How do you successfully homeschool and homemake with boys and a dog? It’s not always easy, but with the right tips and tricks, you can make it work! We have three boys (ages 11, 9, 7) and two dogs (Labrador mix and black Lab), which means we’re pretty busy around here! We learned how to successfully homeschool our children AND Boys and a Dog homemaking homeschooling tips for busy folks by streamlining tasks that needed to be done each day and giving them scheduled times to complete tasks.
What it takes
Successfully juggling family, home, kids, and work is no small feat. Add on top of that trying to teach your children yourself while running an online business or blogging or all of that above…it’s nearly impossible. For busy moms or dads looking for a bit of help in these areas we’ve rounded up some of our best tips on being successful at everything! You don’t have to do it all (nobody can), but you can get more done and spend more time enjoying what really matters if you follow our simple tips. One last thing: remember every family is different, so take our advice as inspiration rather than hard fast rules. There are many ways that homeschooling families can make learning both fun AND productive!
Setting boundaries
Kids are resilient, but they don’t come programmed for domestic life. They need adults in their lives who can help set limits and structure their time, which means it will fall on you—and your partner—to do so. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, read about some of these boundaries for kids . You can’t make your child do everything he hates (unless there are very good reasons why), but you can explain that doing homework is part of going to school. Organizing chores around a full-time job is sometimes hard (even if it is just 20 hours per week). The good news: There are jobs out there that allow at least some flexibility in setting your own hours.
Making time
If you are one of those families who think they don’t have time for homeschooling, I just want to tell you that it can be done. Even though I have three little ones (and two of them are toddlers) my husband and I manage quite well. How? We make time. No matter how busy we are, we sit down together each day at 9:00am and go over our schoolwork or read books, or just talk about what happened during their day; however short our time is, it is set aside every day because it is important to us. For some days we only manage 30 minutes but on other days we may get an hour. To me, there is no sense in not doing something when you know you should.
Communication
Chances are, if you’re starting to home school your kids—or just looking into it—you’re probably nervous. You’ve got big hopes and visions for what life will be like when your kids learn at home, but at first it can seem really overwhelming. So what do you do? One thing is to try not to get too hard on yourself. Homemaking is hard enough without piling extra pressure on top of it! Take one step at a time, take your time planning things out, and give yourself plenty of grace as you go along. Everything will work out just fine in time!
Positive reinforcement
In short, positive reinforcement is getting your dog to do something by rewarding him after he performs it. For example, if you want your dog to lie down, tell him lie down (or whatever command you use), and then offer a treat when he does so. It’s important not to use negative reinforcement (getting your dog to do something by punishing him when he doesn’t) or punishment (getting your dog to stop doing something by punishing him for it). These techniques are often ineffective and can be harmful for both dogs and their owners. Be sure to check out our complete guide on how to train a puppy here.
Not being too hard on yourself
Learning how to delegate is important, especially when it comes to home management. But it’s also very important not to be too hard on yourself; if you make mistakes, fix them as quickly as possible. Take pride in your work (after all, you are an expert in your field), but don’t be too proud of your skills; there will always be someone better at something than you.
Also, if you aren’t able to complete everything on your home management checklist, don’t be too hard on yourself. Home managing isn’t just about completing tasks; it’s also about keeping a healthy family unit. If there are things you can delegate or get done after hours (when everyone is asleep), try to do that first, as well as choosing higher-priority tasks before lower-priority ones. And remember: if all else fails and you do end up Red Thread Scholarship Program too much work for one person, hire someone.
