Five Things That Make School Run Smoothly

People often ask me HOW we manage things around our house. So this month I have five things to share with you that have worked well in our large family homeschooling situation. Hopefully, they will be beneficial to you. Even if it is not something that you can incorporate, it is always fun to see how others organize their homeschool.

1. Get an early start. This is a very difficult one for me but it makes such a big difference. I am not a morning person and am often up several times a night with little ones but I have found that if we get an earlier start we accomplish so much more. Things tend to run more smoothly for us as well. We try to be up, dressed, fed, and ready for school by 8 am. I will readily admit that it is a rare morning that this actually happens. We shoot for this never the less and it is becoming a more frequent occurrence. It seems if we start school work any time after 9 am then we most likely will not finish our work and we are going all day long. If we start at 8 am we are almost done by lunch and are finished by 2pm. I do not know why it works this way other than we are more energetic and motivated to make the most of the day when the day is still fresh.

2. Organize your teacher materials and resources. If you have a specific place for things and they are easily accessible, not only to you but to the children who will need them, things flow more smoothly. I have two bookshelves located in the hallway about ten steps from where we have school. It is easy for me to pull things out and to replace them. I typically pull out everything I will need that day and replace it as I finish with it. This gives me a visible and tangible way to tell what I have accomplished and what is still left to be done. The children can go and get their resource books and replace them as needed.

3. Organize the materials and books per each child. I had a friend introduce me to this particular idea and it has made a big difference in organizing our materials. Each child receives their very own plastic bucket. They are similar to milk crates in size. Each child places their folders, math books, readers, journals, paper, container of pencils, and anything else that is specific to their course of study in these containers. They have a designated place for their buckets and are required to pull them out before school and to return them after school.

4. Keep a stash of pencils, pens, staples, glue sticks, and any other necessary items. Find an easy place to store them. I have a basket thing that I keep ours in. It sits atop the book shelves listed in #2 above. It is on the end that is next to the stairs so even the shorter children can climb a few stairs and be able to reach what they need without any difficulty.

5. Take advantage of nap time! Nap time is when you can accomplish a lot! You can finish lessons with the older children or correct papers without the little ones making noise or trying to take pencils. You can have chore time and do a quick pick up to straighten the house, or you can take a short refreshing nap to help fuel you for the rest of the day. You can have your Bible readings or other reading. You can use this time as I am now, blogging. Take advantage of this time.

Kristine is the wife of a pastor who is currently serving as a chaplain in the military. She is also the mother of eight wonderful children and schools them using the Classical Christian method. In her column, “Ducks in a Row,” she writes about the challenges, joys, and logistics of homeschooling a large family. Visit her at her blog, Mama Archer.