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Heart of Dakota Blog

Category: From Our House to Yours

Heart of Dakota - From Our House to Yours - How to Make 'Plans' to Enjoy Your Homeschool Life - Right Now Making plans to enjoy your homeschool life might sound silly. Especially if you equate 'fun' with 'sporadic' and 'unplanned,' this concept of making plans to have fun might seem depressing. However, as busy as life is for most homeschool moms, I think making 'plans' to enjoy your homeschool life might be the only way you really DO enjoy it! The first part of making plans to enjoy my homeschool life is picking a curriculum I enjoy. Heart of Dakota takes care of that! Another part of enjoying my homeschool life is just making sure I have time to homeschool. However, what I do within that set aside time is a big part of enjoying my days as well. Likewise, taking time off to have breaks in homeschooling is yet another big part of enjoying my overall homeschool life. If you are not enjoying your homeschool life, the good news is, you can - and right now! But, how? How to Make Plans to Enjoy Your Homeschool Days Each homeschool day has Heart of Dakota plans to complete, and I enjoy my days most when we successfully finish those plans. However, how we go about completing those plans makes a big difference in how much I enjoy our days! To enjoy my days, I had to first think about what my children and I really enjoy. For example, to finish my plans and to be to work on time, I need to plan to start my day early. However, to plan to enjoy starting my day early, I plan to first make my favorite hazelnut cup of coffee and take it up to my room. I also plan to teach in my room in my pj's while drinking that coffee. I love this relaxed start to my day, so I can actually enjoy starting at 6:15 AM (first with my Bible Quiet Time, and then with my children arriving one at a time in segments from 6:50 to 7:50 AM). My kids love this start too! How to Plan for Small Vignettes of 'Fun' to Enjoy Throughout Your Day So, I already shared my first 'vignette of fun' involving coffee and pj's. My second vignette of fun I plan for is our break at 8:45 AM. I love listening to Christian praise music! I also love hearing my sons sing, hum, or whistle along! Cooking/baking is another thing I love! So, this second vignette of fun for me is turning on Christian music while I make breakfast and drink favorite coffee #2. My sons love music while they do their chores and love eating homemade breakfasts, so this is fun for them too! A third vignette of fun for me is simply reading aloud HOD materials on the couch. I turn on the fireplace, we grab fuzzy blankets, and I'm usually drinking favorite coffee #3 at this time. My third vignette of fun is just a break alone for me and for my sons. Emmett, my youngest son, loves to make homemade hot cocoa. So, around 11 AM, he takes a break to make hot cocoa with whipped cream, marshmallows, and even sprinkles sometimes. He puts them all on a tray and takes them to our addition. They've kind of turned this into a 'boys' club' meeting, no mom allowed time. Fine with me. I am having a break of my own! No plans. Just a break for whatever. No more coffee though (I had you worried, didn't I?!?). My fourth vignette of fun is exercise. I know, not everyone thinks of exercise as fun, but I do! So, from around noon to 12:30 or so, I exercise while my sons work on independent work. How to Make 'Plans' to Enjoy 'Unplanned' Days I sometimes equate 'fun' with sporadic and unplanned. However, taking off unplanned days often means we don't finish our school year on time. So, my way around this is to make 'plans' to enjoy 'unplanned days.' I do this by adding about 7 or more extra days before the end date we want for our school year. That way, I know I have at least 7 days throughout the year that I can just take off at any time. Sometimes I surprise the boys and say, "We're taking today off! What should we do?!?  Where should we go?!?"  Other days, I surprise them the night before, letting them know we're sleeping in and taking a lazy day off at home tomorrow, to do 'whatever' anyone wants to do. Finally, I make 'plans' to enjoy 'unplanned days' for each of our birthdays, Valentine's Day, days around Christmas, fishing/hunting days, etc. We have no set plans on these days, other than we are taking them off. Life is meant to be enjoyed - today! Jesus said, ...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)  Life is meant to be enjoyed - today! It will not do to tell yourself you will enjoy your life when                        (fill in the blank - i.e. when the kids are older, when we move, when there is a job change, when my youngest graduates, when we don't have so many little ones, when I'm not pregnant, when I'm done homeschooling, when my husband retires, when I'm healthier). Jesus does not intend for us to put enjoying our life on hold. He came that we may have life, to the fullest, today! If you are downtrodden, if you find yourself complaining about your life, make a change! Or, make lots of changes! Even my Dad, with pancreatic cancer, tried very hard to enjoy his life. This was not possible every day. However, he did enjoy most days! People visited him and left happier than they came. What can you do to enjoy your homeschool life, right now? So, let's brainstorm! What can you do to enjoy your homeschool life, right now? We often think we need big changes, but in reality, little changes pack a big punch! I know a homeschool mom of 6 who plans to run down her country road. She loves it! She 'plans' for this every day, even though she has always had a baby in the mix. This is her vignette of fun! Another mom I know sleeps in while her husband teaches math. He loves math! She loves sleeping in! It works. When I had many littles, I loved to take walks with the stroller. I had picnics on blankets on the living room floor. Sometimes just a planned nap (for me) was heavenly! Moving my teaching time around and having my oldest play with my middle son while my baby napped made this possible! Don't wait to enjoy your homeschooling. Or you may not be doing it next year. Enjoy your life - now! A happier mom makes a happier home. So, please! Make plans to enjoy your homeschool life - today! In Christ, Julie

How to Make ‘Plans’ to Enjoy Your Homeschool Life – Right Now

From Our House to Yours

  • Julie Grosz, M.Ed.
  • / July 29, 2022
Heart of Dakota - From Our House to Yours - How Habits Can Make or Break Your Homeschool Day...

How Habits Can Make or Break Your Homeschool Day

From Our House to Yours

  • Julie Grosz, M.Ed.
  • / July 22, 2022
Heart of Dakota - From Our House to Yours - A Menu of Quick-to-the-Table Themed Lunches and Easy Side Dishes

A Menu of Quick-to-the-Table Themed Lunches and Easy Side Dishes

From Our House to Yours

  • Julie Grosz, M.Ed.
  • / July 15, 2022
Heart of Dakota - From Our House to Yours - Spreading Two Guides Over Three Years

Spreading Two Guides Over Three Years

From Our House to Yours

  • Julie Grosz, M.Ed.
  • / July 8, 2022
Heart of Dakota - From Our House to Yours - Putting Away Your Books for the Next Child

Putting Away Your Books for the Next Child

From Our House to Yours

  • Julie Grosz, M.Ed.
  • / July 1, 2022
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