How to Hack Your Homeschool Year with this One Easy Tip

- July 27, 2020

Before I begin with this post's content, can I vent a minute about blogging in general? I had the hardest time figuring out what to use for a headline. I really wanted to saying something like "How to be Productive even though You're a Relaxed Homeschooler without a Schedule." Or something less wordy (wink). Or even something more direct, "One Tip for Your New Homeschool Year." Unfortunately, neither of those ranked very well on the headline analysis website, so here we are with the super long and slightly bait-clicky one. But, you're also here, aren't you? So, I guess it worked?

I bet your wondering what my ground-breaking tip is to revolutionize your homeschool year is, right? Once I tell it to you, all the magic and suspense is gone. I don't know if I should just drop it or string you along. Google doesn't like it when I write one sentence blog posts, so you have to put up with my wordy blathering. Blogging is a lot harder than it looks (wink). There are way too many factors to consider. If it was just up to me, you'd get what you want in two seconds and jump off the page- which, judging by my analytics, is what happens most of the time people visit my blog (sad face). Like I said, writing compelling content is tough.

Before I reveal my big tip, I have to tell you why this is such a breakthrough for me. See, I'm a disorganized, messy, chaotic type of person, who runs a disorganized, messy, chaotic type of household. My husband and I are both very creative with lots of side-hustles, artistic pursuits, and busy minds. It's way too easy for homeschool to come last on the list. Even if I'm thinking about their schooling and adding it to my list, it's just too hard to actually make it happen. My brain list is just too long.

(Oh, and I want to stop and clarify that I'm talking specifically about formal book-work schooling, not the all-day lifeschooling that the kids do on their own. There's plenty of learning throughout the day from hands-on experiences, conversations, videos, books, questions, and more. We just struggle with getting the book-work done. Although I'd prefer to go full unschooling, I realize that my kids need a bit more structure than my natural inclination would give them)

Which brings us to the tip (yay!) I set my phone alarm to a certain time every day. It's a as simple and as stupid as that. I had the kids pick a silly alarm sound, and it belongs uniquely to them. When it goes off, we all drop what we're doing and get to work on our school books. As long as I'm consistent to actually obey the alarm, this homeschooling hack works very well. Try it and tell me what you think in the comments!

BONUS TIP- I wrote last year about how I keep all the kids occupied at the table while I'm working with others. My secret weapon and bonus tip for a super homeschool year is BUSY BINS! Specifically, quiet activities that encourage kids to use their imagination, problem-solving skills, and patience. I also like to sneak in some fine motor skills building, too. You can theme them for different seasons or theme units. Click the colored text to see a bunch of ideas and get your own collection started.

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