizing tools longer than a year.

Do you have anything new you are adding to your learning space this year?

Hugs and love ya,

Want some more organized homeschooling ideas to drool over? Check out:
DIY Homeschool Organizing with Duct Tape
Homeschool Organization – {Storage, Spaces, & Learning Places}

 

How Far Out to Homeschool Lesson Plan

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

There are a few tips and tricks to know how far out to homeschool lesson plan. Also, look at my page The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter.

Whether you use boxed curriculum or put together your own homeschool lesson plans, there is some level of planning involved.

After I started putting together most of my own curriculum, I realized soon enough that I had to lesson plan.

Wanting to be prepared for the what if something happened scenario, I jumped and planned for the whole year.

How Far Out to Homeschool Lesson Plan @ Tiina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Yes, I spent hours and hours poring over all my curriculum and plotting my course. I had written my plans for the whole year.

Homeschool Lesson Planning

I was prepared, feeling super competent and I kicked off my homeschool year with a tenacity that I won’t easily forget.

Then, 10 days into my smokin’ hot full homeschoool year scheduled plan all of my kids got sick.

We took off one week and then two weeks from school. And the other thing I won’t easily forget was how utterly stressed and defeated I felt a few short weeks into the year. I was already behind and stressed out.

The worst thing was I brought it all on myself.

My lesson planning journal looked like one great big huge mess as I started marking off and changing dates. (Btw, this is how my idea of an undated planner was born.)

How Far Out to Lesson Plan Is Too Much?

I learned a very valuable lesson that I want you to learn from and that is planning for the year was too far out.

Because I did not have a classroom and have to produce lesson plans for year, I learned that lesson planning should stay in sync with my family’s need.

Public school teachers are going to have class regardless if a child is sick or absent, but that is not the case with learning at home.

Again, I had failed to step back and think what would work best not only for my family, but for me as the teacher.

I was still modeling public school thinking when I had plan for the whole year.

How Far Out to Lesson Plan is Too Little?

After I learned that valuable lesson, the next thing I did was to rewrite my lesson plans for the week.

Failure again.

Though I had good intentions to plan for the next week, the week simply got away from me and before I knew it, it was Sunday and the next school week was upon me with no plan.

If you have been attempting lesson planning, you know that it can be downright exhausting exploring a system that will work for you.

Though it may seem like you have prepared for the year well by lesson planning for a year, I would never encourage you to do that.

Another very important point that I didn’t even grasp until I was a few more years into homeschooling was how fast kids can move up in levels.

They can quickly grasp one point and how slow they can be to comprehend another.

When Homeschool Lesson Planning is Just Right

So it brought me full circle back to one of the reasons I started homeschooling, which is to go at my child’s pace.

After I weighed all of this, I realized that I had to plan far out enough so that when life happens, I still have a plan, but not so far ahead that I can’t change my plans or toss them all together if my children were behind or if they jumped ahead.

I found a comfortable pace which is to plan about 2 weeks to one month ahead.

I stuck closer to a 30 day schedule.  Like my menu planning, I found a comfortable pace of 30 days gave me the whole month to plan for the next month.

I didn’t feel so pressured knowing I could take my time planning for the next month.

Too, if one week or so was hectic or I simply wasn’t in the mood to be the teacher, I still had several more weeks to plan for the next month.

Also, it was easier to change on a dime when my kids were ready to move ahead a level because I didn’t have months and months planned.

With a 30 day lesson plan, my mood not only changed about lesson planning but about teaching.

Homeschool Lesson Planning Just Right

I wasn’t constantly panting trying to keep up, but I could easily prepare my materials for the next month and gather hands-on supplies.

Another tip to planning is to realize that planning generally is not the same thing as planning each day.

I do encourage you to generally plug in themes or topics you want to cover each month for the year because this gives you a framework to start building your daily lesson plans on.

Don’t follow the methods used by public school teachers, who have to have lesson plans for a year.

Don’t plan for 30 kids, but just for your kids.

Take advantage of the flexibility of homeschooling by planning only 2 weeks to 30 days ahead so that you change when you need to, but have a fall back plan when life happens.

How far out have you been lesson planning?

Look at these other helps and tips!

Hugs and love ya,

Homeschool Organization – Preschool/Kindergarten Free Morning Routine Flip Cards

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Homeschool Organization

Homeschool organization is something that should be fun. Even the sweetest littlest homeschooler deserves fun and cool organizing tools. Look at my other tips for how to homeschool kindergarten.

And this is one organizing tool that I wished I had when my boys were in the preschool and Kindergarten years.

It is only after training them that I can look back and see what would have worked and teaching homeschool organization starts from the very beginning.

Guess what? You get the benefit of what I know now and I am so excited to share these morning routine flip cards.

Mr. Senior 2013 following his rouinte @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus. Homeschool Organization - Preschool/Kindergarten Free Morning Routine Flip Cards

{I surprised Mr. Senior 2013 as I caught him following his routine and hanging up his shirt. He was 3 years old here.}

The printable is based off the chore or routine that my boys did or that I was training them to do.

Too, I moved away from calling them a chore chart because it was more of training my boys to follow a routine. 

I wanted them to see what came next in the morning and learn to follow it.

Though I used many chore charts on the wall, a flip card on an “O” ring was a much better idea because they flipped the card as they were finished and were ready for the next day.

Hang the O ring cards on a hook in their room and not much wall space is required.

Homeschool Organization Preschool Morning Routine @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

23 Things that can be included in the Morning Routine for a Preschooler or Kindergartener

Look at these things that a preschooler or Kindergartener can do to help around the house and create a routine too.

It’s the best way to start teaching homeschool organization. This is the age that most kids love to learn new things and want to help you around the house.

Again, all of these are based off my chore charts I created through the years and I have added my list here for you.

  • make their bed
  • toilet paper call or refill the toilet paper roll or add more underneath the cabinet
  • get ready for the Bible read aloud
  • hang their clothes up
  • water the plants
  • computer time
  • feed the dog/pets
  • practice or listen to music
  • brush their teeth
  • empty trash baskets
  • fold their clothes and put away in the drawer
  • eat breakfast
  • put their books away in their bookshelf
  • put their toys away
  • sweep
  • set the table
  • take their dirty clothes to the laundry room on wash day
  • fold clothes
  • help wash dishes or work outside
  • change out the hand towel in the bathrooms
  • dusting
  • unload part of the dishwasher
  • wipe down counters, walls and/or baseboards

With all this being said, I did make the mistake of making my list too big each day.

I learned that 5 things to do each day was enough to help train my boys.

So I created these flip cards with only five spaces on each day.

Creating Routine Flip Cards for the Littlest Homeschooler

Here is how to use them:

  • I created 2 sets of flip cards so that the days can be mixed and matched for more than one child.
  • There are 7 days with the names of  the days of the weeks.
  • At the top of the card for each day is a happy face for them to mark off if they completed the routine.  There is a sad face too but hopefully you won’t need to use that picture.
  • There are two pages of pictures for you to cut out and glue on the correct day.

One reason I didn’t add the pictures to the flip cards is because the routine changes each day. 

Also, when my boys were that young and ready to climb in my lap, we would read aloud first.

Bed making didn’t come until after they ate breakfast and brushed their teeth.

Each child is different and your routine is different from mine because you know your child.

So you choose which 5 things that you want your child to do each day. One day they may begin with watering the plants and the next day you may want them to take their laundry to the laundry room on wash day.

  • After you print out how many of each page that you need, glue them on each day of the week and laminate it.
  • Then punch a hole and put it on a O ring. The beauty of this is too that your child can hold it and walk around with it. Then flip it to the next day and they are ready for the routine of the next day.

This is what I have found ideal after I trained my boys and it is what I would have preferred.

I was only able to do this with my last son but then again, my printable skills were not so hot then, but I still created it.

I hope you can use the printable I have now made and will enjoy many years using them.

Download the free printable routine flip cards here.

Hugs and love ya,

Also, check out:

Free Homeschool Curriculum Cover – Purple Haze Color

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Each year, I am determined to continue to add free options to the 7 Step Homeschool Planner for free homeschool curriculum covers.

Too, I always have my favorite colors each year, but realized I haven’t added any purple covers luv lately. It is one of my favorite colors and I want to give you more options for when you have a purple haze moment.

So today, I have the free homeschool curriculum cover, purple haze color.

Purple Haze @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool PlusCurriculum Pages for Planner

Also, because I am determined to keep your planner unique looking each year, I try to keep the homeschool planner covers in multiple colors of the same shade.

I will be adding more purple luv as I go along.

Download purple haze free homeschool planner cover here.

Remember, I do my 7 Step Homeschool Planner for YOU and for ME and I always take requests.

If you have a color mood and don’t see the color you are wanting this year, you can always recommend it.

Though I am not always sure I can do it, I will sure try though I do like to take my time with each form.

I hope you like the new color.

If you want to start building your free 7 STEP HOMESCHOOL PLANNER, look at the step below to get cranking one out.

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!
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!

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