At the February support group meetings in Calgary & Edmonton we discussed the tips and tricks that our families use to help keep their household functioning.
Our discussion time was broken up into four areas of focus and as promised, below is the compilation of the suggestions given by our parents:
Meals
Pre-cook your meat and freeze in quantities needed for one meal which will speed up your meal making time.
Keep bone broth on hand and ready to use in the fridge – it is a quick snack for the kids while you are making dinner.
Meal subscription for one meal per week and have the kids make that meal.
Freezer meals (The Big Cook Cookbook or Seriously Good Freezer Meals cookbook
were suggested)
Save on your grocery bill: double check the pantry & fridge before heading out to the grocery store so you don’t buy duplicate items, stay out of the stores to save money, and only buy what you need (Superstore delivery, click & collect), purchase sale items and make meals based on those products, keep track of the costs of items you normally purchase and where to get deals on them.
Discounted food options: Too Good to Go, Flash Food
Use the instant pot, or crock pot, one pot meals.
Teach your children how to make their own breakfasts.
On Friday meal plan for the coming week
Children get to choose one meal they want to have cooked that week.
Simplify your meal plans – use recipes you already know, make a couple weekly meal plans and rotate them.
Create a cooking group of friends and prepare twenty freezer meals together.
Soup Sundays
Homeschool
Do less, you do not need to do it all!
Science blitz for a week so that all experiments are completed in that week, and you do not need to pull out the experiment equipment every week through the school year.
Take smaller chunks of time for bookwork, instead of sitting for hours straight.
It is ok to skip some questions on a math worksheet.
Teaching textbooks for math
Follow the interests of your children and incorporate those interests into school assignments or make them the school assignments.
One page/ day / subject
Simply Charlotte Mason YouTube page has numerous videos on how to simplify your homeschool.
School always happens not just during “school hours,” do your read aloud at bedtime instead of during the day.
Unit studies are great to use with multiple grade levels.
Outside time is essential!
Try a 4-day work week or do school for 6 weeks then take 1 week off.
Games
Create a checklist or goal sheet for each student with expectations for each day, week, or month, teach the student to take ownership in their education.
How do you deal with a child who does not want to let things go?
Box up the items for a while (out of sight out of mind), then it will be easier to throw them out later.
Allow a space for the child to display their projects/special items, but once that space fills, they need to choose what gets thrown out to fit the new item.
Open frames to hang on the wall for children’s artwork to be displayed – the child gets to choose what goes in the frame.
Give items away with a purpose – giving stuffies to those who do not have any.
How does the mom who does not want to let go of things declutter?
Hire a professional organizer to declutter for you, they take away the unwanted items so you cannot bring them back home.
Remember that our job is to teach our children that material items do not make out identity, we need to teach them to let go of things.
Matthew 6:19-21
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
Chores
Rotate chores through the children; each child does the same chore for a period (1 week or more) then they switch to a new chore for another period.
Remember that children need to be trained in how to do a chore and how to do it with excellence. Give them clear expectations for each task.
Chore pocket – one pocket for each child that contains the task each child is to complete.
Moms need to give up their standards of how a task is being done for a period as the child learns (a 2-year-old cannot make their bed as you may like, but the teaching of responsibility and working together as a family unit is what is most important)
Routine for how the day runs can help to get chores done daily.
Decide which chores the child does that they can be paid for, and which ones are required tasks (these are the things that need to be done since we are a part of a family)
Find out what chores the kids like to do and encourage those.
Simply to 3-4 chores/day
Outsource if you need help
Give rewards for work done
Give clear instructions "First do this.... then...."
Chewing gum given to child before starting work to help them focus
Extra work consequences for work not done properly or at all
Colossians 3:23-24
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."
Other Tips That You Might Find Helpful
Use a timer, quiet ones for schoolwork but a louder one to prompt moving quickly for chores.
Implement a 15-minute tidy at the end of the day.
Use Google Tasks to help keep yourself organized.
Organized for Large Families – book in Roots library.
Managers of our Homes & Managers of our Chores – suggested organization books
Reserve time for your spouse
Enjoy field trips
Laundry:
have a laundry basket for each person and only wash that person’s laundry at a time so you do not need to sort it after drying, then have each child fold and put away their own clothes.
Get the children to help sort and to pull clothes apart for washing.
2 Corinthians 12:9
“And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”