Simplified Homeschool

You know that organization is the key to a smooth homeschool day. We share tips on planning your time and lessons as well as advice from other homeschool parents. There are also highlights from our Distance Learning daily video-lesson program, which is designed to simplify your homeschool.

Start here:

3 Organizational Tips for Your Homeschool Space

How Do You Plan Your Homeschool Year?

What Am I Accomplishing with My Time?

Looking for the Little Moments

January 7, 2020 by Guest Writer

You’ve got a stack of homeschool textbooks on your hip and your tepid coffee in your hand. You’re tossing dirty clothes into the washing machine with the other hand while telling the four-year-old for the hundredth time that, no, she cannot watch her show—not until TV time this evening.

You realize that your nine-year-old has been running the water in the bathroom for a very long time, much longer than necessary for brushing teeth. For a second you see red dollar signs flashing before your eyes in anticipation of this month’s water bill. And then the baby yells imperiously from the crib, and you feel like crawling back into bed and just not adulting today. Or tomorrow. OK, for a whole month.

We’ve all been there. We’ve been swamped, overwhelmed by the onrushing tide of our children’s needs—educational, physical, emotional, and spiritual.

Prayer helps. Scripture helps. Asking for help from friends and family is important too. But there’s one more way to manage that exhaustion, especially as you begin the new year.

Look for the little moments.

Here’s an example. Let’s say that while you’re doing the laundry, you find a couple of tadpoles in your daughter’s pocket. Or maybe a dead lizard or a beetle. Once you get past the “ew” factor, remind yourself how wonderful it is that she’s interested in living things. And then find a moment, maybe right before bed, when you can talk to her about her affinity for biology. Sure, you can ask that she empty her pockets before putting her clothes in the laundry—but if you focus on the good, you’ll come away from the interaction more grateful than frustrated.

My kids argue over the silliest things sometimes. But yesterday my son put his arm around his little sister’s shoulders, and my heart melted. When you see a moment like that, relish it. Draw encouragement from it.

One night, I passed my son’s room long after he was supposed to have turned out his lamp, and I noticed light gleaming under the door. As I went in, ready to chide him, he looked up from his book, cheeks flushed with excitement, eyes bright. I recognized that look because I’ve read past my own bedtime many a night. Biting off the words I was going to say, I let him read for ten more minutes—because sleep is important, but becoming a lifelong reader is even more important. I will never forget that little moment we shared, not as mother and son but as readers.

As a homeschool parent, you get to see the magical instant when a concept “clicks” for your child. You get to be there when your fourth-grader comes to you with a new discovery, or when your gangly teen sits patiently while your youngest stumbles through her first easy reader.

Look for the little moments. Hold them in your mind, or write them down so you can read them and remember and rejoice in what you, by God’s grace, have accomplished so far. Who knows what beautiful moments will come your way in this new year?

• • • • •

Rebecca is a work-at-home freelance writer, novelist, wife, and the mom of two bright-eyed little ones. She credits her success in writing and her love of books to her own mom, who homeschooled three kids from pre-K through high school.

All Things New with New Year’s Traditions

December 20, 2019 by Sharon

January 1 is a great time for a fresh start and some New Year’s traditions. When my boys were young, we looked forward to doing as many new things as possible on New Year’s Day. We’d go to new places, use new things, find new things to do, and eat new foods. If you’re wanting to create exciting New Year’s traditions for your little ones, here are some ways you can make all things new for them!

Wear Something New

We’d start the day by wearing something new. Typically this was pajamas, shirts, or sweaters that we got for Christmas. Sometimes it was a new accessory like jewelry, a watch, a scarf, or mittens. Even if it was something we’d worn after Christmas, it was still new enough for New Year’s Day.

Go New Places

My family has always enjoyed taking a scenic drive. For New Year’s Day, we would plan a special outing that would take us somewhere we hadn’t been before or on a road we had never explored. We’d take a bridge to explore the other side of a river or drive to a new town in the area. Along the way, we would look for new shops or restaurants that we hadn’t visited before. We tried to find a new place for lunch or for a snack. In our area of Pennsylvania, there were lots of little mom-and-pop diners along the way, but we found that these were often closed for the holiday, so you might want to do a little research before you go. You could always pack a picnic or new treat to enjoy in the car.

Use New Recipes

Because restaurants were often closed, I decided to look for new foods and recipes for us to enjoy at home. Sometimes I’d make a new muffin recipe for breakfast or find a new dessert to make for dinner. I would also look for new varieties of candy, chips, or other snacks that I could save for us to enjoy on New Year’s Day. For dinner, we would have a traditional New Year’s meal. In Pennsylvania, we always had pork roast and sauerkraut, but in South Carolina, where we live now, black-eyed peas, greens, and cornbread are more traditional. For your own New Year’s traditions, you could try traditional foods from different countries or regions, such as vasilopita (a Greek cake) or sausage and lentil stew from Italy.

Do Something New

If my boys got new things to play with for Christmas, we would break those out after dinner. New puzzles, games, or Lego® sets are fun for the whole family to do together. You could also start a new read-aloud, or have each of your kids pick out a new book to read at bedtime.

Start a New Theme for Bible Time

The highlight of New Year’s Day was our family devotions. My husband would choose a new theme for the new year. Sometimes it was a new goal we’d work on together, like kind speech, loving others, or Scripture memory. Other times it was a new attribute of Christ that we’d focus on. Then we’d learn a new verse and a new hymn to go with our theme. While we wouldn’t necessarily keep to that topic each day of the year, we talked about the theme regularly so we’d grow in that area.

A new year is a great opportunity to renew, energize, and get a fresh start! How else could you encourage all things new for your kids for the new year?

Finding the Silent Night in the Busyness

December 20, 2019 by Jenna

How silent was the night of Jesus’s birth, really? Caesar Augustus’s census had brought many people to Bethlehem. The town was overcrowded. The animals would have been noisy around Jesus’s manger. Angels were singing and proclaiming in the fields. So most likely, all was not calm around the virgin mother and the holy infant. In fact, that night may have been one of the noisiest, most chaotic nights in Judea that year.

You might feel like the Christmas season is similarly chaotic for your family. Given all the holiday activities, volunteer opportunities, gifts to purchase and wrap, and visits with friends and family members, it’s no wonder we often feel like we need to do less during this season so we can focus more on the gift of Christ’s birth. But all of those things really are good, especially for creating lasting memories with your children. And you won’t find the silent night by not celebrating the season.

You’ll find the silent night in the stillness after the celebration. After you’ve reunited with friends and family, after you and your children have delighted in and rediscovered familiar stories and carols, after you’ve played and rejoiced through the day, that’s where the silent night will be. It’s in the faces of sleepy children when you tell them the story of Jesus’s birth and God’s most precious gift to His people. It’s in “the Son of God, love’s pure light,” who came to us at “the dawn of redeeming grace.”

Merry Christmas, from BJU Press!

Tips for Restarting Your Homeschool Routine

December 17, 2019 by Megan

Do you really enjoy starting back into the homeschool routine in January?

I must confess—I don’t. Compared with the excitement of the holiday season, our normal homeschool routine seems . . . well, boring. By January, the novelty of new curriculum has worn off, and since our next long break seems eons away, it’s hard to be motivated to do schoolwork.

But are there things we can do to help make that January start date much easier on ourselves and our children? Here are a few ideas.

Consider a slow start to your homeschool routine.

Jamie Erickson, in her book Homeschool Bravely, was the one who first introduced me to the idea of starting out a new school year slowly. She writes:

Baptism by fire is a sure way to make anyone burn pretty hot. Launching the year at full-throttle on Day 1 will leave your entire family overwhelmed, especially your strong-willed child. Soft-opening your year can be the grace he needs to homeschool well. (p. 68)

This wisdom doesn’t just apply to the opening of a new school year—it can also apply to the return to homeschooling after a break of any length. Go easy on yourself and your kids. You don’t have to do an entire homeschool day on your first day back. This is homeschooling, after all.

Plan review lessons.

Sometimes when we restart school after a break, my kids have trouble remembering what we were working on before the break. And frankly, so do I! So I’ve concluded that it’s a good idea to plan some review time for our first day—it helps get us well prepared for future lessons.

Try adding something new to your homeschool routine.

The end of a calendar year brings a natural opportunity for reflection and evaluation. So ask yourself, “How’s homeschooling going? Is there something that isn’t working or isn’t going as well as I had hoped? Is my child ready for a new challenge?” January is a great time to try something new, and even small changes in your homeschool routine can rekindle excitement for learning. Below are a few ideas of things to try, but the possibilities really are endless.

Work toward a family fitness goal
Learn a new skill (sewing, knitting, wood carving, cake decorating, coding, etc.)
Form (or join) a book club or writing group
Redecorate or rearrange your schoolroom
Choose a family service project
Put together a family reading list

Restock supplies.

Don’t underestimate the positive power of new school supplies. Before you restart your homeschool, take time to purge the broken crayons, pencils without erasers, and dried out glue sticks, and take your kids shopping for new supplies. Fresh supplies will help you have a fresh start for the year.

Homeschooling is not always easy—especially the first week or so after a holiday break. But it is most definitely worth persevering in. I hope that one or more of these tips will help your family transition well into your homeschool routine in January.

4 Easy Christmas Activities for Kids

December 10, 2019 by Guest Writer

As the holidays approach, the pressure to make every day count becomes even more intense. You desperately want your kids to have beautiful holiday memories, but with all the busyness of homeschool, church, community events, family gatherings, and more, it can be hard to set aside time for those Christmas activities or to deal with the cleanup afterward, especially during certain seasons of family life. Here are four easy Christmas activities for kids that involve relatively little preparation and minimal mess.

Tour the Holiday Lights

If you have a holiday light show near your home, pile everyone into the car one night and drive over. Even if there’s no light show nearby, you can drive through local neighborhoods. There are always a few winter wonderlands at private homes where the owners have gone above and beyond. Add your favorite holiday playlist, and you’ve got a simple, fun, memory-making family Christmas activity.

Cookie Swap

Maybe you’re not keen on the idea of making Christmas cookies or treats from scratch this year. Maybe there’s been sickness in your family, you’ve recently had a new baby, or the toddlers just aren’t in a place to enjoy that sort of family Christmas activity. But you want your kids to experience and enjoy a variety of holiday treats—so why not organize a cookie swap with friends?

At a cookie swap, several families buy or make a few dozen Christmas cookies or special treats. Then everyone gathers to sample the goodies and trade bags or tins of the Christmas cookies to take home. To keep cleanup manageable, arrange to swap treats at a friend’s home or at church. You could even combine activities and go to an outdoor pavilion, perhaps near a skating rink or playground.

DIY Christmas Ornaments

If your kids are eager to participate in decorating for the holidays, let them craft a few ornaments for the tree. One easy way to do this is to purchase a bunch of durable plastic Christmas balls and different stickers (holiday-themed stickers, googly eyes, sequin stickers, etc.). The kids can plaster the ornaments with stickers, creating masterpieces fit for the tree—and there’s no glue involved!

Christmas Bingo

Want to keep your kids occupied while you’re driving or shopping? Use free printable games like Christmas bingo! Just print out the cards, give your kids some dot stickers, and let them conduct a visual scavenger hunt from the car seat, stroller, or shopping cart. They’ll have fun, and you’ll be free to focus on your destination or your shopping list.

In your season of life, making Christmas memorable might seem overwhelming. Just remember that activities for kids don’t have to be complex or Pinterest-worthy. The simplest family Christmas activity can yield some of the best bonding moments, learning experiences, and holiday charm.