heartofdakota.com

I wanted to post this portion of a response I gave in another thread here, in the hope that it may be helpful to those of you looking for tips before starting school. If anyone has other "before school starts" tips, feel free to add them to this thread too!

Much of the work we as teachers do for homeschooling happens BEFORE we even begin to teach. So here are some BEFORE the first day school tips...
Tip #1 - Pray! It's powerful, and it gets the day off to a cheerful start because we are reminded we are "not in this alone", but rather, we have the Lord on our side. He is brought glory by us homeschooling with HOD - He is in virtually every part of it! He will bless our endeavors.

Tip #2 - Choose not to add things to HOD. It just makes the day go longer and is not necessary - HOD is very complete - so try not to do it unless the Lord has laid something on your heart.

Tip #3 - If you sub in something, check if it is going to go longer than the suggested time allotment. If it does, either shorten it up, or know your day will go longer. Each of the guides has suggested time allotments for each of the boxes, and here are the links for those...
LHTH - 20 to 30 minutes, figure 2-5 minutes per box
PHFHG and LHFHG time it takes:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4244&p=31219#p31219
Beyond, time it takes:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=162
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4390&p=32417
BHFHG time it takes:
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=702
CTC time it takes:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3765
RTR time it takes:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7138
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7138&p=51937
RevtoRev time it takes:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=10230&p=74441

Tip #4 - Pick a reasonable start time for the school day and try to stick to it so it becomes a habit to start then. If you aren't a morning person, but your older dc are, they can get up early and start on some independent subjects.

Tip #5 - Before you start, make a schedule, or if a schedule is not your cup of tea, jot down a routine order for doing the boxes, and note who you will be with using the above time allotments. This keeps everyone moving forward, and makes it clear who you will be with, and who should be working independently. Here's one of my schedules for 3 guides to give a few ideas...

Here is a link to an amazing thread where many, many homeschool moms share their schedules/routines. You are sure to find someone's style of planning that clicks with yours!
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2093

And here are some other helpful threads - Schedule Suggestions by Carrie:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4615&p=34067#p34067
Schedule or Routine?
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5244

If you have older dc, involve them as you see fit in the process. For example, ask them if they would like to get up early to start some of their school independently and finish earlier? Perhaps give them some leeway in the order of their independent work - do they like to start with independent science or independent history? Do they like to do their Bible Quiet Time privately in their room, or in the downstairs living room? Etc.

If you have toddlers, consider having older dc each take a turn playing with them. Train them to do this successfully, in a safe place that is not right near you teaching. Start small, with maybe 20 minutes and work up to 30 or 45 minutes.

Tip #6 - Give a copy of the schedule or a copy of the names of the boxes in the order they are to be done to each of your dc who can read. Ours looks like this...


Tip #7 - Read through the "Introduction", sections of the Appendix you are using, and the first week of plans of the guides you will be using. Make choices from the suggestions given how you will organize things (i.e. whether you will do the staircase timeline, or the accordian-style timeline if doing PHFHG). Jot down your special supplies you will need for the choices you made. Tab any sections of the guide you will be using and get ready any other necessary things. For example, here is a post with pictures that show the steps for getting ready for PHFHG...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=10426

Tip #8 - Make sure you have general school supplies on hand. In addition to the general supplies listed at this link, I've found it nice to have several white markerboards, dry erase markers, erasers, and several timers.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9608&p=70214#p70214

Tip #9 - Decide where your dc's school books will be kept. Clutter can weigh a person down, so choosing a place that "hides" the clutter but is easy to get to is helpful. If dc have to make a lot of trips to get their things, and if you are required to help to put things away, that will naturally add time to the day. So, choose a place dc can store their things themselves, and choose a place that does not have them wasting time getting up and down a lot. Here is a post with some good ideas...
How to organize home for homeschooling:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3118&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
Here is a link to how we organize our homeschool materials on my blog, in case something may be helpful...
http://my3sons-julie.blogspot.com/2011/ ... rials.html

Tip # 10 - Consider the atmosphere you want for homeschooling. Will you use different areas of your home or have one homeschooling room? How will you make supplies available for each child so there is not a lot of wasted time gathering them? Where will your dc work - at desks, at the kitchen table, at the dining room table, or a rotation of these? Where will you read to your dc - on the couch in the living room, etc.? Do your dc work best next to one another, or are they very distracted and separate work areas are then better? How will you make your homeschool area cheerful? Fireplace on? Comfy blankets on the couch? Pillows to lay down near the fireplace and read? Children's artwork displayed somewhere? Curtains open to let sun shine in? Etc.

Tip #11 - Consider chores that need to be done in order for you to begin your school day. What shape must the house be in to begin? For example, if dc are using the dining room table, it must be cleared and ready to use. If dc are using the living room, toys should be put away so as not to be a distraction. What things about the house "weigh on you" as a mama, and steal your joy? For example, for me dirty dishes in the sink that can't be loaded in the dishwasher because the dishwasher is full of clean dishes and needs to be unloaded drives me nuts. Unmade beds, overflowing kitchen garbages at the start of the day, barking dogs that want to be let out and fed, dirty bathroom sinks and mirrors, food on the floor after breakfast, and clutter in the school area are a few things that weigh me down and must be done before I can start the school day. This list is probably different for every homeschool mom, but knowing what weighs you down and eliminating it makes a HUGE difference in the level of stress of homeschooling. So, taking stock of the things you think are a priority for making your homeschooling have a happy, fresh start to the day and planning for that ahead of time is important. We have a routine for the kids to get ready, to have their bedrooms in order, and to divvy out some basic routine chores so our house is ready for the day. Here is an example of some charts we use...



Here is some info on training dc to do chores that I put on my blog, in case this is helpful...
http://my3sons-julie.blogspot.com/2011/ ... chool.html

Tip #12 - Meals. They're a big thing to plan for in a homeschooling day, as we generally are making 3 meals a day while also trying to teach our dc. Figuring out a way to do this so it isn't a big burden is very helpful. A routine breakfast and lunch plan really does help, and if the things are simple enough that dc can help make them, that's helpful too. Here is a link to one of the meal plans we have used, just to give an example...
http://my3sons-julie.blogspot.com/2011/ ... nning.html

Tip #13 - Interruptions to the school day - plan how you will handle this. Will you be talking the phone, texting, checking emails, on the computer (i.e. Internet surfing), doing household chores, etc. during the school day? If so, plan for your day to go longer, and if that's fine with you, than that works out well. If, however, you are wanting to accomplish school in a set amount of time each day, you may want to consider just dedicating yourself fully to homeschooling for that set amount of time. For example, I need to finish homeschooling by lunch time, as I have a part-time job and many other "managers of the home" tasks to complete in the afternoon and evening. So, I have made a few guidelines for myself. I only answer the phone if it is my husband, sisters, or parents, and then, I try to brief and call them back later after school is finished. I don't get on my computer at all - I get too distracted, and before I know it, and hour has been wasted. I limit household chores to throwing in laundry or prepping for lunch. I stay right by the child (or dc) I am working with, to stay focused on homeschooling for that amount of time. Knowing how you will handle interruptions is a biggie as a homeschool teacher! So, if need be, have some realistic guidelines for yourself before you start.

WHEW - I know that got long, but I've always wanted to put this in one post somehow. I will move on to the tips for starting homeschooling next.
In Christ,
Julie

In addition to those and perhaps it's there and I could have missed it....

After prayer, we also go through why we homeschool, pulling out Bible verses.

We also write on a board all the pros about homeschooling, so if a child gets the itch to go to school, well, we nipped it in the bud prior to the year. We keep it up and add to it all year!