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Our family homeschooling goal is to raise independent learners.
When the children were little, I spent 3 to 4 hours a day, teaching them to read and write.
Now that all three children are successful at both those skills, homeschooling takes up 1 to 2 hours of my day.
A lot of our success of being “hands off” homeschoolers is in the planning. Each summer I spend approximately 20 hours planning out the following year.
During planning I :
1. Create a written daily plan for each child:
This includes when the school day starts, when breaks are, how long each subject should take, what to do in each subject, and what to bring to parents for marking.
2. Research curriculum
I want curriculum that works with the child’s learning style, and is user friendly.
3. Seek out audio and visual additions
We use textbooks that come with an audio book version and have our children listen along as they read. Not only does this help their comprehension but it frees up my time as I no longer have to help them with words they don’t know how to pronounce. Two audio sources our family loves is the CD versions of Mystery of History, and Exploring Creation (upper grades only).
4. Seek out virtual flash cards and workbooks
I love apple apps. for i-touch that replace the need for route flash cards in math and other memorization areas such as state recognition.
Our family also uses Spelling City to give spelling tests, Critical Thinking Co. software instead of grammar workbooks and Teaching Textbooks instead of math books. All of these programs do the marking for me.
Looking for homeschooling tips? Follow my Homeschooling board on Pinterest.
Dig Into The Time Management Series Using The Links Below
Introduction: 31 Days Of Time Saving Tips For The Work-At-Home Mom
Day One: Perform a Time Audit
Day Two: Night Owl Or Morning Bird?
Day Three: Where are Your Largest Windows?
Day Four: Making the Most of Small Windows
Day Five: Daily To Do Lists
Day Six: Maximizing The To Do List
Day Seven: Say No
Day Eight: Eliminate Poor Yes Choices
Day Nine: Put Your Time Offenders On a Budget
Day Ten: Combine Joy
Day Eleven: Making Effective Use of Waiting Time
Day Twelve: Making Use of Travel Time
Day Thirteen: Making The Most of Mom Taxi in Waiting Time
Day Fourteen: Take Time to Rest a Few Moments Each Day
Day Fifteen: Tag-Team
Day Sixteen: Involve the Kids
Day Seventeen: Mechanical Slaves
Day Eighteen: Outside Help
Day Nineteen: Timer Magic
Day Twenty: Take a Rest Day
Day Twenty One: Less Stuff, Less Mess, More Time
Day Twenty Two: Hold A Family Work Bee
Day Twenty Three: Keep Gatherings Simple
Day Twenty Four: Saving Time in The Kitchen
Day Twenty Five: The Self Cleaning Home
Day Twenty Six: Streamlining Your Homeschooling day (you are here)
Day Twenty Seven: Create an I Did It List
Day Twenty Eight: Create a Simple Cleaning Routine
Day Twenty Nine: Create To Go Bags
Day Thirty: Making Minimum Standards
Day Thirty One: Treat Life Like a Marathon Not a Sprint
Headphones like these ones have been an essential tool in our homeschooling over the years. This allows several children to listen to their different lessons at once without distraction.
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I found you through Hip Home School Moms. I think that you have some great time saving ideas on your site and I would love it if you would share them at “Look! What We Did!” -Savannah http://lookwhatwedid-homeschool.blogspot.com
Thanks perhaps I will post my 31 days series in the November edition.
Great ideas! I have been using more on-line sources lately and just printing out “tests” or “reviews”. (It saves on paper too and trying to organize it all!)
Yes we have saved a lot on paper since switching over to doing spelling tests on line.