Tag Archives: organizing

Hints for Homeschoolers – Divide and Conquer!

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Your housework that is!  

The method I use, will not work for everyone.  The reason being, that everyone has a different home, different family, and even different kinds of dirt.  For example – only some of you need to think about water softeners or septic systems.  My house is on the large size (we are downsizing in the next two years.)  We also have well water, which makes things a little more challenging despite a high-tech water treatment set-up in the basement.  But I digress – here is the daily outline:

  • Sunday is for church.  After church, in general, Sundays are pets and plants day.  The houseplants get undivided attention for one hour per week, including watering, re-potting, pruning, rotating, and fertilizing. I find this activity very relaxing and soothing, even restful.  I can usually take a great nap after the indoor gardening session.   This was also the day I used to clean ears and teeth, and trim nails on my dog – but she left us this past summer. . .
  • Monday is clean the kitchen day because Tuesday is when trash and recycling is picked up.  It’s a good day for me to rummage the fridge for anything that needs to go in the garbage since it will be gone the next morning.  Living in the woods prevents me from putting anything that might interest animals into the outside trash until the last possible moment.  Twenty minutes are spent de-cluttering and organizing, twenty minutes are spent dusting, and twenty minutes are spent on the floor.  I set a timer for each twenty minute block of time.  I also clean the downstairs half bath on Monday.
  • Tuesday is a light cleaning day – just the family room.  There are a lot of book shelves in there, which get swiped  each week with a Swiffer duster.  It’s great for the tops of books – which can be ruined by embedded dust.  A lot of dusting here – twenty minutes dusting, twenty minutes straightening and organizing, and twenty minutes on the floor.  It’s the same amount of time I spend in the kitchen – but not nearly as strenuous.  Tuesday is also the day I take care of any ironing.  The upstairs small bath gets cleaned today too since it is the easiest bath to clean. 
  • Wednesday is devoted to the basement laundry room.  It is huge, because the house was built long before the electric dryer was available.  I also have a recumbent exercise bike, a large wooden potting bench, and two cat trees in the laundry room.  This room can get horribly filthy, because it opens to the wooded back yard, and is on grade level.  Once again, twenty minutes of organizing and de-cluttering, twenty minutes of dusting and scrubbing (there are five windows in just this area!) and twenty minutes on the floor.  If I don’t time myself – I could get carried away here – because the vacuuming is endless.  Especially around the ceiling cobwebs.  There is also a room down here with a fireplace that we used as a bedroom.  It gets tackled along with the laundry room. 
  • Thursday is another light cleaning day, involving only the formal dining room and parlor.  Lots of attention to detail, but it’s never too cluttered or dirty, because it is off limits most of the time.  In general, I am the only one in the parlor on a daily basis because of the piano.  Some people would say that is trending towards fussy and the ridiculous, but as any mom knows, it is nice to have a portion of the house that is always clean and presentable.  This area also holds antiques, which take some attention.  The large cupboard in the dining room gets a good work over inside, (something always needs rearranging in there!) then twenty minutes dusting, and twenty minutes on the floors.  The downstairs half bath gets cleaned again because it gets the most use, and is the bath used by guests.  Since this cleaning is so light – Thursdays are designated for errands like grocery shopping, etc. 
  • Fridays are devoted to the upstairs, which includes three bedrooms, the sewing room, and the family bath.  I change the sheets in the master, and clean the family bath. (This house does not have a master bath.)  The other member of the family are required to change their own linens and clean their own rooms.  Twenty minutes are spent organizing the master bedroom, twenty minutes are spent dusting that room and the hall, and twenty minutes are spent on the floors including the stairs going down.  The sewing room gets a little attention every day.  But that’s for another post! 
  • Saturdays are the most changeable, because of DH.  His office dwells in half of the lower level.  If he is working in there on Saturday – I do not clean it.  It has a full bath, which I also may have to skip because of his schedule.  On those days – I go all the way up, up, up, and work on the attic.  This is a full blown, old fashioned attic that you can walk around in.  Spiders love it.  I could spend hours in here – but once again, I time the twenty minutes organizing, twenty minutes dusting, and twenty minutes on the floor, and staircase leading down.  Saturdays are also my day for baking – usually in the afternoon.  If the weather is nice, (not often) I will go outside instead of the attic, and work on the garage and storage shed. 
ants

I don’t mind telling you, that this monstrous house was much easier to take care of when all of my helpers were available.  But, like I told DH – it’s good exercise, and I feel wonderful after it’s done.  The key to all this clean comfort is not trying to do too much at once – and not procrastinating. 

One technique I’ve adapted is “overlap” vacuuming.  I attach an appliance grade extension cord to my vacuum cleaner’s regular cord.  It gets plugged into an outlet near the entry of the particular area I’m working on that day.  After doing the thorough vacuum of the focus area – I continue vacuuming out as far as I can go with the extension cord.  Not going into corners or anything – just getting the general area done.  This makes everything easier, and prevents tracking into the room that has just been cleaned.  This system allows for the kitchen floor to get a once over three times a week!  And I don’t know about yours – but mine needs that!

cottage in snow

Some day, hopefully sooner rather than later, we will be moving onto our retirement program, but until then, it is my responsibility to keep this home to the best of my ability.  I  know some young moms who think they would be happier if they only had more room – but let me assure you – your kids grow up and leave – and you are then left in a huge, empty house!  But I also know – that if I can keep this place in order – you can do it in your home too. 

Titus 2:3-5

King James Version (KJV)

home keeping

3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God be not blasphemed.

Hints for Home Schoolers – Helpful Handmaid #3

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Everyone has their own way of doing laundry.  Here – I just share mine, with the hope that you may glean something that will make your home-keeping more efficient – enabling you to devote more time to school.

scrub

There are still many women in the world today, who do laundry the old-fashioned way.  I can recall my grandmother’s scrub board stowed in a corner of the cellar, but I also recall her white Kenmore washing machine.  She never told fond stories of her years with the scrub board!  As she put it – “It’s not the washing – it’s the wringing.”  But – oh – she loved that Kenmore!  The washing machine has done more to raise the standard of cleanliness than any other appliance. 

There are actually many articles and books written decrying the effect of technology on home making.  Perhaps there is some justification for some of these claims, as anyone purchasing and using appliances nowadays, is not likely to have them for very long.  The intentional deterioration of quality keep us going back for new machines.  The other charge is made against the “over-cleanliness,” resulting in over consumption of water and electricity.  But the fact is – that before the “hand-maids” came along, women were spending three entire days a week, just maintaining the family’s clothing and textiles! 

It usually went something like this:

Wash on Monday 

Iron on Tuesday 

Sewing on Wednesday 

Market on Thursday

Cleaning on Friday 

Baking on Saturday 

Church on Sunday

Each of these “days” took an entire day to accomplish! 

laundry

I use the laundry basket method of sorting.  There are six of these baskets, and every morning I sort all laundry between the baskets.

  1. warm load – tumble dry low
  2. warm white bleach load – tumble dry medium
  3. hot bleach load – tumble dry medium
  4. cold wash – line dry
  5. warm dark load – tumble dry medium
  6. odds and ends – like kitchen and bath rugs, blankets, and pet things

Everyone has a “magic” number of daily loads to do to keep things from piling up.  For you it may be only one – for others it may be five.  For our current number of residents – it’s four.  Years back – it was six – and that included laundry for an invalid.  We likely do more laundry than most people do, but we live in the woods, do a lot of dirty activities, (like baking and gardening) and also use only cloth napkins and handkerchiefs, and once upon a time – cloth diapers and baby wipes. 

Each day as the laundry progresses, I stack the empty basket under the full ones.  By noon – I’m done with laundry for the day.  There will be a few items in the top baskets, but not enough for a load yet.  The whole stack of baskets then gets slid under the folding counter until the next day, when the whole procedure starts over.  In keeping with my love for schedules, if for some reason there isn’t enough to do the four full loads – I will look for something to wash – like one of four,  huge, well-used afghans from the family room.  I also have been making my own laundry detergent for the past decade.  It works better and costs less. Here.

Twice yearly, the bedding gets done.  That includes mattress pads, blankets, spreads, comforters, and pillows.  Everything.  Spring and fall bed changes take more loads than my normal four. 

Speaking of bed pillows – I hope you wash yours!  If your pillow feels “heavy,” it is full of really icky stuff.  All bedding should be washed in the hottest water possible, and mattresses should be thoroughly vacuumed.  Wash two pillows at a time, with hot water and bleach if possible.  After the cycle is finished, flip the pillows over and spin again.  This gets rid of most of the moisture and dries more easily. See here about dust mites.  One older lady I know, had never washed her pillows.  They weighed six pounds each!  That is just too gross! 

I have my laundry scheduled so that it does not interfere with showers and dishwasher times.  I only run the hot load after all showers have been taken, and after the first dishwasher run at 10:00 am.  This is not hard to accomplish if you are consistent. 

old pic

If you keep after it, you will never feel overwhelmed – and your family will be clean and comfortable.

Thank You, LORD, for these helpful handmaids.  They really are a blessing, and we are even more thankful for the families you have given us to care for. 

nice and clean

PSALM 57:7

King James Version (KJV)

My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.

Hints for Home Schoolers – Helpful Handmaids #1- Dishwasher

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Yes, we are living in the 21st century, and we may not feel like we can relate to the Proverbs 31 woman – even though just 100 years ago, most people of modest incomes would have had a least one servant.   But, praise God – we do have handmaids of a sort – and they are our electrical appliances.  Every homeschool mom should thank God, and then her husband,  (in that order) for supplying these wonders. 

The first handmaid we will address is the dishwasher.  Are you wondering how I can devote an entire post to the dishwasher?  I do it because it is that important, and usually not utilized properly.  I am not going to make any suggestions on how to clean your machine – because there are tons of sites out there devoted to that.  What I am going to discuss is timing for efficiency, and the use for sanitary purposes.

bucket

Even though I have a dishwasher – I always have a bucket like this for adding dishes to as I’m working.  Since our home has an old farm sink – I do not have the convenience of double sinks.  The soaking bucket does the job, and can be stashed under the sink when not in use.  This pre-soaking makes scrubbing largely unnecessary, which saves the home school family precious time. 

Why then do I run those soaked dishes through the dishwasher?  Aren’t they clean already?  Visually they are clean – but I’m afraid they would not pass muster under a microscope.

handwash

Most people don’t know that hand washed dishes should be placed in hot bleach water, and then air dried to kill bacteria.  The dishwasher eliminates the need for this – but only if done with that intent.  If not done correctly – the average dishwasher is full 0f really icky invisible things. 

  1. Make sure the water is hot enough.  Run hot water in the sink first to make sure that only hot water enters the machine.  It should be a scalding 140 ° for germ killing.  Most water heaters are set to 120 °.
  2. Use a detergent with bleach.  Vinegar is not as efficacious, though it has its purpose in mineral removal. 
  3. Heated drying goes nothing towards disinfection.  Air drying is fine, and will save a little money. 
  4. If you have a garbage disposal, run it before running the dishwasher to clear the drain.  The dishwasher drains into the garbage disposal – and if clogged – will actually cause dirty water to backwash into your dishwasher. 

Develop a schedule for running your machine.  For example – I run mine three times daily:  10:00 am, 2:30 pm, and 10:00 pm.  The reason for the schedule is to prevent the pile-up.  The spacing leaves plenty of time for air drying.  The times were arrived at by working around the shower and laundry loads that compete for hot water.  And – I put everything into the dishwasher that could possibly go – and some things that might surprise you. 

  • All machine safe plates, cups, pots etc.
  • The filter basket, lid, and stem from the electric percolator
  • Pet dishes
  • Plastic and ceramic houseplant pots
  • Reflector bowls and knobs from my electric stove
  • Oven racks
  • Plastic compartments from the refrigerators (I know they say hand wash – but I put them in)
  • Toothbrushes
  • My silicone pastry mat
  • Microwave plate and plastic turntable
  • Toaster oven rack, crumb tray, and broiler pan
  • Ceramic tea pots
  • Ice cube trays and buckets

About home- made dishwasher detergent – this is one area where I do believe the commercial product is superior.  Borax and vinegar do kill some pathogens – but truly can not compare to plain old bleach.  Additionally, for whatever reason, powdered products do not dissolve properly for me.  I use generic SAM’s club dishwasher gel with bleach.  Some of the big brands like Cascade carry lines with bleach, but I do fine, and very frugally with the SAM’s stuff.  On top of that – your dishwasher will never have a funny smell after time, like many home makers complain of – because the odor causing bacteria are killed by the hot water and bleach. 

If you try to develop your own schedule and find you don’t have enough to run a load – look for things to stick in there.  This is when that sticky refrigerator compartment gets a whirl through the machine.  We have two refrigerators – and I never have trouble finding something that needs cleaning.  The idea is to prevent the pile-up of dishes that can be so disheartening as it seems to never stop.  For instance – if you wait too long between loads – you will come to the time, even every day, where you can’t get everything in there and are stuck with dishes still in the sink.  If this happens repeatedly – it means you need to adjust, and add another load time to your dishwasher schedule, so that you are never faced with that. 

AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE!

Proverbs 31:29

Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.   

Hints for Home Schoolers – De-clutter!

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Is your lifestyle making homeschool more difficult than it has to be? Do you spend precious time looking for things when you could be being productive? I’m going to share a few of the things I learned over the years that kept me sane. We’ll go through each letter of the word de-clutter.

snail

D – is for determination and discipline. Both are required to go the long haul in your successful homeschool. If you are bogged down with too much stuff, too many activities, too little space, too little money . . . now is the time to determine in your mind to change things. Make a firm decision to pare down to the truly necessary, which will make room for things like time for meal planning, organized shopping, cleaning, and school work! Don’t wait for a special day to make the determination decision – it should be a life long commitment.

mess

E – is for excavate and eradicate. You may say, “Well. that should be obvious!” But you might be surprised to know how many families have a home school that looks something like this or even worse. Holding onto garbage, yes – some of your kids drawings are superfluous – will overrun you in no time. If you are schooling more than two, the paperwork alone can pile up dreadfully in just a week or two. Determine what is necessary to keep, and pitch or recycle the rest. Eradicate the unnecessary stuff. This also applies to clothing and groceries.

containers

C – is for categorize and contain. Even if you are blessed to have a dedicated room for school, its a very good idea to keep a separate container for each child’s work. Especially records that need to be kept to satisfy state requirements. One mom I know has a laundry tub for each of her kid’s books and paraphernalia because they do their school at the kitchen table. The baskets are slid behind the couch when school is over. No one will spend time looking for their science book if it is in their special container.

L – is for lists and labels. One of the greatest pieces of advice I can give you is the notepad one. Get in the habit of carrying a small notepad and pen in your pocket all day (I wear an apron with pockets) and you will never have to rely on memory again. It will be so simple to just jot down whatever it is, and not even skip a beat while you are pushing someone on the swing, or working fractions, or making dinner. Write it down! The other point to this section is labeling. Labeling everything, will make organizing a breeze. Even if your kids have a juice cup to drink from during the day – label it. This goes for their lists of chores as well. Each one should be written down with their name on it.

U – is for utilize and unburden. That may sound contradictory, but the two terms are connected. If you follow the ideas listed before, you will better utilize your time. By taking advantage of time saving devices like shower sprayers, certain household chores can become self cleaning. In addition – using an accredited curriculum can save hours and hours of lesson planning and stress.

timer

T – is for timers and tempers. This is another item I have in my apron pockets. By timing everything, from tidying the kitchen, to gardening, to reviewing flashcards – using a timer prevents overload. Specifically, when a child is not understanding a concept, by limiting the time to 15 minutes, you can circumvent frustration, – both yours and the child’s. In the same way, anything from ironing to penmanship practice will seem much more manageable when the timer is set. You simply don’t go past it! Even morning chores become less arduous when a simple timer is set.

technology

T – is also for taming technology. I am not one of those parents that shuns technology. But using it wisely can only be done through diligence and applied balance. IPads are being used as toddler babysitters!  One family has a beautiful tree-house which sits empty, as the children while away the hours playing video and computer games. Technology can be an incredible help in our home schools, and it can also be our greatest enemy.

swans

E – is for energize and emphasize. At the risk of sounding like your mother, I’m going to recommend that you go to bed much earlier than you think you should. When my kids were younger, I tried to hit the hay around the same time they did, because I found it was much easier for me to get up very early in the morning, while they would sleep much easier at night, not thinking they were missing out on something. There is a ton of evidence to support the idea of adults getting to sleep before midnight. Most research indicates that the hours of sleep you receive before midnight are twice as valuable as the ones after. If you do this for two weeks, you will be astounded at how much energy you have, and how much you can accomplish with half as much effort. http://www.drlwilson.com/Articles/sleep.htm

organized

R – is for rigid and relax. If you are rigid about purging you will be able to relax in your home. Rigidly purge paper, clothing, toys, and whatever else is cluttering up your mind and house. You can see by this picture that the home school can be very organized with very little money. That goes for the kitchen, attic, basement, and wherever else the stuff tends to pile up. Hooray for de-cluttering your life!! Amen!!

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My favorite basic bread recipe. 


1-1/2 cups water

1 Tbl. light olive oil

3 Tbl. honey

1/2 tsp. kosher or sea salt

2 – 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour (preferably King Arthur)

1 – 1/4 cup bread flour

1/3 cup vital wheat gluten

2 tsp. active dry yeast

Add all ingredients in the order listed to the pan of bread machine which has been sprayed with cooking spray. Use the whole wheat setting. Good for sandwiches, toast, etc. I make this more than any other kind of bread. At least three times a week. Great with just about anything, including peanut butter and jelly.

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Forasmuch as there is none like unto Thee, O Lord; Thou art great, and Thy name is great in might.

Jeremiah 10:6