How To Do It All In Your Homeschool ~ Episode 502

Have you wondered how to get everything done in your homeschool day? How to do it all? In this episode, we discuss PBF, how to set priorities and boundaries, and leave time for what matters: family!

Our Sponsor! I want to thank Route 60: A Biblical Highway for sponsoring this podcast. Please check out the link here. Route60.movie —

One mom’s response resonated in the recent survey we created as part of my 500th Episode Celebration.

Quick Links to planning: Organized Homeschool Forms here.

And Easy Way Planning – Featuring the 4-Square Planner.

Easy Way Planning

Helpful Resources:

My friend Mary Jo Tate has some helpful resources.

• How to Do IT All: How To Do It All
• Flourish At Home (on Amazon Kindle) or print here.

Real Moms Need Help

So, this podcast is dedicated to this mom – and all of those listening who are struggling to complete a day without regrets! Real questions are answered, but I’ll end with the PBF Method, setting priorities, boundaries, and family time. Added to my 4-Square Daily or Weekly Planner, this simple method will help you manage your day with bite-sized and realistic goals.

I want to read this mom’s response to my survey. (Read on air.)

Often, we pressure ourselves to succeed at all costs or to reach these invisible goals and markers that say you passed or failed today and the heartbreak that comes when we are hard on ourselves. What I am hearing through all of this is a calling from the Almighty; therefore, you are absolutely in the right place. God calls us to say yes; he does not call us to succeed. That is the pressure from self and the world. Just because we know the cause, which is you are putting the blame on yourself and feeling inadequate, does not diminish the real issue, which we will address in this homeschool podcast.

The resounding questions surround these themes:

1. God’s grace. Not quitting.
2. How can I accomplish X, Y, and Z? With what time in the day? (The example given was dinner and homemade ice cream.)
3. The feeling of inadequacy and failure.
4. When she had a good day of homeschooling, she had a bad day of housekeeping. (Grocery shopping vs. homeschooling.)
5. How did you make it through?

Let’s tackle each of these questions one at a time. (More on this podcast, points we cover.)

1. God’s grace and not quitting are wonderful; that is true faith.
2. Accomplishing begins with making reasonable daily goals.
3. Feeling inadequate and a failure is a tool of the enemy to rob you of your peace.
4. What are your priorities?
5. How did I make it, though? With PBT – Priorities, boundaries, and family.

So first, how do you set priorities? Pray about this; it will be different for each of us. Here is an example of mine during a homeschool week.

Homeschool Priorities: 

What is the most pressing? Do it first. That is the key to accomplishing, not putting off or procrastinating. Enlist the kids to help, your spouse, and give time, even if it means a quick prayer to make it through the day.

1. Prayer
2. Meals
3. Homeschool
4. Pick-up daily

Homeschool Boundaries:

Avoid the joy suckers in our life. For me, that was a specific friend and those things that robbed me of time, like emails.

1. What are the distractions in your life?
2. What wears you down?
3. Who is a drain on your relationship?
4. Set boundaries, for example…(cell phone, social media, emails, etc.)

Homeschool Family:

Your family is more critical than folded laundry, a clean house, or grocery shopping. Sure, all those things are essential, but remember that you are blessed with the care of children for a brief time. Make it matter.

1. Family matters, first priority after spouse and God.
2. Squeaky wheel. Work on discipline.
3. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
4. Time with your spouse. Are you on the same page?

I have links on homeschool organization and planning. In fact, for years, we’ve given away planners for free monthly just because you are one of the thousands on our list who struggle with the same issues. If I can help one mom, I’m happy.

I want to remind you that homeschooling and saying yes to your Divine calling already means you are a success in the eyes of the only one who matters: God. If He calls you, he will give you the grace to succeed. Your feelings of inadequacy are often a result of false expectations of what homeschooling looks like. Not every day will be stellar, balanced, or productive. If you lose it, you apologize to your kids and spouse and ask for forgiveness. That’s it. That goes a long way toward healing and building bridges and teaches your kids that if they mess up, they ask for forgiveness.

I had days when I called off school because the kids were fighting or I was exhausted with another headache… So the dishes didn’t get done on time, or dinner consisted of stuffed baked potatoes and a salad! I had days when I threatened to put my kids back in “real school” or where I punished them by not taking them to a planned outing or field trip. We all learned through these episodes and these “failure days” that we have tomorrow to do it again and hopefully do it together.

If your children are little, it is way harder to homeschool than if they are older. Consider programs like CTCMath.com and ReadingEggs.com – both sponsors of this network from time to time, but both are good programs to use in times of stress or being overwhelmed.

Don’t look at other people; your kids are better with a teacher who loves and knows them. I homeschooled for 32 years combined, and my kids are thankful for the opportunities that only homeschool allowed. Homeschooling allowed my struggling learners the extra time they needed, my gifted the time to explore interests and hobbies, a creative outlet, and all my children to enjoy downtime and think.

I want to leave you with this:

Homeschooling is not a race but a progression toward the finish line.

It is for God’s glory, the love of family, and the salvation of humanity. Does that sound like fluff? I promise it is not. We are giving the hurting world in which we live kids that value the good things. Honor, truth, integrity, and those things are lacking in our world today.

Dear Moms and Dads, continue to fight the good fight, but finish the homeschool race on your time.

Share this episode with a friend, and rate us on your favorite podcast app!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS | More