Frequently Asked Questions

Over the years, I've been asked a lot of questions about homeschooling.  There are a few that come up quite often that I thought I'd address here.

Time Management:  Again, I really like the Managers of their Homes (link at the bottom of my blog) system. You have to be careful not to let the schedule rule you; it's a tool to aid you not a task master.  It really helped me organize all the things that needed to be done in a day.  It helped me plan time for the kids to have one on one time with me and with each other.  No two days are ever the same.  If your house is like mine, there are constant interruptions.  The schedule helps to keep the focus, re-center during the chaos.  I had to stuggle to not let the schedule become another stress for me (Oh, no! We didn't follow the schedule all day!  Oh, no! It's 12:30 and we're not ready for lunch!) but overall, it was a huge help.

How do you get your kids to do their school work?  That's usually followed by, "I can't get mine to do homework!"  It's different.  Your kids know that you are in charge of their education and they will respect that.  I'm not saying they don't push the limits, but it is different than what you experience with homework.  Having said that, you do have to establish discipline and be consistent.  Your children will rise to your expectations, so aim high!

How do you keep the house clean?  There are several ways to keep on top of chores.  In most homes, regardless of how the kids are educated, kids have chores.  If every child has 15 minutes of chore time in the morning and 15 minutes of chores in the evening, that's a lot of chores.  Done on a daily basis, with a rotating schedule it is very do-able.  We usually had assigned chores that changed from year to year.  Some people have a chore jar filled with slips of paper that have a 15-minute chore on it.  At chore time, everyone grabs a slip of paper out of the jar and does the chore on it.  The chores are like 'wipe clean all the switch plates in the house'/'shake out the scatter rugs'/'dust the piano'/ 'brush the dogs/cats'.  That used chore paper goes in a drawer until the jar is empty and then they start over. Bigger chores are done on Saturday.  Some families have 20 minutes before bedtime every night.  A timer is set and for 20 minutes everyone in the family picks up, dusts, vacuums.  Then it's pajamas, story time and off to bed.  That helps to keep on top of the mess.

Again, the Managers of their Homes system is very useful in addressing time management and how to get it all done and not feel frazzled.  The key, I think, is to run your home like a business.  Have a list of things to do, projects, etc.  Delegate, delegate, delegate.  Kids want to be useful and can do much; it doesn't have to fall on one person.  In the end, they learn valuable life skills and time management.

Do we school in our pajamas?  We do not.  I know some families do, but I never did.  I always told my kids that what you are wearing, the lighting, how you are sitting, all those things tell your brain something.  I expected my kids to 'come to the table a willing student' and that meant dressed for the day.  Some years, we even tried uniforms, but that didn't work well.  It just became another thing to wash, keep track of, nag them about, etc.  On rare occassions when several of us were sick, or on a big thunderstorm day we would stay in our pj's and do our school in the living room.  Mostly, we got dressed.  Which leads me to another question people frequently ask:

Do we have a set time that we start or finish? Second to that, how long does it take us?  I did have a set time to meet at the table for school.  It was and still is 8:00a.m.  Some families start with morning mass; we seldom did that, but some people need that 'appointment' to get everyone going.  We did/do have prayers every day and often prayed the rosary with special intentions. 

The length of time varies.  The older the kids get, the longer their schooling takes.  And I know families that play in the morning and school in the afternoon.  I know families that got up earlier than we did and yet got to their school work later than we did.  Certainly, homeschoolers can finish their school work in less time than in a traditional school setting. But the goal is not to be quick, but thorough and well-rounded.

This is the end of this series on my thoughts and experiences with homeschooling.  I hope what I've communicated is that homeschoolers are a diverse group of people.  There are many ways to homeschool and my best advice to anyone considering homeschooling is to find what works for your family.  The best way to do that, of'course, is to allow God to be your guide.  He will never steer you wrong.

"I am the vine, you are the branches." Jesus says, "If you remain in Me and I in you, the same brings forth great fruit."  John 15:5