Every {Homeschooling} Day Counts

* This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. *

• I am a procrastinator. Have been since childhood. However, homeschooling has been the one area in my life in which I’ve remedied this bad habit.

I never wanted to homeschool in the first place. However, over time, with God and my husband pushing me, I dove in. It’s been a huge blessing for me personally. I’ve stuck with it one whole year even while going through severe morning sickness, having our 4th son, and moving from our home town. A crazy year in a nut shell. I have somehow mustered up the strength day after day to get at *least* a little done. Some days were more productive than others, however, it was very, very rare that we’d take a break altogether.

Despite the discipline and determination the Lord set on my heart to stay diligent, I’ve come away with one BIG lesson after my first year of being a mother and a teacher: EVERY. DAY. COUNTS.

Every one.

I know we homeschoolers get the luxury of taking a random Wednesday off, or sacking the curriculum when we’re in our first trimester, but I think if we’re all honest, *most* of the time, we accomplish something every single day.

I think that if we relax too much, (and this is me preaching to the choir), we can get behind and lose the homeschooling groove quickly.

Here are the 5 ways I make every day count in my homeschool:

Math Dice in the Kitchen

I always leave math dice, flash cards, or a deck of cards in the kitchen.  The island to be exact.  Where I chop the apples and dice the chicken.  It gives me quick access to math drills without me thinking much.  Even just 5 minutes helps me feel less of a failure in the teaching department when the school day didn’t go as planned.

Notebooks with Instructional DVDs

If your kiddos enjoy watching Magic School Bus or other fun learning shows, keep notebooks and crayons/pens in the living room near the TV.  Stick one on while making dinner and have them just draw their favorite part.  Or something they learned.  Add a sentence.  Now, my little ones are just 6 months, 2, 4, and 6…but this can easily be used for older kiddos as well.

Cds/Tapes in the Car

Recently, my older two boys have begun listening to Hank the Cowdog books on the cassette tape in my car.  I check out the corresponding chapter book and my oldest can follow along with the words as the book reads.  We also have an extra Bible memory verse CD we playing all the time too.  Those errands use up precious minutes…USE them!

You Tube

When the baby is nursing constantly, I’m barfing in a bucket, or the toddler used non stick spray to clean the kitchen floor, I ask my older boys…’What do you want to learn about?’  They come up with the most UNIQUE topics!  I do a quick You Tube search and voila….they are completely intrigued by the lesson.  We’ve all learned some pretty neat things when we just let our imaginations run wild.

Field Trip!!!

Not every field trip requires weeks of planning, sunscreen, and a fanny pack!  Sometimes to ‘Make Every Day Count,’  you need to just DROP EVERYTHING and go somewhere.  Hand-write a grocery list and have them walk the isles with you close behind and see if they can read all the ingredients.  Better yet, give me a $20 and see if they can plan a meal within the budget (and a time frame!).  The library, a nature walk, Target, and every where in between.  Just a little imagination and you’ll feel like Teacher of the Year even though it was last minute.

Although we have  the luxury to homeschool and choose our own schedule, making every day priority will minimize the anxiety and stress that we can sometimes feel in May when the curriculum isn’t nearly finished.