Time is a very valuable in the homeschool environment. Organizing lesson plans, home maintenance, errands, family time, and other necessities are among just a few of the things that a homeschooling family must organize on a daily basis. Taking an active role in the education of your children is a very rewarding experience, however, properly managing your time while doing so can prove to be quite challenging! Here, you will be introduced to several essential time management tips for the homeschool environment.
As a homeschooling family, you will quickly come to realize that time is your most precious and valuable resource. It must be cared for, maximized, and nurtured. By placing a high value on your time, you will quickly learn to eliminate those things which attempt to press it. Time management is an essential component for all homeschool environments. There are many creative techniques that families make use of to ensure that they have the time that they need, when they need it, and some left over for fun!
The first thing that you should do to ensure the best use of your time is to develop a planning system. Many parents use a large calendar that is placed on a central wall in the home. This can contain various key items of interest such as a child’s soccer game, a particular person’s doctor appointment, a field trip, the day to visit the local library, or simply a testing day for the children. There are some parents that implement the use of a personal planner, or create a document using their computer to carefully plan out various activities, assignments, and more.
It is essential to have a tracking and/or planning system to carefully detail appointments, assignments, extracurricular activities, and more. By not doing so, things may become a mess. Getting dates and times, activities, assignments, and other things all mixed up can lead to disastrous events. All of this planning leads into the next essential time management tip for homeschoolers – scheduling. If you do not properly plan, and do not take the time to schedule, there will be absolutely no organization in the homeschool classroom.
It is important to ensure if you are trying to organize a homeschool environment to the point where your time is appropriately managed, that you encourage your children to take an active role in the endeavor. Give them the role of “Dust Control” or “Laundry Specialist” for the day. Encourage them to actively participate in household chores and other responsibilities. However, make it fun and educational at the same time. If they are a “Laundry Specialist” for a day, have them assist you in properly sorting and classifying the household garments. This can help you save a lot of time by allowing you to focus on other things, and can teach your children a variety of things, such as:
- the important role they play in the home
- basic responsibility
- the life skill of handling laundry
- how to sort clothing in various ways
- colors
- classifying unique material
- measuring soap
- time
Many homeschool parents are often burdened by household chores that must be completed. This can really place a large burden on time that is required for other activities. In order to maximize your time, you may consider these helpful options:
- Assigning certain chores to certain days of the week, like laundry on Saturday, dusting on Monday, etc…
- Gathering the family together on one day of the week to cook the meals for the rest of the week.
- Getting the kids actively involved in assisting with household chores.
- Setting schedules for certain projects, assignments, etc….
Here, you have been introduced to some essential tips for time management in the homeschool environment. These techniques may be applied to your situation. Each homeschooling family handles their time in a unique way that is best for them and their situation.
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