Science you have got to be kidding. It is break time...isn't that school work?

Learn to schedule and become organized. This is not a blog on organization, but I have learned that with organization you will lower the frustration level of every member of your family! How do you get organized? It has literally taken me years of homeschooling to learn how to schedule: my homeschool/ specific topics/business/ household chores/, and my husband’s business and I‘m not done yet! Organizing under construction... Life has gone on much smoother with planning. (There is a link on this website under homeschool that deals with organization under homeschooling if you want to read more!)

So, how do you schedule science? a. Once a week? b. Every day c. Every other day. The choice is yours...d. Never is not an option. One of the simplest ways to schedule is to take several calendars, first a yearly calendar. As I begin by mapping out the approximate number of days I plan to do formal school second I use a monthly calendar, which has holidays and other scheduled events as far in advance as possible. I then coordinate the two blocking out no school days.

Look at the number of days you plan to school. Look at the curriculum you are planning to use. If your book has lessons you may do one a day, so that’s easy to plan. If your curriculum has chapters try to approximate how long it will take you to complete. One week, or two? If you are doing a unit study the rule of thumb is 6-8 weeks.

Another important part of any schedule is to have a formal daily plan. You do many of the same things daily without thinking about it... yet formalizing it, in writing, may show you areas with blocks of time that is wasted. For example I found I was doing laundry everyday. With 5 children that may seem normal, but I found if we all pitch in and work hard we can narrow it down to once a week. This leaves free time for other things. If you learn to schedule the entire day, (ahead of time) your weeks, months, and years will go so much better. It is amazing how much you will get done and with that comes a sense of accomplishment and that “YES!” This is the way it should be.

Why don’t we set goals and follow through? Because it takes work, time we don’t have and it seems on the surface insurmountable. I believe that some people are naturally organized. The Lord has blessed me with many things but he skipped the organizational gene. I had to learn the hard way: Or the way many of you have learned. First, I read some books to glean some information: translated (with children) that means a book that should take several days to read take weeks. Then, you put the book aside, procrastinate for a few months and when things come to a boiling point you decide to do something about it.

To be continued...