A lovely home schooling mom has invited me to guest post at her place,A Homeschool Mom and will published my work, today.
The topic?
“The one thing I did not know, and wish someone had told me, about home schooling.”
I had fun with it and wish you all would run on over to Cristina’s, check it out, leave a nice comment, look around and leave another nice comment, too!
It takes guts to admit it: I’m behind on my ironing.
I’ve posted about this 4-step process before and now, need to read it again, to help myself remember how easily we can catch up. So here goes!
4 How-To’s
Hurry. That makes it go much faster. Time yourself and see how long it takes to iron one shirt or one pair of pants. Then see if you can cut the time down each time you repeat that performance. Play peppy music to help you stay quick.
Set aside time to fire up your iron every day. If you have a designated spot for the ironing board, where you can leave it set up all the time, or if you have a board that is easily stored, such as in the wall or on a door, all the better.
Iron twice what your family would wear, every day. This can only lead to success. They wear five pieces daily? You iron ten. Simple math leads to simple solutions.
Continue until caught up. The finish line may seem elusive, but truthfully, it’s that other word just above–“CONTINUE”–that is a lost or hiding concept for us, especially when it comes to ironing. We feel foolish? We feel tired? We feel uninspired? We should consider how good it feels to have it all done for a change. Yes.
Now, with the goal of continuing, of not quitting, of actually being caught up instead of planning to catch up someday, here are some motivators I use, to keep me reaching for that last piece in the bottom of the basket:
4 Motivators
The peppy music. Already mentioned, yes, this trick not only helps me move faster, it also keeps me cheery. Sometimes I even sing along, and it helps, like a daily, longed-for music session. Trust me.
Multi-tasking. Need to make a phone call?–Turn down the music and turn on the speaker phone. Need to exercise?–Leg lifts, walking in place, or knee bends all work while ironing, and can be done in time to the music. Need to watch a pressure canner?–Iron in the kitchen. Need to study the next lesson in your online course?–Turn off the music and listen to the lecture.
Get it?
Rewards. Nothing like that last ice-cream bar in the freezer to make you get the job done. You cannot multi-task with ice-cream bars. You have to get ‘er done, then hit the ice! Another reward, for me, is seeing my hubs looking as sharp as can be when he leaves the house. Has to be good for his soul, too, I think. And sometimes I reward myself with a promise to spend time with my feet up, visiting with you, my readers. And then there is the newly-won space on the laundry room floor . . .
Finally, being able to get dressed without first ironing, is a huge motivator. It is such a luxury, to me, who grew up ironing every morning and being late to catch the bus. Whew. So glad those days are over.
That’s it—so easy. For me, since only my husband wears much ironed clothes, if I iron two shirts and a pair of pants for him each day, soon all is done. Now and then I insert something for someone else, but really, most of us wear no-iron clothing like t-shirts, sweats, and the softer denims. It may take a week or two, but it does work.
Now, guess what I’m about to do!
Oh, and always remember: A job well-done need never be done again.
We continue our series on breaking in the new, unsure homeschooler.
If you’ve missed parts one and two of this series, you can read Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.
Fourth—deal with the feelings. Someone who is freshly released from a prison, or an unarmed police state, often will have difficulty handling absolute freedom.
Well, your child has been in an environment of rigid conformity that probably was much like a military base. Uniforms, bells, lines, roll-calls, schedules, harsh authorities, numbers, assemblies, lock-step, attention, fear-motivation, institutional colors, institutional food, lockers, compartments…how much does it take to dehumanize a person?
These tactics belong in the military, which needs to move like a machine.
Your newly rescued “cog” may balk at his new, normal life.
Imagine:
not feeling guilty about getting a full night’s sleep, while the bus rumbles by.
having time to chew and enjoy your breakfast.
being okay without shoes on.
Although it might seem incomprehensible, very much of this can make a newly freed person feel like the bottom has dropped out.
Of course, you have rules, but they may seem too lenient for this child, at first.
Alternately, he may have been starving for just this type of freedom, and decide to resist any type of boundary.
Either way, be prepared for testing, since you will find yourself a “new” authority in the eyes of your child. Rules, firmly but gently enforced, should help.
The gentle approach is very important.
One of the most comforting, uplifting, and rewarding things you can do for an unsure home school student is to point out all the objectionable activities, treatments, and attitudes, that he is missing. Smiling while saying things like, “Well, it’s time for math at the school,” will help him remember unpleasant occurrences that he was glad to leave. If you can manage to be working on a fun art project or baking bread when you drop such a reminder, he will feel doubly blessed by comparison.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Yes, “perks” are very important in a home school.
Actually, they are important to everyone, everywhere, but so few people work to provide the important things for children. This is one way that a home school can be better.
Although we do not want to give a child a demanding attitude, we can make him feel pampered or even slightly spoiled with something as simple as a small bouquet at breakfast or even just a cookie, judiciously applied.
Other perks might be:
schooling barefoot
owning a new pet
studying in a tree
skipping one afternoon per week
schooling with a new friend or at Grandmother’s once a week
having a source of income during the day
taking a week of vacation with Dad’s business trip
ice cream after every tennis lesson
expanding his personal hobby via his studies
Long recesses on a snowy day, followed by hot cocoa with a marshmallow could not fail to make the new homeschooler feel a little more human. He knows his old friends are sitting in a stale room, looking at the snow outside, and wishing.
Great field trips, even in the summer, can help him realize his importance in your eyes. He knows how tedious and seldom the field trips were, before, or he may even have failed to qualify for them.
Yesterday we began a series about how to begin home educating a child who is acclimatized to the collective school situation and may be reluctant about this big change in his life. You may want to catch up, here.
The second stepis somehow to teach your child also to care more.
Unless your child has begged for rescue from the collective system, he may not see what you see or care about what you care about (his welfare).
He may not be comfortable with the idea that his education or his life is worth caring about.
He may not realize that it is now safe for him to care about life.
Affirmations of thankfulness and celebration about his new presence in your daily affairs will help him see a glimpse of it. As your actions follow your words, he will begin to believe it, and to feel some of the same, himself.
The third stepis to help your child understand what is happening in his life.
Even if he begged to home school, he is accustomed to a regime of bells jangling and other buffeting noises, dependent upon someone else telling him every move to make, and missing his old friends.
Now someone (you) must deal with this regimented, buffeted, dependent, and friendless soul who is moping at your kitchen table.
How do you explain? You start with God. If you have not had much time to minister God to your child, take it easy—you do not want to overwhelm him and you cannot force him.
You will have a long time to get your whole school right, but you have only now to get now right. Proceed humbly. Pray without ceasing.
If he does understand the concept of knowing God’s will, you can tell him that you are obeying God, and that sometimes that means changes that do not feel comfortable. There always is some other way that seems right to us. (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25)
Confess that you could not or would not hear God, before, which is how you both got to where you are now. Yes, confess. Apologize and ask for forgiveness. You, dear parent, have wasted a portion of the life of this child, who was at your mercy, leading him to learn to enjoy the world’s ways; you have seen the coming consequences; and you have repented. Now you must woo a child of the world to see the light of God’s glorious way for His people. Your humble, repeated apology will help him see that the old way was wrong and that when he longs for it, he too is wrong. Do not expect him to see it at first, but do tell him, often, how sorry you are and do not merely tell him. Show him. Make amends, somehow. Often.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989. The photo shows a part of a public photo documentation wall at Former Check Point Charlie, Berlin. The photo documentation is permanently placed in the public.
A startling change in events for this poor beleaguered family is on the horizon. Read about it here.
The third step is to help your child understand what is happening in his life.
Home's Cool! 