One of the biggest struggles we deal with in homeschooling our children is time management. Time will ALWAYS be at a premium for homeschooling moms, so it is vital that we learn to be good stewards of the time that God has given us. These time management secrets every homeschooling mom should know will help you to be more productive and successful in your homeschooling.

10 Time Management Secrets Every Homeschool Mom Should Know

Time Management Tips for Homeschool Moms

1. Focus on your priorities.

We can’t do it ALL, so we must discern what our priorities and goals are, then focus on those. This may mean letting “good” things go for things that are better.

Sit down with your spouse and look at your priorities and your schedule. Ask these questions:

• Does our current schedule include our priorities, and keep them in first place?
• Do the things that are on our schedule now help to accomplish our priorities and goals?

Sometimes we say yes to things that won’t get us where we want to go. These may be GOOD things, but they aren’t BEST if they keep you from accomplishing your goals.

Be sure and always look at the bigger picture, and prioritize the things that matter.

2. Time Management Secret: Write it down

When we are busy and being pulled in many directions, as all moms are, we can’t really expect to remember everything. Not to mention, the more you have on your mind, the harder it is to focus.

Write out daily to-do lists to keep you focused, and write out a daily routine as well. The routine will guide you and your kids, giving you a rut to run in. If things are a little crazy, there will be the stability of the routine to keep everyone on track.

3. Teach as many subjects jointly as you can.

Obviously, you can’t do this with phonics and beginning math. However, you can have Bible, Character, Science, and History together. Adjust the requirements from each child based on their age and ability.

I might have my younger kids fill in blanks as I teach, while the older ones take notes. Or I might assign younger ones to answer multiple-choice questions showing they have learned what was taught, while the older ones will have to write a paper about it or take a test.

There are several different ways to teach subjects jointly, and you can (and should!) choose what works best for you and your family. It depends on the ages of your children, and what methods work best for them and you.

4. Make use of the time you spend grading papers.

Sit down with your child’s math and grade it with him beside you. When you find an error, go over it right then and there.

Teaching from their mistakes is the best way to teach. This is much more effective than grading their work and handing it back to them the next day.

5. Simplify as much as you can.

• Plan easier meals
• Eliminate unnecessary busywork
• Focus on the Three R’s
• Redefine what it is to have a “clean” house

6. Time Management Secret for Homeschool Moms: Delegate.

Do only the things that you can’t delegate. Much of our work as homeschooling moms can be done by the kids, and a willing spouse.

To get more free time, you need to assign regular daily chores to your kids. Not only does this help lighten your load, but it’s good for them, and helps them to develop character.

They are part of a family – let them share in the responsibilities as well as the benefits. Cooking and cleaning should be shared responsibilities within a family.

7. Realize that you have to GIVE something up to GET time.

We all have the same amount of time in our days! Though it may seem that your friends have more time than you do, they don’t. It’s just that they have learned the secret of giving something up to get more free time.

Often we ask “How Do I Get It All Done?!”  Remember, you can’t do it all, so you must seek God for wisdom as you make choices.

7. Homeschool Mom Secret: Get organized.

This is a Biblical concept! I Corinthians 14:40  “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

Take time weekly to plan, prepare, and organize things for the week of homeschool. Make sure you have what you need ready so that you can be productive, rather than having to waste time looking for something that isn’t where it belongs, or to makes copies of needed pages, etc.

8.  Make self-care a priority.

You can’t take care of those God has entrusted to your care, if you aren’t well! Make sure you get enough rest, and take care of yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Those three areas are connected, so if one gets out of balance you struggle in all three areas.

When you aren’t in a good place physically, emotionally, or spiritually you will struggle to manage the day to day duties that come with homeschooling your family. Fatigue makes everything harder and more overwhelming.

Making time to care for yourself will pay off in more energy and productivity.

9. Limit electronics.

One of the biggest time wasters we deal with today as moms are electronics.

There is always the pull of social media, whether it be Pinterest, Twitter,  or Facebook. They literally suck you in and before you know it, unless you are intentional, you have wasted an hour or two just scrolling.

I’m not saying that you should totally eliminate electronics, but if they have a grip on you it’s time to make some changes.

Maybe take them off of your phone, so you aren’t tempted to keep “checking in”. Instead, have a set time once or twice a day when you get on your computer for X amount of minutes to check all those things you like to check. Set a timer, and when it goes off, it’s time to get off.

 Most of us put time limits on our kids like this, so it only makes sense that we are willing to show by example how to exercise self-control with our own online usage.

10. Homeschool Mom Time Management Secret: Use a timer.

I mentioned in the last point that you should set a timer to control how long you spend on electronics. However, setting a timer for lots of things will really help you to be productive and make better use of your time.

For example, set the timer for 15 minutes and see how much of the kitchen (or any area) you can get cleaned in that amount of time. Because you know your time is limited you will tend to work faster, and more efficiently. I really like the challenge of trying to “beat the clock”.

By the way, this works well with your kids too. Have 10-minute power pick-up sessions, or 15 minutes to clean up your room, etc.

What Would You Add to These 10 Time Management Secrets Every Homeschool Mom Should Know?

What can you do to manage your time better as a homeschooling mom? Ask God to give you wisdom and direct your thoughts, and give you the discipline you need to be a good steward of the time you have been given each day.

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How do I homeschool my eclectic high schooler?

When you begin thinking about homeschooling high school, a certain amount of anxiety can creep into your thoughts. Maybe you’re concerned about teaching algebra, helping your students analyze literature, grading students’ essays, or having your children dissect a frog on your table.

Mom, you are not alone in this!

I have some great news for you! You have a variety of quality high school curriculum resources designed specifically for homeschoolers available to you. YOU don’t have to be an expert in every subject to teach your high school students! 

Short of buying an all-in-one curriculum, what’s a homeschool mom to do? For those who like to pick-and-choose specific resources for each area of study, we’ve put together a list of our top picks for high school curriculum.

High School Curriculum Resources for the Eclectic Homeschool

High School Curriculum Resources for Language Arts

Analytical Grammar. This step-by-step program is designed to be done over three seasons, but can easily be adapted to one or two years of study if needed. This is a thorough grammar program that teaches the parts of speech, phrases and clauses, mechanics, common usage errors, and sentence diagramming. 

Brave Writer. It offers a variety of products for teaching teens to write, including a self-directed writing program, Help for High School, as well as a variety of online classes. Brave Writer encourages students to find their unique writing voice and use it even when writing essays. The first part of the course exercises the student’s creative writing muscles while the second part takes students step-by-step through how to write several different types of essays. 

Learning Language Arts Through Literature. LLATL is a living-books curriculum based on the methods of Dr. Ruth Beechick. The high school curriculum includes World, British, and American Literature as well as Literary criticism. If you are drawn to a common sense, natural approach to teaching language arts, you’ll want to check this one out. 

Eclectic High School Curriculum Resources

Wordsmith Craftsman. This writing curriculum includes instruction on a variety of skills such as note-taking, outlining, letter writing, and more. Teens will learn to write descriptive, narrative, expository, critical, and persuasive essays as well. 

WriteShop. WriteShop I and Writeshop II cover all of your students’ writing instruction needs for grades 6 through 12 with incremental lessons. The best part: if you are nervous about teaching writing, you’ll find plenty of support using the teacher’s manual. You’ll have checklists and grading forms to guide you. A video course is also available. 

Progeny Press. Progeny press gives you an extensive selection of literary guides that include thoughtful discussion questions that will help your teens really think about what they are reading. You’ll love using this guide to have great conversations with your teens!

High School Curriculum Resources for Math

CTC Math. CTC math is a self-paced, online math curriculum. It includes video tutorials, interactive questions, worksheets and solutions, and progress reports. This is perfect for the parent who isn’t comfortable teaching high school math. 

Math-U-See. This curriculum has been popular with homeschoolers for years. Mr. Demme teaches students why and not just how when it comes to solving math problems. Video and online resources are available as well as physical workbooks. 

Teaching Textbooks. Teaching Textbooks is another option for self-directed math study during the high school years. The online subscription service programs include Pre-algebra, Algebra I & II, Geometry, and Pre-calculus. You can sign up for a free trial and they even offer a large family discount plan!

High School Curriculum Resources for Science

Apologia. Apologia is an award-winning science curriculum for students from K—12th grade. High school courses are offered through multiple formats so you can choose what’s best for your family including self-paced and live courses, as well as the more traditional textbook approach at home. With the Student Notebooks, your teens will also learn valuable skills such as note-taking and how to schedule their time. 

The 101 Series. This series is available online or in DVD formats. The website states, “The 101 series was created using rich visuals in video presentations to help high school students easily understand the sciences.” So much of science is understandable for anyone, and this series emphasizes the wonder of learning it.

High School Curriculum Resources for Geography

GeoMatters. GeoMatters offers a variety of resources for teaching geography whether you want to do it as a stand alone course, or incorporate it into your other studies. The unique approach to studying geography in the Trail Guide to US Geography and Trail Guide to World Geography means you can teach all of your children, from elementary through high school, with the same resource. 

Notgrass Exploring World Geography. This new course is a one year study and can be used to assign credits in World Geography, English, and Bible with the literature pack. Though it has a textbook feel, the writing is in a conversational tone that keeps teens interest. 

High School Curriculum Resources for History

Notgrass. Notgrass’ high school history curriculum includes World History, American History, and semester courses in both Economics and Government. When you add in their World Geography, students will have completed a typical course of history/social studies. A literature pack is available and questions, writing assignments, projects, and Bible memory work are included. This curriculum can be used for credits in History, English, and Bible.

Mystery of History. This history curriculum is a complete, chronological study of world history from a Christian worldview. This history curriculum is designed for all ages with specific guidance on their website on how to use it with each age group—which means you can use it with all of your children at once! 

Choosing the Best High School Curriculum Resources for Your Family

All of these resources are excellent. When it comes to choosing what you will use, consider the following:

1. What is our family’s budget for homeschooling resources and curriculum?
2. How do our kids learn best?
3. What are they most interested in?

Talk to your teen and let them help decide! The more invested they are in the decision process, the more invested they will be in their learning. 

You have so much freedom in homeschooling the high school years. Don’t stress about finding the perfect resource—there really aren’t any perfect ones anyway. Instead, focus on using whatever you choose fully, and trusting God to lead you to what will work for your teens.

For more help with homeschooling high school make sure to visit the shop and check out these two resources!

HIGH SCHOOL CHARACTER BUILDING WORKBOOK

Your teen is unique, and so their character education should be too! We want to share with you the very best curriculum—one you design yourself.

We’ve created a resource to help you with each step of creating your own high school character curriculum. It includes the exact steps you need to take, worksheets, character traits to consider, an activities list, and so much more!

HIGH SCHOOL COURSE OF STUDY & PLANNING WORKBOOK

The High School Course of Study & Planning Workbook will simplify the planning process for you and your high schoolers. In it, you will: Learn the four steps you need in order to make an overall plan for your high school teens.

• Discover three different ways to award credits.
• Figure out how to make a plan for each year’s course of study and a simple way to make sure you are covering what your teen needs.
• Create a schedule that works for you and your teens.

At The Character Corner, we want to take the fear and the overwhelm out of homeschooling high school so you can spend your time and energy on the thing that matters the most: your relationship with your teens. Grab yours today to get started!

As homeschoolers, we all want our children to have a solid understanding of language arts, math, science, history, and other subjects. But in the pursuit of academic success, let’s not forget to teach them how to live. 

The Easiest High School Curriculum for Life Skills

We often use words without really understanding what they mean. When parents say they are looking for a curriculum to teach something, they often mean books and courses for a specific subject such as history. 

What is a curriculum, though?

“A curriculum is a set of courses designed to give expertise, like the shoemaking curriculum at Shoe U: Advanced Cutting, Hammering, and Stitching; History of the Heel; and A Cultural History of Walking…” —Vocabulary.com

So let’s start with thinking about the life skills your teens need for “Life U”. When your children become adults, what skills do you want them to have mastered?

Ideas for Life Skills Teens Need

Here are a few ideas of life skills your teen will need, but it’s not an exhaustive list. Talk to your spouse and make your own list of the things you hope to help develop in your high schoolers. 

• Personal finances. How many students take courses in math like algebra, geometry, and calculus, but can’t stay within a personal budget? How many end up with debt from college? One of the most important math skills your teens can learn is how to stay on the positive side of money!
• Cooking. The ability to cook at home will help with our first skill (living within a budget), and a lot more. By cooking food for themselves and their families some day, they can pay attention to cost and nutritional value.
• Health. In addition to learning to eat right, our kids need to understand the importance of other healthy habits such as getting enough rest and exercise. This isn’t about trying to reach the world’s standards of beauty, but of taking care of ourselves in order to do all that God has called us to do. 
• Car maintenance & home repair. Once again, the ability to do things themselves saves money. It also means that they can know that the job is done well, and enjoy the sense of pride that comes with doing things yourself. 
• Organization. How much time in life is wasted looking for and taking care of things? Organization allows us to find what we need when we need it. It helps us to be good stewards of our time and resources. 
• Productivity. Part of time management is the ability to use time to accomplish as much as possible when needed. When we are productive, we free up more time for spending it with others, serving, and worship. Teens and adults alike live in a world full of distractions, but they can learn to manage their time wisely and be productive when they work—whether in or outside of the home. 

A Plan for the Easiest High School Curriculum for Life Skills

What’s the easiest high school curriculum for teaching life skills? Life. This is where real-world learning happens. Of course, you can use resources along the way, but it’s in day-to-day life alongside you where your teens will really apply all that they are learning. That doesn’t mean you have to be an expert in all the things, either. You can teach them how to be life-long learners as you figure these things out together. 

Some of the best resources are often those things your teens already have access to such as the library, mentors, YouTube or Vimeo videos, teaching shows, and YOU.

Using a few of the ideas for life skills teens need listed above, let’s consider what it might look like to teach them to your teens. 

Personal Finance For Teens

There are some great resources for teaching teens personal finance. Check out Dave Ramsey’s online store for a variety of products that are appropriate for teens. He has an article, How to Teach Teenages About Money, to help you get started. Or search on google or YouTube for other tips on teaching personal finance to teens.

After working through some of the resources, show them your household budget and help them come up with their own. If you don’t have one, now’s the perfect time to teach them it’s never too late to learn and implement something new!

Cooking For Teens

Find cooking shows and YouTube videos, purchase or borrow books that include both recipes and how to stock a kitchen, research food prep and freezer cooking. There’s no reason today for anyone to say they can’t cook at home because they don’t know how!

Have your teens be in charge of planning and cooking a certain number of family meals each week. Take it a step further and ask them to do the planning and shopping at the grocery store. Encourage them to have fun and try new recipes and foods. 

Teen Productivity Tips

There are so many YouTube videos and blog posts about productivity! Search for terms like batching, block scheduling, and productivity tips. You may want to watch them together or have your teen do this in a central location such as the kitchen table, since teens can be tempted to click on other videos while on YouTube (and that wouldn’t be productive at all!). 

Talk about what tips they want to incorporate into their schoolwork time. Have them make out a list of the ideas they want to try and create a plan. Be sure to check in with them to see how it’s going!

Be Intentional About Teaching Life Skills To Your Teens

Don’t let the word easy fool you. Easy doesn’t mean you won’t need to be intentional about teaching life skills to your teens. What it does mean is that you can teach these skills in a way that directly relates to their lives right now with you right alongside them. The resources are readily available and often free, and the concepts aren’t difficult to learn. They only require some planning and effort on your part and your high schoolers. 

We know having teens can seem overwhelming! But I assure you mom, you CAN do this!

If you are looking for some help homeschooling your teen and incorporating life skills we’ve got you covered! 

Discover The High School Course of Study & Planning Workbook! It will simplify the process for you and your high schoolers! And you can get all of the details here!

Your teen is unique, and so their homeschooling journey and character education should be too!

That’s why we love to share with you the very best curriculum for your high schooler —one you design yourself. You can incorporate life skills and character education in their journey! Introducing The High School Character Building Workbook! Grab yours today to get started!

Everyone knows that character development is an essential part of home education. That’s why so many parents search for character building curriculum for their high school students. Your teen is unique, and so their character education should be too! We want to share with you the very best curriculum—one you design yourself. 

How Can I Help Build Character In My High Schooler?

Character Building Curriculum for High School

Let’s begin by defining character-building and considering a couple of definitions. 

The dictionary defines character as the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual; strength and originality in a person’s nature. It comes from the Greek word, kharaktēr, which was a stamping tool used to give something a distinctive mark. 

Building means the process of constructing, shaping, developing, or forming a particular thing. 

When we put those definitions together, character building is about the process of constructing, shaping, developing, and forming the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.

As a parent, you have to think of yourself as the contractor in the character-building process. You look for people and resources, you lay out the plans, and make sure that the workers follow through. But you’re not the one who does the actual work of building. 

Ultimately it’s your teens’ responsibility to cultivate that character in their own lives. We cannot do it for them. 

Ann Frank puts it this way, “I understand more and more how true Daddy’s words were when he said: ‘All children must look after their own upbringing.’ Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.”

So plan. Create a blueprint. Be intentional. But most of all pray for your teens through the process that they would desire to grow in Christlikeness—where character is ultimately found.

Designing a Character Building Curriculum for Your High Schooler

1. Tour Model Homes

If you’ve ever considered building your own home, remodeling it, or redecorating it even, you may have started by touring some model homes. Model homes help us to see the possibilities and give us a pattern to follow. In the character-building process, consider the models your teens have access to:

• You, their parents. Your teens are watching you. When you exemplify the character qualities you desire to see in their lives, they will learn more by your actions than simply your words. 
• Mentors. Mentors can be people your teens know—such as grandparents, bosses, spiritual leaders at church—or people they don’t such as those they encounter through books and other media.
• People from the Bible. There’s no better book for teaching character through the real lives of people. The Bible doesn’t sugarcoat the sinful nature of man or hide their imperfections (just think about the story of David!). Instead, it reveals God’s grace in growing people to live righteously.
• Stories of historical figures. As your teens study history, help them to really think about how different people throughout history have displayed both poor and desirable character traits. What consequences did the actions of these people have?
• Biographies of missionaries. Men and women who have chosen to bring the gospel throughout the world often show a strength of character that can inspire our teens to do the same. 

2. Lay a Solid Character Foundation

God’s Word is the solid foundation your teens will need if they want to build godly character in their lives. 

John 15:4–5 says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (KJV)

And who produces the fruit? In Galatians 5:22–23 we learn, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” All of these character traits are the fruit of the Spirit, and cannot be produced without Him. (KJV)

This is why character formation begins with the Bible. We know that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16–27, KJV)

3. Build the Character Framework 

Once you’ve laid a strong foundation, then you can build on it. This is the point to add in other resources such as biographies, literature, non-fiction, or any other resources that will help your students understand the character trait you are focusing on. This might even mean setting up a time for your teen to meet regularly with a mentor of some sort.

4. Don’t Forget the Wiring

God empowers our children though his unique wiring of them. He created them all with a different mixture of personalities, gifts, talents, interests, skills, and more. 

Thinking about our building metaphor, we know that before the sheetrock is put in and all of the finishes, the wiring must be installed. It runs throughout the frame of the house. 

What does this have to do with character-building? The character trait you’ve focused on will be manifested in a way that is often distinctive to your teen—in a way that is in keeping with his or her bent.

These versions of the Amplified Bible put it so well: 

“Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

—Proverbs 22:6 (Amplified, Classic)

“Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents], Even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Amplified)

5. Create the Blueprint

Once you’ve thought through these steps, create a blueprint—a plan—to help your teen develop desirable character traits in his or her life.

Begin by thinking through what character traits you and your teens might want to focus on. Choose only one trait per six weeks. (You’ll find a list of  84 possible traits, as well as a place to write down each trait you pick along with its definition for the school year in our High School Character Building Workbook, shown below.)

You can use a variety of activities to help cultivate character in your teens from copywork and journaling to serving in the community. These should be activities that help you students learn and apply all they are learning.

Get the High School Character Building Workbook!

We’ve created a resource to help you with each step of creating your own high school character curriculum. It includes these steps, worksheets, character traits to consider, an activities list, and more. 

Your high schooler’s character-building curriculum should be as unique as they are! We would love to help.

Get the details of the High School Character Building Workbook Now!