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time-saving tips?
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I’m not sure where this should go, but I’ll try here. What do you do that saves your time in your homeschool?
I use a checklist so there is no guessing what comes next. I have one and my oldest son has one. We just do the next thing.
I also take about fifteen minutes on Friday afternoon and print out new schedules and anything we need for the week. I keep everything we use for school – books, notebooks, copywork pages, etc – all in one cupboard right beside the dining room table. I take everything out for the day and set it in a pile. Everything goes right back in as we complete it.
Having an order and all supplies ready makes everything smooth.
Tara
Check off lists, timers, and having things accessible and ready. Nothing irritates me more than not having something ready and losing the kids to other things while I get ready. It wastes a huge amount of time and it takes way longer to try to get them back on track. Sometimes I use lunch as a way to help us move more quickly. =)
We like to do notebooking. My oldest (5th) uses her notebooking page for written narration. My K and 1st graders do oral narration to me that I write on their notebook page and they illustrate it. To save time I have a folder full of printed notebook pages and they just grab out whatever one catches their fancy when it’s notebooking time.
We have a routine that math is first in our school day. It’s the subject that everyone wants to get through so we can move on to more fun and interesting things, so having it first gives us all motivation to get right to work and finish math.
We have a whole container of pencils ready and sharpened so there is no need to stop and sharpen a pencil during school time. Scissors are all in one spot, glue in one spot, etc.
Forgot to mention the notebooking. LOL I use it just like Tristan, and have all our supplies in one easily accessable spot right by the table. Routines are invaluable as you figure what works for you.
I did workboxes one year, and it was great! I am trying to figure out a way to do it again this coming year, with no space.
I also love the organizer!
Agree with the above. What also helps me is a good start to the day. When I wake the kids they know they have one hour to be done w/chores and breakfast and be started with their independent work. They have a small reward…watching a show during lunch…. for doing this. :)Gina
Sitting with my children while they do their seat work is a time saver. When I’m up doing other things or checking e-mail, they are often easily distracted by each other or even themselves. When my presence is at the table, they stay more focused. This results in less nagging/reminding/scolding on my part and I’m right there to offer help when needed. I think my presence at the table also keeps them more diligent in their work, so less time is spent on those subjects, thus saving time.
I agree with the workboxes. I even workbox myself but with a file cabinet.
Everyone having their own supplies, even myself.
3 ring binders with completed work by subjects, extra work pages, organizer pages, ect… So I can get them easily and get what we need even our nature study pages.
Getting the kids to feed animals and get breakfast done first thing in the morning.
We also do Bible Verse and Math first.
Actually, I have found that using CM methods and SCM “things” (curriculum guide, bookfinder, etc.) have saved me a lot of time. A few years prior to this, we were using an online charter school with it’s lovely planned-out curriculum, textbooks, workbooks, schedule, lesson plans, etc…..all at my fingertips online. Guess what? One size does not fit all, so it was tough to get all three kids through their separate lessons, and I had to spend a lot of time looking up the right workbook pages, reading through the planned activities and teaching methods, gathering the appropriate textbooks and finding where to begin and end for the day.
Now, I just plan what subjects to teach when throughout the week before the school year starts, decide which living books and a couple of texts (math, grammar) to use, and then each day I just list the subjects we are tackling, post it on the fridge, and the kids even know which books we’re using that day. (“World history….oh, we’re reading about Ghandi again today.”) And I just open to where the bookmark is and go!
I find that careful scheduling saves me a lot of time. If I can take advantage of rotating cihldren through the computer (for typing, flashcard review, math fact practice, etc.) when I know another child is going to need me, it helps a LOT. When I do my schedule each year I use index cards for each child and work and jostle things around until I have a good balance of work for each child, AND I look at each individual time slot and imagine how it might go–if it looks to me like more than one child will be needing me at once, I go back and work on it some more. Or at least I used to—I’ll be down to two next year and my youngest will be in junior high! So I don’t think I will have many bog-downs from three people needing me at once.
I also really, really needed to be all “prepared” each day. I wanted all photocopies ready, all the items I needed for family time grouped together in advance, etc. I did that beforehand so I wouldn’t lose the attention of busy boys while I made photocopies or looked for the art print or the poetry book.
My five biggest time savers:
1. Getting something (usually personal Bible devotions and Math) completed immediately, before breaksfast and chores…early bird gets the worm
2. Having outdoor time for watering the garden and walks after breakfast…this relaxes our minds and we have such a sunshine need but don’t want direct mid day sun…and besides we already completed some school before breakfast and have earned some free time. This saves me time because the children are restful and less distracted when we come back in.
3. Putting things at point of use to eliminate searching for supplies…I use a wall cupboard next to our table to store manipulatives and supplies in pencil boxes. Each child has a plastic bin for their books and things. I have a bin for family subjects like this morning basket idea (this is not my blog).
4. Eliminating on the spot decisions…schedules and plans and meals decided in advance. I like to use early Saturday mornings to request books at the library, collect ideas, and prepare for the week ahead.
5. No internet and phone use during school
Use “drive time”. We have about a 12 minute drive to and from my office on week days. That’s 24 minutes that I plan to take better advantage of next year. We generally listen to our Christian radio station now, practice our memory verse, or talk about our virtue of the month, and I like that, but I’m going to try to find good audio books or French lessons on CD to use next year for our drive home.
My younger son tends to be an early riser, so often he will have a good portion of his independent work done before breakfast.
I try to keep a good read-aloud in the car that I can take into waiting rooms or while waiting for meals at restaurants. This is a great idea because it keeps them occupied during times that could otherwise be disasterous for my ADHD son. I also have notebooks and pens with me always, so we can play hang-man with spelling or vocab words, book titles or character names.
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