Tami Fox

Tradition Thursday – Getting Organized

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

Traditions —- we all have them in one way or another. Some traditions we carried on from our childhood, and some traditions we have made with our families.

Many of us are seeing lots of pictures online of our friends’ and families’ back to school pictures. We can take our own back to homeschool pictures and post them, too. I think it can be done in a positive way that draws people to homeschooling. I don’t enjoy posts that are snarky to people who do not choose to homeschool.

Check out Pinterest if you need ideas for cute back to school pictures.

Another fun tradition for back to homeschool is to have a special breakfast. It can be made at home or go out for a special breakfast.

Some moms do special packages with back to school supplies. One mom I know does a scavenger hunt with prizes at the end. There are so many fun ways to start your school year off and start a new tradition. Think of something your children would enjoy, and that you can do without making life too complicated.

Enjoy the start of your school year! Make new memories. Have fun with your children. Learn with them.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Do something fun with your children. They will remember it. I have plans to do something fun with my boys today. I will have to write about it later.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Bathroom – Wipe down the front of your cabinets and drawers if you have them. If not, do some detailed cleaning in one other room. Set your timer! This is not a big project. Keep it simple.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Wholehearted Wednesday – Getting Organized

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

Wholehearted Wednesday. What exactly does that mean?

From a homeschool mom perspective, I teach my children in a way that is fun and gives them joy to learn. I teach in a way that reaches their heart. We do volunteer things and things for family members that I call “heart lessons.” Sometimes we need the heart lessons more than the book lessons.

From the parent aspect, I try to parent in a way that teaches and disciplines without causing a root of bitterness in the heart of my children. I also work with them on their inter-personal skills with their siblings. I want them to grow up loving each other. No matter what we are learning about, I want my children to love their family and love life. When the hard times come around, the love that I have instilled deep inside of them will be there. Most importantly, I want the love of God to fill their hearts.

Grocery Shopping and Errand Day – Take your list, pack snacks, and water bottles.

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Put away any school supplies that you purchase today while you are out running errands.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Bathroom – purge any outdated medications from your medicine cabinet. Replace any that you need to keep on hand.
Errand day: Make your plan for grocery shopping and errands. Pack water bottles and snacks for everyone. Pack up your library books that need to be turned in.

Family Fun: Plan a fun activity while you are out.

When you get home from doing errands, have everyone work together to unload and put away everything.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Maximize your Homeschool Time – Getting Organized

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Tami

Recently I talked to a homeschool mom about her schedule. I wanted to share these 6 tips with you to help you with getting organized with your homeschool time. I wrote Giving Your Children Wings to help and encourage homeschool moms. You can get it directly from me by clicking on the tab above, or you can buy it on Amazon.

When you are working on your weekly schedule, block off some designated time for school. If at all possible, stay home on Monday. That helps you start off your school week strong, and it helps you have the time for your Weekly Home Blessing Hour. When I protect our schedule on Monday, the rest of my week has a better flow. I don’t feel like I am trying to play catch up when I start my school and home off on the right foot on Monday morning.

You will have well-meaning friends and family who do not understand this. It is ok. It is your family, and you need to do what you have to do to give them your uninterrupted attention.

If you need help with organizing, check out my Homeschool Package.

Teamwork Tuesday – Getting Organized

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

Let’s have some TEAMWORK today. I know you have a lot of things you want to accomplish before you start school or as you have started school already. Pick something that can be tackled as a team. Turn on some fun music and set the timer. Many hands make light work. You can get it done together. Afterwards, do something fun and play up the teamwork you have going with your children. My children love it when I make specific time in my schedule to play with them.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Clean out your refrigerator. Toss the science experiments.

School:

Check the loss leaders at your local office supply stores. Many of them have cheap school supplies this week. I saw several items for 1 cent. Just go in and get the sale stuff. Don’t get caught up going down all the aisles.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Write up a menu plan for the next 7 days. Check your pantry and freezer and make a grocery list. This habit will save you time and money. Try out some new recipes with the slow cooker. It will save you time once you start back to your school schedule.
Zone Focus: Bathroom and one extra room – If you have a shelf or closet in your bathroom, purge, purge, purge. If you don’t have one of these to declutter, pick the worst place in your house that needs to be decluttered. Set your timer!

Family Fun: If the weather is not too hot, go for a walk with your children.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Decide on a place in your house where you can put things for the next day. The FlyLady calls this your Launch Pad. It is usually close to your main entry of the house. You are going to use this every night.
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Mothering Matters Monday

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

Mothering Matters Monday

As mothers, we have such an impact on our children and their future. Our words can be positive and build them up, or our words can be used to tear them down. Choose your words carefully. Don’t be careless with them. Many of us carry around so much emotional baggage from how others have talked to us. Let’s not pass on this negativity to our children. Let’s not make it a burden for them. We can impact an entire generation with positive words.

Sometimes we forget the power of a mother’s words to her children. Negative words can cut to the core of the spirit of your child. We need to lovingly correct and discipline our children. We also need to find opportunities to build our children up when they are doing something right. When you see your child do something good, especially if it is something he or she has been working on, be sure to acknowledge it. It will light their world up. Think about how you feel when someone sincerely thanks you for something. That is what you need to do for your children when they do something helpful. My children love to bless me by doing things for me. I always give them my heartfelt thanks when they do things to help me and surprise me. It’s fun to reward them with an activity that they want to do along with my thank you.

Recently, I talked to someone whose mother never had anything positive to say to her. It was something that really hurt my friend, and as we talked, I could tell how much she wanted her mother’s praise for what she was doing right. She was well aware of where her failings were. She did not need them pointed out to her. She talked about how she could never live up to her mother’s expectations (perfectionism), and how defeated it made her feel. Ladies, let’s purpose to not do this to our treasures. It doesn’t matter if you children are young, teenagers, or adults. Find positive things to say to them. Build them up. Don’t tear them down.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

Weekly Home Blessing Hour:

(Even during the school year, I do the Weekly Home Blessing Hour on Monday mornings with my children.)

7 Parts of the Weekly Home Blessing Hour from The FlyLady:

Quick Dust
Sweep/Mop
Purge Magazines or Paper Clutter
Change Bedding
Empty Trash
Clean Windows/Mirrors
Vacuum

School:

Do you have everything ready to start school, or have you started school?

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Bathrooms – Clean out under the bathroom cabinet. If you have more than one bathroom, ask your children to help you and do them all at one time.

Family Fun: Plan a water activity.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Lay anything out that you will need first thing in the morning
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Freedom Friday – Getting Organized

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

Do you like my daily alliterations for the days of the week? I have had fun picking them out. Today I picked the word “Freedom.” We are blessed to have the freedom to homeschool our children. This was not always the case. We are free to choose curriculum. In the 1980’s when the homeschool movement took root, there were not many choices of curriculum. Today, we have more choices than we can even consider. With technology, our children can participate in online classes, use apps for learning, and many more different modes of learning besides books. We have freedom to choose our school days and the time we have for educational pursuits. We have so many freedoms. Don’t take them for granted.

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Enjoy the freedom you have to homeschool with your children today.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Front Porch: Sweep and wash the front porch. Wash the windows. Clean the outside of the front door.Throw out anything that you do not need on the front porch.

Family Fun: Have a water balloon fight or water wars with your children today.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Teach Them Thursday – Getting Organized

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

Today I want you to think of one thing you want to teach your children to do. It doesn’t matter if it is an educational thing or something around the house. It could even be something you learned from your mother or grandmother. The point is to purpose to take time to teach your children today and have fun doing it. As homeschool moms, we get caught up in meeting criteria for the curriculum we use, and often in the process, we lose some of the fun of teaching our children. I truly love being with my children every day and teaching them. I am always looking for teachable moments in my day.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Do something fun and engaging with your children. They will remember it.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Kitchen – Today let’s wipe down the front of our kitchen cabinets and drawers.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Worthy Wednesday – Getting Organized

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

You are worthy of taking care of yourself. This summer I have given you tips on organizing your home and homeschool. In order to take care of these, you need to take care of yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually. If you neglect one of these areas, you will have a higher risk of physical problems. As you are looking at your school schedule, be sure to include time for you to exercise, rest properly, eat properly, and care for your spiritual life. I take care of myself early in the morning before the children are up. I have my quiet time and exercise time before they are out of the bed. This keeps me from getting derailed right off the bat. What are you going to do today to take care of yourself?

Grocery Shopping and Errand Day – Take your list, pack snacks, and water bottles.

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

School:

Put away any school supplies that you purchase today while you are out running errands.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Kitchen – pick a drawer in your kitchen that needs to be decluttered. Most of us have a junk drawer that gets neglected. Let’s get them decluttered.
Errand day: Make your plan for grocery shopping and errands. Pack water bottles and snacks for everyone. Pack up your library books that need to be turned in.

Family Fun: Plan a fun activity while you are out.

When you get home from doing errands, have everyone work together to unload and put away everything.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Put things at your launch pad
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Tame It Tuesday – Getting Organized

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

Today I want you to find one area in your home that needs some taming down. We all have hot spots that require attention.Sometimes, we let the hot spot go until it is about to rage out of control in our homes. Let’s tame that chaos now!

My two youngest boys share a room. One of them likes to add big furniture to their room, and the other one likes to add lots of little stuff to their room. Before we get our school year in full swing, we are going to have some 15 minute Hot Spot Drills in their room and tame the chaos. Children’s rooms often get left to last when we are cleaning the house. Some of the best tips I have for you are to help them thin down the amount of toys and clothes they have in their rooms. I have tried to pare down their clothes to the essentials for each season, but that is still a lot of clothes when you consider play clothes, church clothes, underclothes, and pajamas. Then, when you multiply that times four boys, it is a lot of clothes to keep up with. They do help with laundry, and for the most part, they only wear one outfit a day. I remember well the days of multiple outfits when they were little.

We have also worked hard on our laundry habits this summer. When we do a load of laundry, it gets, washed, dried, hung or folded, and put away. That keep Mt. Washmore at bay, and it also helps me see where we still need to thin out their clothes. They have to be able to put their clothes away and shut the drawers and close the closet.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.
Clean out your refrigerator. Toss the science experiments.

School:

Check the loss leaders at your local office supply stores. Many of them have cheap school supplies this week. I saw several items for 1 cent. Just go in and get the sale stuff. Don’t get caught up going down all the aisles.

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Write up a menu plan for the next 7 days. Check your pantry and freezer and make a grocery list. This habit will save you time and money. Try out some new recipes with the slow cooker. It will save you time once you start back to your school schedule.
Zone Focus: Kitchen – My kitchen is my most-used room. We have our meals in the kitchen, and we do school in the kitchen. So it is used a lot. It also attracts clutter. Pick a hot spot in your kitchen and declutter. For some of you, that might be your kitchen table. For me, it is my island in the kitchen. It attracts clutter every day. So I have to work at keeping it cleaned off. The pay-off is that I have a nice place to prepare our meals when I keep it cleaned off.

Family Fun: If the weather is not too hot, go for a walk with your children.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Decide on a place in your house where you can put things for the next day. The FlyLady calls this your Launch Pad. It is usually close to your main entry of the house. You are going to use this every night.
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour

Make a Difference Monday – Getting Organized

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Tami

Getting Organized this Summer:

In your home and homeschool

You can make a difference in the lives of your family members every single day. Today I want you to be purposeful with how you spend your time. Be thankful for all of your blessings today. As you go about your day doing your Weekly Home Blessings, review in your mind the things you are thankful for. Ask your children what they are thankful for. Talk about thankfulness and blessings around the dinner table tonight.

Set your timer for 15 minutes for the Home Assignment and 15 minutes for the School Assignment

Home:

Make Your Bed (Do this as soon as you get up.)
Get Dressed Down to Your Shoes
Swish and Swipe
Start Your Laundry
Decide on Dinner
Check Your Calendar
Start the Day off with a Shiny Sink. Don’t leave the breakfast dishes sitting.

Weekly Home Blessing Hour:

(Even during the school year, I do the Weekly Home Blessing Hour on Monday mornings with my children.)

7 Parts of the Weekly Home Blessing Hour from The FlyLady:

Quick Dust
Sweep/Mop
Purge Magazines or Paper Clutter
Change Bedding
Empty Trash
Clean Windows/Mirrors
Vacuum

School:

This week we are starting on some of our school subjects. Are you ready to start school?

Afternoon Routine:

Eat Lunch
Clear off One Hot Spot
Reboot the Laundry
Declutter for 15 Minutes (Be sure to have your children declutter, too.)
Drink Your Water
Zone Focus: Living Room – When you are dusting during the Weekly Home Blessing Hour, go ahead and dust the ceiling fan, baseboards, and around the top of the walls at the ceiling.

Family Fun: Plan a water activity. We went to the free splash park last week.

Before Bed: (This starts right after dinner.)

Check the Calendar for Tomorrow
Lay out Your Clothes for Tomorrow (Have your children lay their clothes out, too.)
Lay anything out that you will need first thing in the morning
Shine Your Sink
Clean Off a Hot Spot
Go to Bed at Decent Hour