All of my friends know I’m all about being organized and scheduled. The secret many of them don’t know is I’m horribly scatter brained and without this organization our homeschool would fall to pieces daily! So this is how I function peacefully. I recognize that the creative brain God gave me tends to wander becoming distracted easily. I therefore strive to compensate with organization and planning.
This does NOT mean my house is always perfect or that we always get everything done in a day I have planned or that I go nuts if my plans and organization fall apart. I just function better when I have direction for my day. I also have two part-time jobs teaching piano and teaching literature and writing to homeschool junior high students. I didn’t schedule and organize my day nothing would get done! Here you will find some tips that I have both discovered on my own borrowed from others more experienced at homeschooling than I am.
Schedule
I have a daily schedule that starts pretty early because my kids are early risers. My goal is to start getting up earlier so I can get more done before they are awake! Each day is different because of the classes my daughter takes at Deerstream Learning Center, but this is our “at home” schedule for just my kids. Below the schedules is an explanation of the abbreviations.
Dependent: Mommy has to be actively involved for the entire assignment
Semi-Independent: Mommy teaches something and the activity can be completed alone
Independent: The entire assignment can be competed without Mommy
Organization
Once I have a routine I can function within it. If things go off schedule, no problem. I have a framework to work within. This is our classroom before we get started for the day.
As you can see this is a multipurpose room! I teach piano here for 2 hours every day and the girls use it as a playroom in addition to being where we learn. I have to keep this room organized in order for it to function as it needs to! I have re-purposed and rearranged multiple times until we finally have an arrangement that works.
To keep myself sane running 3 different curriculum guides I have created a schedule for me to keep track of what has been done and what is left to be done. There are a couple of extras added in addition to Heart of Dakota. You can check out my weekly checklist here.
gracefilledwriter.com 
I really enjoyed your post on organization! It was nice to hear from another fellow homeschool momma who is scatter-brained and distracted too. 🙂 I really like your ideas and think that I will try to incorporate your simple, yet effective (looks very easy and effective) plan that will fit with our family's needs. Thanks!
LikeLike
My friends really do think I'm crazy rigid with organization for our family. They don't understand that it has come from years of doing it wrong and just being frustrated all the time! I'm glad you enjoyed the peek into our day!
LikeLike