Hey, homeschoolers! I love hacks. A hack is a simple, creative strategy or shortcut that makes homeschooling easier, more effective, or more enjoyable. In my case, there are 12 hacks that changed everything for me as a homeschool mom. I hope you'll listen to them all and will find one or more than will change everything for you too. I'm recording this episode in honor of the Ultimate Homeschool Radio Network's birthday celebration. Take a moment to visit the website this week and download free gifts we've provided at ultimateradioshow.com.
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Hack #1: Daily Devotions
The first hack that changed everything for me is daily devotions. I wrote about my experience with establishing a devotional habit in my book The Organzied Homeschool Life. The short version is speaker Becky Tirabassi convinced me to commit to having an appointment with the King daily. I read the entire Bible in a year and prayed daily, even in the hospital after giving birth.
At the time I thought the great blessing of my devotional practice was it educated me about the faith I professed. I knew only stories and Scriptures here and there before reading the entire Bible. I also recognized that I had more peace as I prayed. I would wake up overwhelmed with everything I needed to do. I would pray and God would often supernaturally manage my schedule or supernaturally manage me. But I now understand that the most powerful change that occurred is I learned that God was trustworthy. I did not have a lot of experience with trustworthy people before that time.
After that first year, my devotional habits changed as my life changed. I still read the Bible and prayed most days, but sometimes I spent time with God in the middle of the night, nursing an infant. Other times, I prayed as I cleaned the kitchen. I listened to devotionals and sermons as I got ready in the mornings.
I had a time of legalistic devotions too that blessedly became a grace-filled time that I look forward to. I give God my worries, record connections with the Scripture I read, and pray for myself and others. I don't believe I would have succeeded in my homeschooling without this practice or at least with my sanity intact.
I was recently asked about where to start if you're new to Scripture reading. If you are in a challenging season, I suggest starting with the book of John. If you want to get the full story, start with Genesis. If you really don't have much time to yourself, read the Bible with your kids for school. You'll have more quiet time as your kids get older.
Hack #2: Routines
Hack #2 that changed everything is routines. If you're a regular listener, you've heard me say it dozens of times. When I started homeschooling, or should I say when I said I was starting homeschooling, I had no routines. I got up at all different times and did nothing in a particular order. I put out fires all day, usually not getting dressed. I accomplished nothing other than taking care of my three kids. With this kind of chaos, I wasn't able to teach my preschooler using any of the books or materials I had purchased. I was ready to quit and stop having more kids.
Then a friend told me about a woman named FLYLady. Like me, she was a messy, disorganized person. But she began to string together simple habits into routines. The first habit was shining her sink–making sure the dishes were in the dishwasher and that everything else was clean. It seems crazy to me now that I used to go to bed with a sink full of dirty dishes. Waking up to that was demoralizing.
Beginning with that simple habit changed my life because it kept expanding. Soon my whole kitchen and home was tidy before I went to bed. My clothes were laid out and I was ready for the next day. An evening routine became a morning routine which became a school routine. I wrote about my experience for Woman's Day Magazine and my dream of being a freelance writer was realized. This disorganized woman went on to help homeschool moms establish routines of their own. My interview with FLYLady on routines.
Hack #3: Praying with Kids
As part of our morning routine, the kids and I would do chores together. That's a bonus hack, but I include it in routines. Having their help cleaning and picking up was essential for my sanity. BUT invariably there were kids who weren't doing the chores they were assigned or they were doing them poorly. There were squabbles and delays so that by the time we started school I was NOT happy.
But we had a practice of beginning with prayer. First, each of us would say what we were thankful for. It was nice to hear gratitude from the kids. But the second part of our group prayer is the hack that changed everything. We would go around and say what we were sorry for. Invariably, the child I was most miffed at would confess their poor behavior. I was usually humbled about my own reaction to it. The final part of our prayer was asking for help from God for yourself or someone else. Usually the child would say they needed help with the thing they were sorry for. Understandable as that's usually how I pray too. If you'd like to start this prayer routine, I recommend modeling it for the kids by going first.
Hack #4: Reading Historical Fiction / Biographies Aloud
After our prayer time, I felt the closest to the kids as I read aloud to them. We used Konos and then Mystery of History for our history lessons. Konos incorporated read alouds automatically. When I started using Mystery of History, I would look up recommended titles to go along with the time period we were studying on Sonlight's website.
Stories not only make history more memorable, they are also key in teaching character and social and emotional skills. My kids loved our read alouds and usually begged for another chapter. I was happy to oblige. Our success with learning through story prompted me to create language arts and social and emotional skills curriculum using stories. You can learn more at FunToLearnBooks.com.
Hack #5: Independent Work with Supervision
I talk to new homeschoolers whose schedules with work and other commitments require independent learners. We now have computerized curriculum and online classes that can make independent work possible, even for kids who aren't yet reading fluently.
My caution concerns kids' need for relationship and interaction. Most adults don't want to stare at a screen all day. Kids are the same. The younger the child, the more they need that interaction and the less maturity and attention they have for sustained work.
Having to give six kids' individual attention, I did them to have periods of independent work. After finding out that some of my kids were struggling to accomplish anything on their own, I had them all sit at our school table to do independent work on the same subject. So everyone had their math in front of them. Then for 20 minutes, they would all get to work while I walked around the table. They had no opportunity to mess around, but they had every chance to ask for help. It worked brilliantly. I allowed my sophomores and up to work completely independently. By this point, they were mature enough to handle it.
Hack #6: Homeschool Co-op
When I decided to use Konos curriculum, I also wanted to find other families to participate in a co-op. One day a week we would complete the group activities and field trips related to the topic we were studying.
Originally, we met in a church basement. The kids had a blast doing the hands-on activities, crafts, and games together. When one family moved, I suggested that we meet at my house. I had little ones that still napped in the afternoons. I also had the most kids and it was easier for me to stay home.
Forming this kind of co-op had unexpected benefits. First, it made my kids love homeschooling. They said it was their favorite part of it. Next, they built close friendships. This kind of co-op as opposed to a class or two in a learning center, is most likely to help your child form close friendships. It helped me build close friendships too. I made no friends when I later had my kids enrolled in a learning center.
Finally, a co-op in which all the moms were responsible for the activities created much-needed accountability for me. I could not blow off the preparatory lessons. The kids had to have their papers or projects done. And because I was hosting it, my house had to be clean. My kids would have learned far less if we had not participated in a co-op.
Hack #7: Exercise as Part of the School Day
My husband and I have always been committed to fitness. Exercise is the #1 way of promoting physical and mental health, so we wanted to emphasize it for our kids. We had them in sports with practices and games. They played outside and rode bikes, but it wasn't a regular fitness routine. That's when I realized I could make fitness a part of our school day. We had times when we would lift weights together. I had many light dumbbells and we would lift in a slow and controlled fashion that is safe for kids. Then we started doing video workouts together before lunch. I got a workout in and my husband would join us when he was home. The workouts went by quickly and we laughed a lot. Today our kids are all committed to fitness. I highly recommend including it in your school day.
Hack #8: Loop Scheduling
I have always been someone who tries to do it all. As a homeschooler, that created stress for me. An introduction to loop scheduling helped me fit more things in without frustration.
If you aren't familiar, a loop schedule simply means that on a given day or during a specific time period, you will loop or rotate through a set of options. If you want to do baking, calligraphy, and nature study on Fridays, but you can't do all three, you bake the next Friday you're home. In a traditional schedule, you would have calligraphy on the schedule for the second Friday. But if you have a field trip that Friday, you'd miss your calligraphy day. With a loop schedule, you'll do calligraphy the Friday after your field trip.
An unexpected benefit of loop scheduling is you will learn what really matters to you. If you are set to do calligraphy, for example, and you realize you'd really like to do nature study instead, you can drop calligraphy from the loop. You've trimmed your activity list without much fuss.
Hack #9: Delegating Difficult Subjects
I believe that we are capable of teaching any subject to our kids at home. There are so many resources out there that we can DIY it all. But do we want to?
I tried and tried to teach my kids piano, but I kept avoiding it. I think part of it was that I didn't feel confident in teaching it, despite many years of piano lessons. But the other issue is I didn't want to teach it. I was teaching all the other subjects and teaching piano wasn't enjoyable for me. I paid an excellent piano teacher to come to our home and teach it instead, and it was worth every penny. As a side note, I took lessons with my older kids and seeing me practice motivated my kids.
I did the same thing with science labs. I could do it, but I didn't want to. I had my friend who enjoyed science labs and was excellent at leading them teach them. I taught her kids literature, writing, and speaking which I love to teach. If a subject is difficult or not enjoyable for you to teach, consider delegating it.
Hack #10: Interest-Led Afternoons
Unschooling was fringey when I started homeschooling. I didn't know people like Karla Marie Williams, who has shared how to provide a quality unschool education on this podcast. But I did fall into a bit of unschooling in the afternoons when I found myself worn out. I would work on my own projects and allow the kids to do independent work and hobbies in the afternoons. Some amazing things happened as a result. One son started creating with paper and started a YouTube channel about it. My daughter wrote a paper to convince us to let her get guinea pigs. I felt guilty for not providing more structure in the afternoons than I did. Now I know that it was a blessing I didn't.
Hack #11: Apprenticeship
My son applied for a job running slides for our church. He learned the program and was the leader for that aspect of worship. But most importantly, he was being mentored by the pastors and other leaders at church.
Another son worked closely with the youth leader at church and grew in his faith and leadership ability.
I taught yet another son how to edit my podcast. All of our kids have helped my husband and me exhibit and sell books at conferences. My kids have helped me with proofreading and shipping books over the years, too.
This summer, my youngest, a computer programming major, was an apprentice with me in multiple aspects of my business. It was a wonderful experience for me to share dilemmas and get his help. I think it was excellent experience for him as well. If I were starting over in homeschooling, I would start my kids as apprentices at even younger ages.
Hack #12: Community College in High School
If you have this option where you live, I commend it to you. One semester college course is a full year's high school credit. These courses will limit the studies you have to supervise at home. Community college classes in our area are half the cost of homeschool learning center classes. The credit they earned was transferred to the four-year university they attended.
Going to community college gave my kids a chance to further develop their study and writing habits and gain confidence. They learned that they could handle college-level work and it wasn't just mom saying they were doing well. I also had the opportunity to talk through the worldview of secular coursework with them before they left home. Even if you plan to send your student to a Christian college, they will encounter views that don't mesh with your family's. It is also a good trial if your student isn't sure what they want to do after high school.
Daily devotions, routines, prayer with the kids, historical read alouds, independent work with supervision, co-op, exercise in school, unschooling afternoons, loop scheduling, delegating difficult subjects, apprenticeship, and community college. I would love to hear which one of these hacks you'll try next. Comment on this post. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode.
Have a happy homeschool week!
