We are just getting ready to start our 2nd semester of school and I have been thinking about some of the difficulties or frustrations I was having during our first half of the year. I have to get a little better organized if I want to prevent myself from having homschool burn-out! Here are my 5 ways that I am going to help my school day run smoother.
1. Wake Up Earlier
It is no secret that I am not a morning person. I would love to be one of those people that just jump out of bed in the morning. I usually turn my alarm off multiple times and then I check my phone and then I roll out of bed. Most of the time it is after the boys have already been awake for a little while. Because of this, I tend to be racing around in the morning. It also gives the boys plenty of unstructured time to start fighting.
My goal is to wake up when my husband wake up at 5:45. This extra time will allow me to do some yoga, prepare breakfast, and maybe even get a little work done before I get started with the boys.
To go along with this goal, I will not be reading my phone in my bed anymore. I waste too much time checking site in the morning. I am only going to check my phone at designated times now.
2. Get More Exercise
This one is just common sense. I need to get the boys moving more during the day. We are lucky to live in Thailand where it is hot all year round, but most of the year it is almost too hot to play outside. We tend to stay inside a lot during the middle of the day because it is just too hot. Most of the year it is 90-110 degrees F ( 32-43 degrees C) I am pinning lots of activities to get the kids moving during our school day. This will help with all that excess energy and hopefully relieve some of the fighting that takes place during the day.
3. Provide Activities During Wait Time
Wait time is the best time of the day for the boys to begin fighting. If I preparing lunch or working with one of their siblings, this is when I notice the majority of the fights popping up. I makes me crazy and really tests my patience. I will be posting daily activities that the boys can work on when I am not able to give them my attention. Why did this take me 5 years of teaching my boys to finally start doing this?
Here are a few tasks the boys can complete:
1.Read a book
2. Watch youtube video on topic of interest and take notes. Share at dinner.
3. We joined an international homeschool postcard swap, so the boys can write out their weekly postcard.
4. We also joined a fun group put on my our homeschool group back in the States. It's called "Tea on Tuesdays" and the idea is to get the kids to be exposed and more interested in poetry. We will be reading poetry during snack time, but the boys will also have to pick out their favorite poems and mail a copy to their friends in the States. We can open our mail and share during snack time. The can work on finding their favorite poem to share during their wait time.
5. Send email to family members.
I'm sure I will come up with more ideas as we continue through the school year.
4. 10 Minute Clean
Most days my house looks like a tornado just passed through it. Toys, clothes, science projects, and art supplies are scattered all over the place. By lunch time, I start getting a little stressed over the mess. By dinner, I am ready to throw everything away in the house. Before Christmas, I started doing 10 minute cleans with the boys. I turn on music, start the timer and we just pick up as much as we can during that time. It's really amazing how much you can get done when you all work together in 10 minutes time. I am planning on doing this at least twice during the school day.
5. Take Suggestions From the Boys
I tend to be a little more like a dictator when it comes to teaching the kids. This is NOT the best way to teach them. I need to take suggestions from the boys about what they would like to learn about. Some of our very best learning moments have been when we have thrown aside the curriculum books and picked up on something the boys are interested in. They learn so much for these moments and retain almost all the information they were researching.
What do you do to help make your day run smoother? I would love to hear!
No comments :
Post a Comment