I’ve always enjoyed doing laundry. Something about the clean smell and seeing freshly folded piles is satisfying. However, the joy in the process quickly fades when after doing laundry every day I still wind up with set stains, overflowing hampers, lack of clean clothes, and dirtly clothes piles everywhere! Whether you enjoy laundry like I do, or not, you are likely here to find a routine that will help limit your laundry woes. That’s why I’m glad to share our simplified large family laundry routine with you today! I have tried different systems and the current one has made laundry so much easier to maintain. My hampers aren’t overflowing, my laundry room stays mostly in order, and the only thing overflowing on a given day is the clean laundry baskets!

Having a routine can be the make-it-or-break-it to make something go from disaster to order. My routine described below, can work for any size family. I have also included a print you can easily reference.

(The comedy is not lost on me that today, as I write this, I am cleaning up half a jug of laundry soap that fell off the washer and spilled all over the laundry floor downstairs! HAHAHAH)

The basics to our simplified large family laundry routine

• Collect all the dirty clothes in the evenings
• Rotate loads every day after mealtimes as needed (except Sundays)
• Fold, only the essentials, all at once
• Put away the following morning

There are 11 of us needing laundry done, but our 4 youngest have the most laundry and most dirty laundry by far! So, if you just have littles and feel overwhelmed, rightly so! It is alot! hehe.

We have 4 boys that share 2 rooms downstairs where we also have a second washer and dryer set. They alternate doing their own laundry by room, and each boy has their own hamper. Our oldest daughter does her own laundry around the laundry I am doing over the weekend . This means I am responsible for 6 persons laundry- mine and my husband’s, our baby girl’s, and the 3 little boys’. I add in the towels and sheets on particular days.

(Disclaimer: Some of these links are affiliate links, which means I make a tiny commission off of these sales at no extra cost to you. I am not paid or sponsored in any way to promote these products. I’ve curated these myself and love and use most of them regularly! This helps support the work I do here, and is so appreciated! Thank you for your care!)

Some systems I have tried before

I have tried all kinds of methods. Maybe you have tried different methods, too, but they weren’t working for you either. Perhaps that’s why you’re here today. Everyone has their preferences, but finding what works for YOU is the most important part of establishing a good routine. I’ve even folded Kon Mari style, but soon realized that work was all undone in1 day with little kids rummaging for a favorite shirt.

• Doing it all over 2 days
• Assigning a day of the week per person or room
• Collecting it all and doing it daily

The later is the method I am using now. I’ve been doing laundry everyday since our family size grew to about 6 of us, but it was a different method. Each day I would wash by room or category. The trouble I was that we still had a week to go between those washes. I was doing laundry everyday, but we still would run out of clean clothes. The other problem was the stains on the clothes would set after sitting there a week.

The benefits to my current simplified routine

There is rarely an overflowing hamper in a bedroom now and the dirty clothes are mostly contained to the laundry room, and washed sooner.

Stains don’t set as easily, anymore. I noticed the wash comes clean without much needed pretreating because they’re washed more frequently.

We can keep a more minimal wardrobe as the clothes are washed more often.

Our littles guys can find something clean to put on from the fresh laundry basket easily if needed, as well.

My simplified large family laundry routine:

1. Keep a hamper in each room
2. Collect dirty clothes each evening
3. Sort clothes into 3 large hampers
4. Rotate wash after mealtimes
5. Sort into baskets by room or child
6. Fold only the essentials once a day
7. Have kids put away their own during a routine time

1. Keep a hamper in each room

This makes it easy to keep the dirty clothes off the floor and ready to be collected. Our older boys that share have their own dirty clothes hampers to make it easier to keep track of their own clothes they wash themselves, as well. I prefer to use these large hampers because they are durable, lightweight, and large.

2. Collect dirty clothes each evening

I prefer to collect in the evenings to see sure we get the clothes from that da, and because I’m usually home to do it and not rushing out somewhere. If you want to develop a maintainable routine, find a time that works for you that you can be consistent in. A tip- pin it to something you already do, like a mealtime or when you get home etc.

3. Sort clothes into 3 large hampers

These large hampers are the ones I use in my laundry room. I sort by lights, darks, and heavy or soiled items. I don’t get picky about weights and colors and have not had a problem. If I think some whites need a refresh, I’ll pull them out of the lights basket and soak separately in oxi clean. When the hamper is full to the top, I know I have a full load ready to go in!

4. Rotate wash after mealtimes as needed

Mornings are busy enough, so just needing to remember to throw a ready load in after breakfast and switch what’s in the wash is simple enough. I have a habit of it now, so laundry doesn’t sit more than a day. If you tie it to something that is already a habit it will become a habit in itself, too.

5. Sort into baskets by room or child

Our 3 little guys have their own small laundry baskets, so when I sit down to fold, I just sort their laundry into their own baskets. I don’t fold any of their clothes. I help them fold on a morning we have more time, or I just let them put them in the proper drawer during our morning routine when their baskets get full. This makes it easy for them to find clean clothes in between without rummaging through folded clothes. Our little girl’s dresser is in our room so I include her clothes with my husband’s and mine.

6. Fold only the essentials once a day

I collect the clean laundry out of the drawer into a large basket or two, and batch fold only once a day. My preference is to do it in the evenings either while my hubby reads to us, or we watch a show. I don’t fold undies or jammies, unless I get carried away watching a great show- like our current favorite, The Chosen!

7. Have kids put away their own during a routine time

Last, but certainly not lease, we have even our younger kids help as much as they can fold and put away their own clothes. As I mentioned before, I don’t have them fold unless I have time to sit with them and give them a folding lesson, so that they can learn. They have minimal wardrobes so their drawer aren’t stuffed. As long as we can find what we need, I don’t care.

Tips and tricks

• I love these wool dryer balls to fluff and soften our clothes and cut dry time. Sprinkling on a few essential oil drops keeps them smelling lovely, too.
• Tide Free and Gentle and Shout keep the stain setting to a minimum. I use cornstarch on a grease stain, then dawn detergent, and I save shout for for those really stubborn grease stains because it is a heavy chemical, but works!
• Pour boiling water over fruit stains and watch them vanish- really!
• Soaking in baking soda or borax in a tub before washing for heavily soiled items works wonders.
• I wash all my hand washables or things I don’t want to dry in the dryer in delicates bags. I just wash on cold with my normal load and pull out to hang dry. I even put sweaters I want to hang up in a large delicates bag so I don’t accidentally put it in the dryer.
• I buy the same socks for our boys so I don’t have to match individual sock pairs. If one gets a hole it can be matched to another that did. We rotate white and black ankles for spring and summer and taller boot socks for fall and winter. The ones I like here, have a different color per size which is all I have to look for. Easy peasy.
• Use my no iron hack- explained in this video!

Thanks so much for joining me again here in my little corner, friend! I hope some of these ideas can help you gain solutions that create more time to spend enjoying your family!

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Are you wondering how to find your priorities as a mom? After some research and reading I finally stumbled upon a method that was clear and straightforward. I was able to adapt it for my life as a homeschool mom of a large family. Now, no matter what season of life I’m in, I can easily determine where my focus should be and create a task list that keeps me on track with my goals and prioriites. I am excited to share this simple 3 step method with you today!

As a busy mom, everyday there are a myriad of things to be done, and everything can feel like it’s urgent. Especially when you have a little one pulling on your pant leg, the food is burning, and you haven’t showered! You feel like your attention is demanded by someone or something 24/7. It can be overwhelming to even begin to think about what to do next. One crazy moment leads into the next and before you know it, you are falling into bed at the end of the night exhausted yet unsure of what you even did all day.

My story

I’ve experienced this feeling in different seasons of life. Sometimes it’s inevitable, like after a baby is born, or during a move or job change. However, I realized when my life began to feel like chaos is the new normal, something had to change.

My utmost desire is to be intentional with my time in the roles God has called me to. I would make a list of what I wanted to accomplish each day and then start chipping away at it as best I could. However, the inevitable needs or moment to moment crises would arise and my list would be derailed. Trying to decide what to do next felt futile and I would just give up and waste more time on the frivolous and unnecessary. I realized that I needed to determine my real priorities. But what I discovered was that I didn’t know how to do that. Isn’t everyone and everything I care about a priority??

Why it is important to determine your priorities as a mom

I truly believe every little thing we do in our home, in joy and service to the Lord, is worthy of our time. I believe the gospel works in an upside down measurement. It is in serving, not striving, that we find satisfaction and joy. Each diaper change, and meal made with love is of great value. However, my desire is to be intentional and focused on what God has called me to. It is easy to become distracted by other things and easily fritter my time away with unneccesary busy work.

We have limited resources as moms, and if we don’t have a clear vision, our everyday to-do list can feel insurmountable. It is crucial that we limit our task list to those things that will have the most impact on what we believe we are called to.

Without a clear definition of our priorities it also becomes more difficult to focus or accomplish our goals. I found it was easy for me to forget my priorities and get frazzled over undone tasks when I felt I had been diligent all day. When the baby is fussy and the toddler is needy everything can feel impossible. Most of us have heard that we need to keep our priorities in order. But it is determining them where we get hung up.

The method for how to find your priorities as a mom

After reading many different time management strategies and systems, I found one that was simple, but geared more to the corporate workspaces. An adapted version of Brian Tracy’s ABCD method is what helped me more clearly determine my priorities. Now I can easily see which tasks are the most important to focus on in any given day. Since discovering this method I am less distracted by unnecessary “busy” work. I can conquer my to-do list with confidence even when it only has 1 thing on it that day! This has been very freeing. 

At the end of this post I have a printable you can get to work through your own priority list and how to make a quick decision on what are your  top priorities.

ABCD principles

The Brian Tracy method is a method to determine which tasks fit into which priority list. Some of you might have heard of the phrase “Eat the frog.” This comes from his strategy. Although it sounds daunting, it’s actually a simple reminder to take care of the most important things first. Simply put, do the hardest most important thing first and it’s over for the rest of the day! I didn’t personally care for this metaphor. I don’t want to start my day with the worst thing. Also, with lots of little kids I can’t always just do the most important thing right away. 

However, his method for determining priorities has been very helpful for me. It simplified what I know I need to do next in any given moment. As a mom of 9, this list helps me not just do less important busy tasks to feel productive. Instead, when I have a free moment I am able to focus to become more effective and efficient.

The method works like this. First, there are A, B,C,D lists. This is just a lettered ranking system. A-D Top to bottom. Tasks get ranked on their urgency and importance. Sorry, we can’t always put time with kids and hubby in the A list and dishes and laundry in the D list!  

My adaptation

How I’ve adapted this list is by using a series of questions. Instead of an A to D list equalling urgent to less urgent, important to less important, I ask a few questions to determine which list the tasks should be included in.

First steps for how to find your priorities as a mom

1. Define your roles 

What has God called me to in particular? 

I believe he has called me, personally, to serve Him and His kingdom with my particular skills and abilities. These fit within the roles He has called me to as a wife and mother (teacher). Alongside those, I am to love and serve my extended family, church, community, and world with my gifts.

2. Determine your goals

What are my goals in each of these roles?

The previous list helps me realize which things take precedence. For me in particular, it helped me clarify that I value relationships over productivity. But this also will include things like caring for and running our home as a means to love my family and anyone who enters it. For me personally, it also means I homeschool our children and run a blog and youtube channel. For our family with seven boys, we have goals of establishing connection with our kids through creative production, service, ministry and physical activities together. Your goals will look different than mine, as well as your roles. But spending some time thinking through these things will pay off towards clarity, purpose and mission in how you spend your days.

Personal habits & care

It’s also important to determine the best way you can take care of yourself in your current season. What are the daily habits that help you steward well the body and time you have currently? This is an important step because if you’re not taking care of yourself, you won’t be well equipped to take care of anyone else. What do you need to do to maintain your spiritual and physical capabilities in your current life season and situation? What do you need to eat? How much to sleep and exercise? Newly forming habits and priorities fit within the A list automatically, but obviously not to the detriment or neglect of anyone else.

The final step for how to find your priorities

Now that you’ve defined your roles and goals, we can get into the nitty gritty of how to categorize those tasks.

To be clear, these tasks are new to come up on your to do list each day. Don’t include the menial tasks that are part of a good established routine and habits. However, if you don’t have those in place, then you could inlude the first step toward creating those systems in your A task list.

3. Questions to ask each task

Does this task move me toward my long term goals?

Does this task have negative consequences if I do not do it?

Can I delegate this?

Flowchart for how to find your priorities

A list: Yes to all three

B list: No to #1. Yes to # 2, No to #3

C list: Yes to #1, No to #2, No to #3

D list: No to #1, No to #2, No to #3

Note: Any task that you can delegate should not go on your list.

1. Does this task move me toward my long term goals?

It is important to sit down and make a list of the categories of general tasks you do everyday  first, so that you do not have to make these decisions for every task in every moment. A little brainstorming ahead of time eliminates a lot of the decision fatigue in the moment. Spending time connecting with your hubby might not seem urgent, but is it important for your relationship goals? Daily  habits that keep you healthy are also important even though they can be very small things, like taking your vitamins. 

2. Does this task have negative consequences if I do not do it?

Some things do not feel important in the moment, but will have negative consequences if left undone now, or for a long period of time. Sweeping your kitchen is not urgent, but if you don’t do it for a long time you’ll have varmits and bugs! The same goes for laundry or placing a grocery order, meal planning etc. Some things will vary on the day by how important it is and how bad the consequences are if not done. Although, this question helps keep us from always putting laundry or meal planning as the least important tasks, just because they might be our least favorite ones.

3. Can this be delegated?

Delegate any task to your husband or kids when you can. I am not suggesting that every menial task be. However, there are many things that only you are able to do. Think through tasks your husband or children can do. Establish those taks and then remove them from your lists. What does go on my list is household management tasks so I remember to check in on them, but not to STEP in for them. I am all for helping each other out, and everyone pitching in, but I don’t put my kid’s or hubby’s tasks on my list. If I sense a busy day for them and see a way I can help, I’ll gladly do so, but I keep to my lane as best I can. 

Keep in mind that the tasks that are on this list should not part of your regular routine and rhythm that are working. Unless you need to establish some, then you can use this list to write “create a healthy morning routine” for example. 

Some helpful tips for moms

Ask yourself what can I do NOW? Move through your list from A- D as you are ABLE.

Determine what timing is better for which tasks. Naptime for quiet tasks? Awake time for active tasks?

Keep relationships as a priority. Interruptions to the active tasks are not real interruptions- they are the important thing!

When the dishes and laundry pile up as you play with your needy littles, revisit your list at nap time. See what else you can do from your A or B task list, try to do one and then rest.

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Summary

1. Define your roles
2. Determine your goals (including personal care)
3. Give each task it’s assigned category

Begin taking action!

I hope this blog post has helped you see a way to assign each task it’s place and be able to limit the overwhelm of indecision.

Let me know if you have any questions or if you try this and LOVE it, or even if you are confused!

As always, thank you so much for stopping by my little corner of the interwebs!

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I’ve been there. Years ago, I started planning my months out so that I could have a better idea what’s coming down the pike ahead of time with enough time to plan and prepare for it. However, eventually I began to feel like even that was was not enough. I would get to the end of my month and start looking at the upcoming one, already feeling behind. Somethings took longer to actually get planned and before I knew it, it would seem the month was half way though again and I was staring the next month in the eye without ever feeling like I had finished preparing for the last one!

Why I began planning a month ahead

A few months ago, I had a mind shift about how I plan my months, however. Instead of planning the current month at the beginning of the month, I realized I should start to plan the NEXT month. So at the beginning of say, September, I began thinking about what I would need to prepare for the first week of October. What I was doing before was planning the next month at the END of the current month. But, this left me feeling behind when the first week of that month came up. I wasn’t quite ready for events scheduled that week or birthdays I hadn’t bought gifts for.

In fact, I realized birthdays had become a particular pain point for me. We have a large family and with extended family, I would often miss birthdays that I didn’t mean to. Even my own family’s! Or I would be frantically trying to find a gift the day I needed to ship it or give it. So I decided to start planning a month ahead with birthdays first.

Around the same time I heard a tip from the Lazy Genius podcast about how to batch work together when it makes sense. This seemed like a great way to begin. I first bought all the cards I needed, then the presents, and lastly the packaging needed for gifts to ship. Than I wrapped them, packed them and labeled them all at the same time. This was the most freeing thing for me! Having the gift ready to go when the day arrived, made the shopping experience so much more enjoyable! I had more time to find a thoughtful gift and get it there with plenty of time.

Benefits of planning a month ahead

Because this worked so well, I began thinking about other things I could plan ahead for the month. My husband and I started scheduling out main events or appointments at the beginning of the month for the month ahead, as well. It was nice to do this in a way that was not so far in advance, nor too close to miss the positive impact.

This greatly contributed to our over all peace of mind, while also allowing us the room to be more generous with our time, home and resources.

This has not only freed us up to have more time to prepare for each appointment and event, I have found this also frees up my mind to think more about creative projects and activities on a weekly and daily basis as well. I don’t have to worry about so many things at once. I know the bases have been covered already and I can just coast along each week with the upcoming things to either prepare for or enjoy participating in.

Steps to take when planning a month ahead

Map out your calendar

Get a calendar or a bullet journal with a list of the days of the month and write in the following:

1. Birthdays
2. Holidays
3. Reoccur
4. ing events
5. Scheduled Appointments

Next pencil in the following items where they might fit in the schedule:

1. Appointments that need to be made
2. Monthly activities/ events that need to be planned
3. Events you want to host
4. Projects you want to accomplish

After you’ve done this, it is a good time to connect with your spouse, merge your calendars and see where these more flexible things can fit in your schedule. Having them penciled in doesn’t meant they will permanently remain in that date, but will help you see if your calendar is too full and what you actually have room and time for.

Make actionable lists

In a notebook, journal or a note on your phone, create a page or list for the following:

1. Any event that you have a responsibility to purchase or bring anything for
2. Any event your are the planner or host of
3. Holidays

Under each of these lists note any actionable things you need to get done.

Gifts to buy?

Decor to decide on?

Something to share?

Something to bring?

A gift for the host?

Things to pack or prep the night before?

Whatever comes to mind that would make that event more of a blessing to you, your family, and the other attendees.

Batching tasks together

Lastly, group like items together into another list by category of action

Such as…

1. Cards and invitations to buy
2. Gifts to purchase
3. Packaging to purchase
4. Food to plan or bring
5. Decorations for events
6. etc. etc.

This will make it so much simpler to shop and prepare for what you need. For example, if you will need to bring a baked good to 2 different events you can make both at the same time and freeze one to have ready for the other.

*Note: Only batch actions together when it makes sense for YOU! If you don’t want to buy decor for 2 events at once, that’s up to you! You decide where streamlining creates less stress for you, or not. As long as you prioritize planning the first week for the next month’s first week- you will have plenty of margin to prepare for all you have on your plate.

Begin taking actionable steps

Move through your current month of planning with the corresponding next month’s week in mind.

I begin by taking actionable steps for the events first up on my calendar. If the front of your month is mostly birthday heavy, than start there. If there are social events you need to plan for, than do that planning first. Move through your current month of planning with the corresponding next months weeks in mind. This ensures you don’t get stuck still planning an event in the last week of the month that occurs the first week of the next!

It can all seem overwhelming until you break it down into actionable steps and don’t feel rushed because you have given yourself plenty of time to prepare what you need.

Planning a month ahead- summarized

1. Buy a calendar and notebook, use google calendar and notes or journal calendar combo of your choice.
2. Label each birthday and event for the upcoming month
3. Write in any reoccuring upcoming events & appointments
4. Pencil in events you want to host
5. Pencil in project deadlines you plan to accomplish
6. Make a note or page for each of these appointments that require further planning
7. Create another list of actionable items that you can batch together from each list
8. Begin taking action on the events coming up in the first week of the corresponding month!

I hope this blog post has helped you see a way to get ahead on your schedule for once. Let me know if you have any questions or if you try this and LOVE it, or even if you are confused!

As always, thank you so much for stopping by my little corner of the interwebs!

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The moments we are given are precious, but that doesn’t mean they always feel that way, in fact, they rarely do. It is often that someone’s attitude needs to be corrected or we have to start where we left off multiple times from the same spot, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t making progress. Every day spent in small moments of intentionality in your homeschool morning routine will bear fruit. The more and more you incorporate the elements to your morning that you long for, the more it will feel natural and you will meet with less resistance from your kids and even yourself.

The next day starts the night before

My desire is to have a slower pace to our mornings and time for togetherness before we have to get to our to do list. A little extra preparation the night before goes a long way towards not feeling rushed the next morning. Some evenings I prep a baked good or another dish I can quickly bake- like a quiche or some muffin batter. We make sure the kitchen is cleaned, do a quick tidy, and sort out a load of laundry to put in in the morning before tucking in for the night. Having an evening routine that helps me sleep better and wake feeling ready for another day is so helpful for setting our mornings off on the right foot.

Using Time blocks for more flexibility

We schedule our day in what is commonly referred to as time blocks. We aim to accomplish certain tasks within a set timeframe and leave what isn’t done in that block until another day and move on to the next block. I stick to the priorities so if we have extra time we can do a little more, but at least we are getting to the most important things in that block. These blocks of time usually are plenty to get done what we need to and still be able to maintain this schedule. Each day making progress forward is the goal.

I used to try to schedule our days for each item on our schedule. But it would leave me feeling panicky and behind if we couldn’t fit in what we needed to get done. I would push each undone item into the next time block and constantly felt behind. Now, I have made our blocks with plenty of margin to get done what we need. If there is an unexpected interruption or delay, we just move to the next block and drop what’s not finished as needed.

No day is ever “perfect” and that’s precisely why the schedule is so helpful for me. I don’t have to think about what I should do next when something is off rhythm or try to “catch up”. We just keep plugging forward! By the end of a week we have generally balanced out anyways. The things maybe dropped earlier in the week have a chance for recovery and I don’t stress it if not. Progress is the goal, not perfection.

How our homeschool morning routine begins

6-7:30

I love the slow quiet of morning before the kids all wake up. I try to get up before they do so I can calm and quiet my soul before I am taken up with directing the show. Even after a rough night’s sleep, waking up early enough to be able to orient my heart to the Lord’s will for my day renews me for another full day more than an extra bit of sleep will. I typically get up at least 30 min to an hour before I wake the kids up. I aim to at least have enough time to get ready and read my Bible. If I’ve had enough sleep, I will try to wake up even earlier to sneak in a quick workout or write.

My older kids get up earlier, as needed, to begin their school. Our younger children like to sleep in, so we don’t have a household of kiddos up at the crack of dawn, like I know a lot of families do. Our struggle is more in getting the kids UP! In this block I set out any breakfast things, start tea and coffee or do a quick prep (preheat oven) right before I wake up the children that aren’t awake yet. I try to wake us up earlier than we would want to so that we can have TIME to enjoy the morning together.

Our homeschool morning worship routine

7:30-8:30

I turn on their lights and cheerfully rouse them, but then I go out and let them wake up. Eventually they make their way out to snuggle on the couch by the fire. They usually chat with me, while having tea or coffee. I love this slower moment with snuggles and time for a chat with my kids before the pace picks up for the day.

Then we begin morning worship. Even though it is never easy or peaceful, and can feel tempting to skip it, this is the most important part of our morning routine. At some point in here the baby wakes up and I feed her or she joins in on the readings.

Our morning worship flow includes the following:

• A chapter from a passage of scripture, alternating OT & NT, Psalms and Proverbs
• Recite together a verse from our Bible Verse memory selection-currently Romans 8:31-39
• Reading from a short devotional- currently using Training Hearts Teaching Minds & Leading Little Ones to God
• Sing a hymn or Psalm
• Reciting our term poetry memorization
• Prayer requests and prayer time
• Go over the plan for the day and dismiss the kids for the next block

This usually takes us 20- 30 minutes to complete. If we are having more interruptions or have a busier morning, I will just read the Bible reading for the day and pray. Sometimes I have slept in, have discipline issues to deal with a child or everyone is not getting up in time. But I have learned it is better to do less and stick to it, than throw it all out because it’s not ideal every morning.

Breakfast & Chores

8:30-9:30

When devotions are finished I dismiss the kids for their morning “dailies”. I finish getting breakfast ready, and finish my own morning chores. As the older kids finish their chores and breakfast they start right into their independent work. It is tempting to do everything myself because it’s faster and more efficient, but it is not as effective for the goals we have in parenting children. We desire to give our children real life skills and instill competency, a good work ethic, and diligence. Which means, they all have chores. This home belongs to ALL of us, and we all have a key role to play in how it runs and shapes our lives.

My Morning Dailies

• Finish making breakfast and serve littles (older kids serve themselves)
• Prep dinner (defrost meat if needed)
• Put in a load of laundry set out from the night before
• Make bed
• Help littles get dressed
• Finish getting ready if needed
• Soak dishes and clear counter

The Children’s Dailies Include

• Get ready
• Make bed
• Animal chores
• Breakfast cleanup chores: clearing and wiping table, sweeping kitchen and dining room, unloading and loading dishwasher

Lessons with Form 1: 1st-3rd

9:30-10:30

Next, I head downstairs to our homeschool room to check in on what the kiddos have started. After I’ve put the baby down for her nap, I begin read alouds with my Form 1 kiddos.

We focus on short lessons, so we usually only spend 15- 30 min on phonics, copywork, reading, math help, map drills and another 15-30 min. on read alouds.

Current selection of read alouds include:

• Geography- Elementary Geography, Me on the Map
• American History- Pocahontas by D’Aulaire, North American Indians, Indians, Follow the Dream, Exploration & Conquest

They listen to one of these during the afternoon or on car rides:

• Natural History- Birds of the Air, Burgess Animal Stories (both via LIbrivox)
• Literature- The blue, Red & Pink Fairy book stories (via Librivox)
• Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare (also on audio)

Afterwards they are free to play outside or quietly in the basement while I move on to Form 2 lessons.

Lessons with Form 2: 4th-6th

10:30-11:30

They each have a notebook with their independent subjects and a daily to do list to check off. They begin right after their chores and breakfast are finished. Whatever they don’t complete before I start work with them, they have to do later. This is their free time and screen time, so that usually motivates them to get right to it.

Independent work includes:

• Phonics
• Math
• Copywork
• Geography map drills
• Math
• Assigned readings

We have about an hour, while the baby sleeps to do some subjects together. Sometimes we get to spend more time and work on fun projects. Otherwise, we get our reading done, take notes and narrate through 2-3 subjects on rotation.

This current rotation includes:

• Geography- O Canada! Seterra
• Ancient History- A History of the Ancient World, Cleopatra by Diane Stanley
• World History- Leonardo DaVinci, Our Island Story (via Librivox),The Story of the World Volume 1 (audiobook)
• Grammar – IEW Fix it Grammar
• Natural History- Nature Readers
• Science- The Way things Work, DaVinci’s Amazing Inventions
• Literature- 50 Famous Stories, Tales from Shakespeare (both via LIbrivox)

Lunch prep & Forms 3 & 4: 8th, 10th &12th

11:30-12:30

I finish up downstairs and we do a quick tidy before heading up to prep lunch. I check in with the big kids during this block to help with math etc. They have a meeting with me in the morning and are working on their own studies during the previous hours. If they need my help they will usually come in and sit at the bar while I work in the kitchen. Sometimes I’m finishing breakfast dishes here, or just letting some lunch heat up while doing math and science help. Some days I have a chance to sneak in a quick workout or some cleaning here as well. I prioritize the most important thing in this block, and whatever else I can get done is just a bonus.

Well, that wraps up our homeschool morning routine! Now we begin moving into lunch and the afternoon finish school, housework and hopefully some rest during quiet time.

Conclusion

We all certainly have overwhelming mornings, and they aren’t bad, but they don’t have to be like that everyday, and certainly don’t have to be the norm. Believe me, our mornings are in no way idyllic. With younger ones still learning to sit quietly, and some kids not even wanting to be awake yet, we definitely have our bumps. However, if I expect every morning to look like our perfect ideal, I will never intentionally carve out a realistic way to actually accomplish what we desire. I desire a gentle start to our day centered around God’s word, NOT just my to do list. Keeping this as the focus helps me remember that those small conflicts won’t really matter in the long run if we stay faithful and keep persevering.

I hope this glimpse into our morning has encouraged you! Please share with me your own biblically centered family morning rhythms below!

Blessings on your mornings!

In His service,

It would honor me so much if you would please share this if you’ve found it helpful or insightful.

Thanks for stopping my my little corner of the interwebs!

The post Our homeschool morning routine appeared first on A Legacy In Days.

Reasons why meal planning might not be working for you

• Requires making a lot of decisions every week
• Takes a lot of time
• Can make you feel boxed in
• Too many choices
• LImits creativity & flexibility
• Adds to decision fatigue

I don’t know about you, but I hate meal planning! I love to eat what sounds good, and I feel like meal planning locks me into a meal I might not feel like making that night! Does this resonate with you? But meal planning works, and I equally despise not knowing what I’ll be making for dinner! Hah! Talus the fact that we have a large family- 11 of us- yes ELEVEN- to feed every single night. I can’t just wing it like I used to enjoy doing back when our family was much smaller.

For me, finding a large chunk of time to decide all my recipes for the week sounds too daunting. So daunting, in fact, that I’ll put it off. Something else I’m prone to, is over confidence on how many fun new recipes I can try in a week. I’ll jump on PInterest for inspiration and before I know it I get carried away with an overwhelming list of ingredients and new recipes to try. This does not set me up well to stick with consistency. However, if I already have a simple framework to decide from, my planning is much quicker and I might only plan one special recipe that week to mix things up.

So, I have adapted a new approach that is a balance that works well for me. This formula gives me creative flexibility, but still helps eliminate the dreaded “WHAT’S FOR DINNER?” lingering all day on my mind or my kids’ lips. I am sharing here today in case this formula helps simplify you getting dinner on the table, too.

Benefits of a seasonal meal planning formula

• Reduces decision fatigue
• Budget friendly
• Utilizes seasonal and sale ingredients
• Minimizes your daily to do list
• Allows for flexibility and creativity
• Streamlines grocery shopping
• Makes healthy choices easier
• Helps you cook more of the dishes you want to make

Planning your meal strategy around the season also helps you take advantage of seasonal produce that is more readily available and affordable. If all I have to know is that we’re having Italian I can work around whatever is fresh or on sale at the grocery store that fits within that category. It is much less intimidating of a decision to make when the option is slightly limited but still has flexibility.

I actually feel like my creativity in the kitchen has increased since implementing this approach. It helps me remember to cook more of the types of dishes I like making when I have more time, rather than getting stuck in a rut of making only what’s easiest. Breakfast for dinner again! Anyone else?

Steps for creating a seasonal meal planning formula

I think one of the struggles with getting dinner on the table in our modern era, is not that we lack time, resources or even energy but we have TOO MANY CHOICES. Most of us are blessed to live where we have an abundance of food and choices around us. This can create a problem when it’s time to decide what to actually make! We all want a meal that is easy, quick, healthy, and that we have all the ingredients for on hand! Hah! Well, this can be an overwhelming decision when there are myriad of options but none that seem to fit that criteria in the moment. This can however, be achieved easier when we actually just narrow things down and limit our options.

Some meal category variations

Ethnic cuisine: Mexican, French, American, Asian, Italian, Thai, Indian, Brazilian…..

Cooking method: slow cooker, instapot, grilled or smoked, stewed, roasted, fried

Type of meal: vegetarian, pasta, soup, crockpot, in tortilla, wrap/ sandwich

By the day: Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, World Wednesday, etc.

A few seasonal meal ideas

The possibilities are endless here! Hope this is enough to at least get you started thinking.

Winter: soups & stews, casseroles, slow cooker, roasted meats, braised meats

Summer: Green/pasta/potato/grain cold salads, stir fry, BBQ/smoked meats and veggies, grilled pizza, spicy foods, sandwich & burger varieties

Spring: Roasted meat and veggies, light soups, green & grain salads, fresh herb & veggie pastas, sandwiches and burger varieties

Fall: roasted/braised meats, ethnic noodle dishes, soups & stews, pasta, casseroles

Amazingly, having at least an idea of what you are going to make in a given week can really benefit not only your mental energy, but also your budget, and your health. We all know it is less intimidating to get a healthy meal on the table if we have a plan in advance and healthy ingredients available.

Our current list: Summertime

• Monday: Chicken & Rice
• Tuesday: Taco Tuesday
• Wednesday: World Wednesday- Asian, Indian, Thai
• Thursdays: Grilled- Dad’s night
• Friday: American- burgers, pizza etc.
• Weekend: Free flex day or Fish

Having a simple formula like this really helps me find a rhythm with my weekly meal planning that keeps things simple, fresh and still inspiring in the kitchen. I hope this has helped you figure out a way to simplify your dinnertime routine as well!

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My favorite Places to find recipes

• Allrecipes
• Simplyrecipes
• Ambitions kitchen
• Nourished Kitchen
• America’s test kitchen
• Damndelicious
• Food 52
• Farmhouse On Boone

Please, let me know in the comments if you have any other great ideas you have incorporated for this type of meal planning!

Thanks for joining me here in my little corner of the inter-webs!

The post A seasonal meal planning formula to simplify dinnertime appeared first on A Legacy In Days.

Here I’m going to share with you my top tips for how to have a productive summer with kids- and I have 9! When I say productive, I actually mean intentional! If you don’t have projects, or diy lists like I do, maybe you have some goals. Maybe you want to have a fun and relaxing summer making memories with your kids, or learn a new skill. Whatever it is, you don’t want summer to just slip away not having done any of the things you wanted to, right? Here are some of my tips for how we intentionally spend our summers to make the most of them in our current season.

Summer is officially here in Montana. Whether we like it or not! We are already breaking records for this time of year with temperatures over 90 last week and in the 100’s this week! Yikes! We just barely managed to eek out the last bit of our school work before it was time to start planning for park meetups, bbq’s and days at the lake.

5 Tips for a fun & productive summer with kids

Every school year, I think I will get to those projects I want to do when summer is here and everything slows down. Hahaha! That never seems to happen! With 5 summer birthdays in our family, even more with extended family, holidays, relatives visiting, gardening and yard work, catchup appointments, plus there seems to be a bbq or party every weekend! It is wonderful to be making up for lost fellowship last year, and you won’t hear me complaining about it, for sure! Bring on the bbq’s, iced coffees, early morning sunshine and days by the water!

Buuut, there is still some work that needs to be done in the summer, and when you have a large family it can be overwhelming enough just trying to keep up with general maintenance! Throw the extra sandy wet laundry onto the pile, the trips to pack and unpack for, and late nights, it can feel like the fun in summer is not so fun anymore. So, here are 5 tips for how we streamline our summer season.

1. Maintain current chore routine
2. Create a summer fun list
3. Plan your month & week
4. Alternate project days with fun
5. Create a workable system for summer necessities

1. Maintain current chore routine

For us, this looks like keeping our current chore and cleaning routine that we have during the school year. The reasons for this, is that it is easy for me to start doing more of the kid’s chores. After a meal they’ll run to play in the lovely outdoors and it’s hard to want to call them back in from that, so I’ll just clean up for them. Well, I can’t do that during the school year, becuase I have to get ready or right into teaching! During the summer I strive to keep everyone on task, so that I can not only have that time for those extra things I can’t do during the school year, but it also makes the transition into the following school year much easier, too.

Our chore schedule and my cleaning routine I will save for a future post, but if you haven’t started one for your family, the summer is a great time to implement at least one new thing. Maybe it’s a dinnertime chore routine? Gone for evening games? Maybe try to tie a chore on after breakfast- no screen time until _____ is accomplished. Or, we’ll leave for the pool as soon as ____. It’s so much more motivating to begin something hard with a reward at the end! Let the summer fun be a motivation so you don’t have to be the drill sergeant! Who knows, maybe you’ll find a new groove that blesses your coming school year, as well.

2. Create a summer fun list

Every end of school year we do what we call a school audit, more on that here. Shortly after that is done is a nice to time to ask the kids what they WANT to do this summer. I just keep a simple note on my phone. If most of the kids are saying the same things, it’s just a big old list. If some kids have specific more personalized requests, I’ll make a note of that. Here are a few examples. Most of them just want to do our same fun things- ALOT!

(P.S. Productivity expert Laura VanderKam shares her fun list she makes for each season over on her blog!)

The kids’ summer fun list

1. Breakfast dates with Mom & Dad
2. Swim at the lake
3. Boating on the Grandparent’s ski boat
4. Canoe the pond by our house
5. Go fishing
6. Camp out with friends
7. Have s’mores outside
8. Go to the Pool
9. Go to the waterpark
10. Late night star gazing in the mountains
11. Hike our favorite spots
12. Sleepovers with friends

Some of the things on this list we have been able to do already! I make note of what we can do in one go, as well. Camp out can include s’mores and a lake day! FIshing can also be a canoeing opportunity. See? 12 items doesn’t have to mean 12 days.

I also make a fun list for myself. This is not a projects list. I have one of those, too. Although I do think projects are fun, I want to make sure I am creating margin to breeeathe while I have a break from teaching. Here are a few of mine. Some of these will overlap with my kids’ lists, too. Win win!

My summer fun list

1. Read 3 new novels
2. Go for a long bike ride
3. Hike my favorite spots
4. Travel out of town for our anniversary
5. Plan a fun family vacation for the end of the summer
6. Visit the Hot Springs
7. Nature journal at least 10 entries
8. Have a girls’ night out on the town with friends
9. Go antiquing with a friend
10. Find a new mixed drink Nick and I enjoy (our current fave is a mojito)

My husband and I might make a list, and we also make a list of projects we hope to tackle in order of priority or manageability. Than we list them in priority and see what we can knock out that fits in the schedule and weather.

3. Plan your month + week

If you are not already a planner- now’s a great time to start! Depending on how you look at it, you still have half a year left! Your calendar is more open and you have more control over your and your kids’ schedule than you do during the school year. You don’t have to go crazy. Just start by putting in all appointments you HAVE to keep, then add in where you think some of your bucket list items could fit in. This is an easy way to quickly realize what is a manageable amount. You might think you will have plenty of time to do everything on your list, but when you look at how many weekends you will actually have, it makes it easier to prioritize the ones you want to do the most.

I also like to organize what we want to do by the kind of weather that is the most fitting. That way I can pencil a few things in monthly, and than make a different weekly plan coordinate with what weather we’ll be having.

I like to use my google calendar for monthly planning and my bullet journal for weekly and daily planning.

4. Alternate project days with fun days

Even though summer fun is well, fun, it can also be exhausting, especially if you have little ones! I like to plan outings and bigger trip days bookended by a home day for maintenance/ catch-up and a rest day. On the catchup day I’ll run the laundry, let the kid’s watch a movie, and do some cleaning etc. For the rest day, we’ll do either quieter activities together or more fun projects and crafts depending.

The days we are home getting projects done, I like to alternate blocks of time for working on projects with checking in on the kids. I try to plan a low key fun activity with them at some point during the day. For example, bubbles, a sensory activity, running through the sprinkler etc. Another thing that is helpful to my productivity is actually having the kids participate with me as much as possible. For example, I buy them their own gardening tools so they can “help”me. If I’m sewing or crafting, I’ll set up a little station for them to do their own creative work alongside me, as well. This is more fun and less frustrating than trying to get them to “go play”. Plus it adds in the engagement factor that I want to have more of in our summers together.

5. Create a workable system for summer necessities

Lastly, once I have a good idea of what things will be keeping us busy this summer I gather the products and supplies we’ll be using regularly and put them in the kid’s main bathroom cabinet as well as in my large beach/ adventure bag. Here are some things I keep stocked during the summer.

Frequently used summertime products

1. Coconut oil
2. Natural bug spray
3. Sunscreen
4. Aloe Vera
5. Topical analgesic, like Benadryl, for bites or stings
6. Bandaids- lots of bandaids!
7. Witch Hazel for burns
8. Baby powder- works great to dry and rub off wet sand

Frequently used summertime neccesities

After I’ve switched out the kids’ seasonal clothes I’ll take an inventory of our summer necessities just to make sure everyone has what they need before a day at the beach arrives and I realize we don’t have enough towels or something!

1. Towels
2. Bathing suits
3. Sunglasses
4. Hats
5. Flip flops
6. Stainless steel water bottles
7. Water wings or life jackets that fit
8. Water sandals or shoes if needed
9. Swim diapers
10. Floaties and water toys

I also setup a designated areas for wet things to dry. For us, this is a large hook rack in our garage and is the same place our snow clothes hang during the winter months. I keep our beach bag out there as well as towels, water bottles and cooler bags, so I can just grab and load. We try to rinse and hang all the swim clothes when we get home and I wash them weekly with the regular laundry, unless they’ve gotten particularly dirty.

Summers are fun, fast and full, but they can also be fruitful! Intentionality, a little planning, and flexibility can make this one to remember! Hope it’s a great one!

Please share your plans for this summer in the comments below. I’d love to get some more fun ideas! Have you found a good system for summer necessities or drying wet suits?? Please share! I’d also love to see your family or personal bucket lists!

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The post 5 tips for a for a fun & productive summer with kids appeared first on A Legacy In Days.