Preparing for the New Year/School Year: Large Family Style

Ahh the third trimester! 

Not much energy, but a STRONG desire to NEST! 

Thankfully I've remained physically strong and worked out the entire pregnancy! What perfect timing to nest! 

Now, I am NOT a "minimalist", but I DO love the mentality to only keep what is necessary. In America, we are given more to want and greed and often have to learn to choose moderation and contentment. This is crucial when you have 6 children and 3 adults in one modest-sized home (I LOVE MY HOME!). Several times a year we go through all our belongings (clothes, towels and sheets, toiletries, books, craft supplies, board games, shoes and coats, toys) and keep only what is in good condition, builds us up, or that we've used regularly.

Too much is more to manage, more that occupies our time. 

Too many toys means more time picking up.

Too much craft supplies means a larger mess to clean up.

Too much clothing, blankets, towels and sheets means more time spent on laundry.

Too many dishes means more to wash.

Too much living room clutter makes things feel smaller and cramped. 

We do school from January-October so that November and December can be filled with leisure, baking, family & friends, and wraps up with purging and organizing for the school year & New Year! We spent the last week of December pulling out my stock pile of supplies and refilling what we need for the year as far as crayons, markers, glue, scissors, rulers, paper, and pencils (Lakeshore Learning or Costco bulk people!). We also weed through used coloring books, broken board games, and useless activities from last Christmas. 

Alex talking to the kids about the New Year and things the Lord's laid on his heart for our family 

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Pray and Plan: Alex and I sit down and evaluate the kids characters, their progress in school, our daily schedule and happenings, our desires, goals, and our plan to grow our children into maturity. We type it up and pray over it. I then work on the logistics in my own time typing up a tentative daily schedule and make sure all my ministry and business plans don't interfere with the bulk of our days. 

Character
? What character traits does each child need to mature in?
? How can we get them there?
? What are some problem areas?
? Where do they need to become more responsible?
? What affects their negative behavior?
? Can it be removed or replaced?
? Where can they have more independence?
? Are the children respectful?
? Do they respond how we want them to?
? Where and why is there contention in the home?
? Where and why is there laziness?

Home
? How is the daily flow?
? Are the house cores manageable?
? How can you split up all the house work amongst the kids to keep it clean and organized?
? Are meals managble - time, money, healthy, enough to share?
? Are meal prep times convient or can they be combined to create less time in the kitchen?
? Can another family member take over in making 1-2 of the daily meals?
? Is the home too cluttered?
? How can you spend less time cleaning?
? Is clothing clean, modest, in good condition?
? Is the managing of clothing an effective system or can it be simplified more?

Personal
? Is your prayer and devotional life the first thing, most important, uncompromising?
? Does your marriage have time? 
? Is your spouse REALLY held as most important?
? Do you have a date night?
? A family night?
? A sabbath?
? Do you get enough sleep (night and naps - or one night a week your spouse takes over the midnight wanderers)?
? Can the kids sleeping schedule adjust to suit yours better?
? Do you get exercise (10-30 minutes a day)?

Ministry
? Are you serving the church in some way?
? Are you freeing your husband up to lead in the church?
? Is your ministry interfering with your home life?
? Can you alter something so it doesn't interfere, but still serve?
? How can the kids serve along side you (sit quietly - serve along side you)?

Curriculum
? What are the main goals?
? Does it all fit in a day/week?
? What do you want to teach and what can be indepentendet or simplified?
? Can you afford what you're using or wanting to use?
? Is there a less expensive option?
? Does everything need to be taught at this time?
? Can you do "mini courses" focusing on one subject for half the year and another the other half?
? Does your time off fit with the pulse of your family's life or can it be adjusted?

Time and Flow
? Do schedules or routines work better for your family (set times for events, or just an idea of what comes next)?
? Do you have ideas for the younger kids to keep them occupied?
? Do the younger kids have time with you during the day?
? Is there time unscheduled for kids to be bored (SO IMPORTANT!)? 
? Are there open-ended, educational materials provided for bored times (books, encyclopedias, legos, blocks, crafts, library books)?
? Does daddy get time with the kids?
? Can things adjust so they get time with their dad and it works with his schedule (late nights, early mornings, school at different time during the day?)?

New Year Shortbread cookies and Tea!!!

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The beauty of homeschool is the flexibility we get. Don't get caught up in the conventional idea of school or how to run a home. 

You don't HAVE to fold clothes, match socks, or hang dresses. 

You can have a family closet with everyone's clothes.

You can mop the floor in swim suits with soapy water and plastic boats floating everywhere.

Baking, gardening, grocery shopping, and filling the car with gas can all be educational.

Your children's character training will make them FAR more productive to society then formal schooling will.

You don't have to finish that lesson that day.

You can do 4 lessons in one day.

Everyone can join in the reading of that biography and glean something from it.

You can have a math day, then a reading day, then a science day instead of doing all in one day.

You can do a 3 day school week or a 6 day school week.

Your schooling can be in the evening, on the weekend, or through the summer.

You can all stay up until midnight and start your day at 10am.

You can double dinner and eat it again the next day.

You can eat left over dinner for lunch the following day. 

You can snack ALL DAY then you don't need to make lunch!

The kids day can consist of mostly house work and very little school work.

You can have a whole day dedicated to BORDEM where kids explore what they're interested in.

You can have field trips in the mornings - on week days!

Sick days can be science documentary days or history audio book days. 

You can combine the older kids and the younger kids in the same level of curriculum and teach them all at the same time.

What do YOU want?

What CAN you do?

Will your children be ready for adulthood?

Can they manage time, money, relationships?

Do they have a work ethic?

Can they make wise choices?

Do they know how to learn?

All this is what my husband and I think and pray over during this time and readjust how things flow. 

I hope this helps you! 

The last thing I want to stress is the importance of your children's character: They cannot learn or be taught if they cannot listen and respect to authority, if they cannot control what they want and do what they need to do. If they do not respond to the parent properly, how can you teach them anything?! How will they be ready for life as an adult? This is SO IMPORTANT and needs to take priority over formal schooling.