How to Have a Smooth Morning of Lessons

[@judithsimanton5260]

I really like your idea of resetting periodically through the day. Sometimes our failures to be productive create more failures in time management and it becomes vicious cycle. I think it is important for us to recognize that and find ways regain momentum periodically.

[@jenniferbtoo9344]

I have a 14 year old and twin girls, age 3. This has been a helpful video. I appreciate all your videos and enjoy learning all I can about Charlotte’s method! God bless you all!

[@ash.leeann8166]

I haven't started academics yet but I agree with planning ahead. We get clothes out for everyone the night before and put them on the couch, I also pick my outfit out the night before. Meal prepping and meal planning during the weekend so healthy snacks and lunches are already made and dinners aren't guess work. Organizing everything including your lesson plan and going over it the night before. I really like utilizing the time my kids are in bed to get things done, it's almost therapeutic.

[@ash.leeann8166]

@@laurapitney7202 hahaha I get into ruts for sure but then I suffer the consequences 😅 my sister in law is a step ahead of me and actually prepares freezer meals that she can just pop in the oven or Crock-Pot when she's not feeling up to cooking hahaha I need to hop on that train 😁

[@rebaseymour1810]

I really appreciate your suggestions. I’m setting days for outings too. I find that works for my family. I like Thursday & Friday. I have appreciated learning to say no to doctors, dentists, and chiropractors or friends, relatives and congregation members who want to stop by. I say: No, that time is not going to work for us. What else do you have? Or, let me look at my schedule, it looks like Thursday or Friday afternoon will work for us, what times do you have available? For appointments, I like end of the day ones and dinner in the crockpot. I call the previous suggestion a “no with cooperation” that one action sets me up for success and helps me prioritize. It keeps our mornings similar throughout the week. Also, only one activity per person per year, that way we are directing how our time is being spent rather than the activities controlling us.

[@jessicabrown6943]

I agree, we make all our appointments or errands on Friday. My husband is off and we can go do everything and get it done at once. Unless it’s just something that cannot be done on Friday. Also, I don’t answer the phone during school lessons unless it’s my mom. Everyone else I call back. People have gotten aggravated at this and they will say “why didn’t you answer? I know you’re home” and I just explain that my kids schooling is important and I don’t interrupt it.

[@elizabethcaballero1022]

We do field trips on Tuesday. Nature study trips on Thursday. Appts, library, park, local activities after 1pm. We also rotate schedule and have a check list to complete before afternoon fun activities or field trips can take place so our kids have a visual for goals. On the days we have trips we take family subjects and reading activities to complete to and from so we still get 2-3 hrs if school in the car. Being military we have learned to adapt overcome...sometimes we do school in the waiting room at Dr appt when we have a appt for my wounded warrior that has to come in the morning. His long distance appts we add field trips to historical sites, Museum, state/national parks... having 4 ADHD kids they are like sponges and the trips really help to reinforce the lessons and break up the work load...I like to call them living field trips...as for naps on outings I use to plan lunch and quiet time on a picnic blanket or in a car with the kids for about a hour so my younger ones could nap and then we would return to activities. My older ones read, drawed, did writing, listened to a book or sometimes just took a nap themselves.

[@servantrose]

Thank you. Lots of good gems. Also nice to know I'm not the only one that over commits and spends days w/o a shower trying to keep up.

[@jennifercorbett4026]

Something that has really helped me is downloading a to do app on my phone i even use it for household chores so things dont stack up. !

[@servantrose]

Same!

[@farmhousechicks2069]

Do you have recommendations on a particular app?

[@helenkoenig3876]

I'm a homeschooling Granny of 4 littles (2 families of grands) - 6, 4, 3 and the other family of 1 (and, no, they can't be combined unless I want the houses to become a chaotic race track! Besides neither mom wants the combination - I tried!) With BOTH families I use a somewhat set routine - Morning basket (certain "open our day" activities, Morning review - which the kids love and which is more like an oral quiz with lots of cheez-its or graham cracker tiny pieces handed out, and "loops" of Spanish and Spanish culture, cultural activities, music, art, drama and dance appreciation, etc) , Written work (math, then copy work, grammar, creative writing), Layered work (science, history, geography with the art being done during morning basket time on a loop as well) and a time constraint of about 3-3.5 hours total with a break scheduled halfway between. ALL the children are included at some level. For those group subjects, we usually have a blanket on the floor with quiet toys or crayons and coloring pages. All of the material discussed will probably have a question - or three, asked during morning review (with cheez its - or graham crackers tiny pieces - 1/32 or smaller - as a reward for correct answers - although this is NOT always necessary). so all of the littles listen - at some level - and respond well (we play morning review as a game). If there is a missed answer - no negatives, but the graham cracker reward can be achieved next time. The oldest for a short while decided that he knew enough and decided that school was NOT needed. At the time he was 5 years old - and that DEFINITELY was not so! My response was to remind him that he had a brother and sister who did NOT know enough - and that we needed to help them to learn. So I asked him if he would be my teaching assistant, reminding him that he really needed to keep at least one lesson ahead of them in order to teach reasonably well. I also wrote out the set schedule we used (Morning time, written work, layered work and what went into Morning time and asked him if he could help me go through Morning time with them. He loves teaching them and "being the assistant teacher in charge" and will cheerfully read to them out of books that are beyond their learning levels. I don't ask for the children to stay still - even when the oldest races back and forth, he is still learning and generally can repeat back to me - and explain it - whatever was said. I DO ask that they listen and learn and that they be relatively quiet so that others can hear and also learn. I DO point out that learning never really stops, that we don't ever really get ENOUGH learning so that we don't need to learn more - and that this includes Granny (who is doing copy work as well, and learning history, science, music, art appreciation right along with them). Our portion of the school week runs for 2-3 days a week for 50 weeks a year. The littles have more definitive lessons in grammar, spelling, reading with their mom on 2 additional days a week and do math through Khan academy on an as willed basis (which is 3-6 days a week) as well.

[@zillycrew]

I enjoy these episodes thank you!

[@nylerigor]

I fell off planning entirely and I have overloaded with work 😞