A Little Organization can Save Your Sanity and Time OFF is a Must!

This week is our scheduled week off on our 6 weeks on 1 week off home school plan. It is now Friday and we have spent the entire week decluttering, rearranging, and catching up on house work. Unfortunately it is proving to be a bigger task than I originally planned. I have 3 rooms done (the biggest 3 challenges thankfully), but I now have a HUGE pile in the middle of our play/office room to sort, price, and get ready for a garage sale.

On this Friday morning I have a really long to do list so I can get the rest of the tasks done I had planned for this week. We organized and did a bedroom switch this week by moving my almost 18 month old out of the nursery (tiny room) and into the room with my oldest son. Then we moved all my daughters’ things into the tiny room. Separating them now seemed like the thing to do as privacy is becoming an issue. The task of moving bedrooms took nearly 3 days though, more time than I intended. The kids have been troopers, helping every day, and getting excited about their “new” spaces. I still have a couple more rooms to tackle, including our school room that needs some TLC.

Do you see where I am going with this…..we have worked hard our entire week off!! I still need at least an entire day to organize school work for the next 6 weeks, write my assessment for their progress the last 6 weeks, and get in a good place for kicking off our next sprint. I am hoping my husband can take the kids somewhere Sunday so I can have quiet time for getting all that accomplished! That still does not take care of our “break” problem, so I am having an idea that I need to take a look at our school calendar and schedule a little more time off (a day or two) for this break. Early Spring is when I really get in the mood to Spring Clean anyway so scheduling a little more time off this time of year (now and the future) will be beneficial for us all I think.

Guess What?! Because we home school I can make this split second decision without feeling guilty!! We are chugging along a little ahead of schedule for one kid and right no schedule for another so there is no reason we can’t take an extra day or two when we need it!

We aren’t in a race! I have recently read an article titled “The Secret of Year-Round Homeschooling” (http://www.simplyconvivial.com/2015/year-round-homeschooling) that aligns with my thoughts exactly. This is our first year so there is undoubtedly a learning curve. It is our test year. I am learning as I go and the kids are Learning As They Grow!