7 Highly Effective Habits of Happy Homeschool Moms

By Maggie Hogan

1. Simplify

• Clutter?
•  Train kids to do their own laundry. LIMIT their clothing!
•  Double up on cooking.
•  As much as is possible – use multi-grade curriculum.
•  If your curriculum isn’t working – dump it. Simplify your schedule
•  Grocery Shop only 2 X month
•  Pick 20 meals everyone likes and make a rotation.
•  Have breakfast for dinner on Sundays.
•  Maintain a pantry for those BOGOs or sales.
•  Don’t buy what you aren’t going to certainly use.
•  PRAY for wisdom before each shopping trip!
•  Clorox wipes, Swiffers, disposable gloves – mom’s best friends!
•  Melissa’s favorite cleaning tools: Tilex Mold & Mildew Remover OR Tilex Mildew Root; Pledge Multi-Surface; my Casabella micro-fiber duster.
•  Invest in an EXCELLENT vacuum.

2. Have Fun!

•  Do the unexpected.
•  Have them teach one subject or one day
•  Backwards Day
•  Have school outside, in bed, or under the dining room table
•  Stay up late and star gaze
•  Listen to their dreams
•  Fly paper airplanes
•  Learn origami together
•  Build a pillow fort
•  Go bird watching or bug collecting
•  Read funny books aloud: Beats Me Claude!
•  Act out a favorite scene or chapter. Over-act.
•  Count your blessings aloud – see how high you can get
•  Make up words
•  Play Dutch Blitz or Uno or other fun fast game
•  Spend an hour as your favorite animal
•  Arm wrestle
•  Have silly races
•  Cloud watch

3. Rest

•  Get some!
  “...one of the most significant and overlooked public health problems...is that many adults are chronically sleep deprived, [and] most people who are sleep deprived do not even realize it.”  - American Psychological Association

4. Diet & Exercise

•  Your two feet and two soup cans are all you need for an exercise program. If you want to splurge, buy a jump rope.
•  Check out these great websites:
  i. www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/
  ii. www.fitday.com
  iii. www.prevention.com

5. Maintain Relationships

•  With your husband. Treat him with respect.
•  With your children. Be merciful. Be wise. Be consistent.
•  With your friends!

6. Taking Care of You

•  From Dawn V: It’s ok to abandon a project before it is finished.
•  From Amy Pak (Homeschool in the Woods Timeline Figures) “. . .an answering machine is a GOOD FRIEND--use it!” www.homeschoolinthewoods.com
•  From Carol Barnier “Delightful Speaker, Entertaining Author, Adequate Wife, Pitiful Housekeeper” www.OpenGifts.org
  ”Don't be afraid to just stay home. Too often we feel the need to pack every minute of every day with enriching, entertaining and exhausting activities...”
•  From Wendy Orth, former Co-ordinator of this convention: “Stay on top of the paperwork! …”
•  More from Wendy: “Savor the unexpected moments. Thank God for the difficulties! . . . let God bring interruptions with joy! Part of homeschooling is the opportunity to learn to LIVE a Christian life, not just to do chemistry and algebra!”
•  From Terri Camp: “At least every other day I take a long hot bubble bath. . . After I finally emerge from the tub, I have had both an internal spiritual cleansing, and an external washing. It's great and keeps me sane!” www.ignitethefire.com
•  From Jen IG, Senior Editor of the Old Schoolhouse Magazine: “A great stress reliever for me is having my kids stop doing homework (or whatever is stressing *me* out at the time) and I set up a contest of "who can make mama laugh". This is a great way to get attitudes back on track (plus, I count it as public speaking/drama). It is much harder for children to be uncooperative when they are happy and they see their mom delighting in them.” www.homeschoolblogger.com/jenig/ and http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/
•  Karen P: Dinner co-op!

7. Walk with the Lord

•  Stay in the Word. Daily Bible!
•  From MaryAnne, a state leader in PA: “For the last couple of years, I have been in a small group women's Bible study which meets weekly at 7 am Friday mornings. It is a huge help to me... the gals have prayed for me on a consistent basis and I have really benefited from this. In addition, they help keep me focused on the Lord. . . ” http://www.chaponline.com/
•  From Karen: “Precepts bible study was helpful for some of the same reasons. I was interacting with other adults in the week. However the bigger reason is of course that immersing myself in God's word lifts my eyes from the temporary to the eternal, which is huge in keeping the big picture before us.”
•  From Melissa: “Read a chapter of Proverbs with your children every day—you’ll get through the whole book in a month, you’ll read God’s wisdom twelve times in a year! It will become a part of you and of your children.” Makes discipline easier when you have it on the tip of your tongue, and your children are familiar with it, too!
  
  Meditate on Scripture. Say them aloud each morning. The following verses, written from an “I” point of view, provided by Amy Pak:
•  I train my children in the way that they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it.
  (Proverbs 22:6)
•  My children are wise and heed my instruction and correction.
  (Proverbs 13:1)
•  I do not discourage my children by provoking them to anger. Rather, I provoke them to love and good works.
  (Colossians 3:21)
•  I teach God's Words diligently unto my children, and talk of them when I sit in our house, when I walk by the way, when I lie down, and when I rise up.
  (Deuteronomy 6:7)
•  God is pouring out His Spirit on my offspring, and His blessing on my descendants.
  (Isaiah 44:3)
  
  Also use with:
  
  ◊  Deuteronomy 28:41
  ◊ II Corinthians 5:21
  ◊  Ephesians 1:3
  ◊  Philippians 4:19
  ◊  Isaiah 54:14
  ◊  Psalm 1:3
   

Conclusion
Ditch the “all or nothing “mentality.” We’re all “in the process.” (It’s called sanctification!) Any day in which you do those things “right” is one more day than if you hadn’t done it at all. Don’t focus on what you didn’t do —focus on what you did do.

Homeschooling is a long-term marathon, not a foot race!

Curriculum Ideas
Try these award-winning, inexpensive, multi-grade series: Christian Kids Explore Science, All-American History and The Mystery of History, published by Bright Ideas Press; as well as The Ultimate Geography & Timeline Guide by Maggie Hogan & Cindy Wiggers. These books are easy-to-use and packed full of the “good stuff”! Check out our yahoo groups on our website. Also, go there to access articles as well as hand-outs from Maggie’s other workshops and to sign up for Maggie’s sporadic “When the Muse Strikes”.