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ShawnaB
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| Posted: July 12 2006 at 10:54am | IP Logged
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...in the area of Management and Planning that has improved homeschooling in your house? This time of year always has me excited and thinking about how I can do things better next fall. I know I need better time management, and also a better commitment to hedge in my day with time spent with God in personal devotions. (And probably LESS time on the computer!  ) "Managers of the Homes" and "Confessions of an Organized Homemaker" are some of my summer reads. Just wondering what has worked really well for you? Thanks!
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Shawna, wife of Jacob, mom to Abraham 8 Amelia 5 and Jillian & Jonathan age 3 years http://www.psalm121family.com
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Meredith
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| Posted: July 12 2006 at 10:56am | IP Logged
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Have a plan for dinner right after breakfast, or better yet the night before!!
Also, prayer time with the dc before the run off to play. For me the rest is up to my management style, and it helps if I'm not on the computer all day
Blessings!
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
Sweetness and Light
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Bookswithtea
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| Posted: July 12 2006 at 1:55pm | IP Logged
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MOTH recommends assigning new chores to the children for the school year during the summer and making sure they know how to do them before school starts. I've done this for 3 years now and its worked great.
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Blessings,
~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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materdei7
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| Posted: July 12 2006 at 2:16pm | IP Logged
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Declutter the house this summer, so that there is less
to clean up after in the fall!!  That is my summer goal...  .to go through the closets and toys and cull out things. Now with the weather being so nice out west here  ....I need a rainy day  .
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Kathleen, mother of five on earth, three in heaven.
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saintanneshs
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| Posted: July 13 2006 at 2:23pm | IP Logged
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My answer is probably going to sound so totally absurd, but for me, the best thing I've done is to take a break from all the planning books on my shelves.
Management is important, so we have the menu/meal planner all set up, a realistic house cleaning schedule I can stick to, and a daily routine in place. I can't stand my own clutter or wasting time, so these things help me feel successful when I look around me. I need to get back to daily morning prayer now that I'm not couch-bound with morning sickness on most days. I don't know if it's the fatigue from a new pregnancy or just me being sick of always feeling squashed under the pressure to have it ALL so perfectly planned, but not looking at everyone's perfectly planned schedules in my MOTH-type books is a huge relief. Silly me, I forget that the schedules listed there are ideal schedules and that no one has it down perfectly.
Another best thing I've done to help hs with regard to Planning? I skipped the conferences this year for the 1st time in 3 years (we're still kinda new at this) because I just knew that while I'd leave inspired from the great talks, I'd also leave with bags of curriculum materials and feeling more pressure to squeeze in this or that, on top of what we already have. It seems like every year I've tried to push too much into our schedule and end up feeling so frustrated that it isn't as easy to teach 2 of my own with 2 little ones underfoot as it was to teach 25 kindergarteners in public school!! I think I've spent too much time trying to plan both quantity AND quality. I think NOT going to the conferences will help me keep things simple and I really need that with the baby coming in January.
"Doing more with less" seems to be an idea I need to embrace and feeling less pressure to have the "perfect" plan feels pretty good right now. And somehow, I also think that I'll be closer to following the CM method (which is what I've been wanting all along) without so much to distract me.
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Kristine
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ShawnaB
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| Posted: July 16 2006 at 5:41pm | IP Logged
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Thank you for your input! Its funny, but meal planning, decluttering, and revisiting our chores have been on my mental list already. Meridith, I feel like I have failed miserable at planning dinners, and I know this lack of organization creates a lot of uneccessary stress.
And Kristine, your wisdom is priceless! Sometimes all those books can make me feel LESS organized! I think there is so much value in simplicity.
Thank you all.
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Shawna, wife of Jacob, mom to Abraham 8 Amelia 5 and Jillian & Jonathan age 3 years http://www.psalm121family.com
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hylabrook1
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| Posted: July 17 2006 at 6:48am | IP Logged
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Shawna -
Your mention of lack of meal planning causing lots of stress really sounded a note with me. Last year at a homeschooling conference I bought a book called Saving Dinner. It is great! Easy/not time consuming recipes and meal plans, organized by season of the year to take advantage of things available only seasonally. There is very little (maybe even no) use of "convenience foods"; not that the recipes are "inconvenient", but that they use wholesome, healthy foods.. I recommend this book, as I have found it very helpful.
Peace,
Nancy
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Lisbet
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| Posted: July 17 2006 at 2:29pm | IP Logged
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I second "saving dinner". Leanne Ely is the BEST!!! I also have The Frantic Family Cookbook, and it's GREAT!!
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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ShawnaB
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| Posted: July 17 2006 at 5:49pm | IP Logged
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Ok, thats 2 recommendations...I think I need to get the "Saving Dinner" book. I'll check out the other too! Thanks!
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Shawna, wife of Jacob, mom to Abraham 8 Amelia 5 and Jillian & Jonathan age 3 years http://www.psalm121family.com
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Topic: What is the best thing that you've done..
