Keeping Your Ducks in a Row

To have your ducks in a row is an idiom that means you are well organized and prepared to tackle your project. If you have ever seen a mother leading her young ducklings, they do follow her in a row. Which brings up a uncomfortable topic for most of us: our children will do what we do, not what we say. They will emulate what they see, not practice what they hear.

With this in mind, there are several ways to stay organized when educating at home. But as you read the suggestions below, keep in mind you are you. You are fine just as God made you. Work with that. Any ideas are simply ideas. Tweak until you find your sweet spot. Let your children emulate you (not the guru, the book, or the “perfect” homeschool Mom — whoever this mythical being might be).

Planning

If you follow our Step-By-Step Guide to homeschooling, you’ll start by considering the foundation of your homeschool, then build a framework, enhance it with an encouraging environment, develop your own approach, lay out a scope and sequence, decide how you will evaluate success, and, finally, plan your schedule.

Focusing on our homeschool goals, writing out our plans to achieve them, and completing a schedule to make it happen leaves us with a feeling of accomplishment. We should “count the cost” before taking on any endeavor. And it is good to plan, to have a vision, and to determine we are headed off in the right direction.

But for some of us, that plan is the end of the process. We have accomplished the plan. But what about the children? Learning IS a process. Very few plans will work “as is.”

Staying Organized

Another interesting facet of homeschooling is the speed with which the entire plan gets thrown out and school turns into chaos. Some emergency comes up, throwing or even delaying the normal routine. The entire experience devolves into frustration for both Mom and kids. Heads up: you are on the road to burnout.

So how do you stay organized when life is throwing you curve balls? Use a pencil, not a chisel. Have a plan but use it. Don’t let the plan use you.

Living

Life will happen. Some of the most important lessons our children will learn will have nothing to do with academics. Our time is one of the greatest gifts we have to give our children and training our children in the way they should go takes time.

Those “teachable moments” will likely not be itemized on our to-do list. We cannot anticipate the opportunities that God will provide to address immediate needs; opportunities too rich to pass up simply because our schedules say, “today is the day we work on multiplication, study the Roman empire, and dissect a frog.”

So is it wise to ditch the plans? No. We should always, prayerfully, plan and be organized in our efforts. Our homeschools should be devoid of chaos and replete with regular routines that serve the family.

But listen to that still, small voice for guidance throughout each day, being ready to let go of regularly scheduled programs in order to exchange the good for the Master’s best. Many times the best academic lessons are those that happen serendipitously. And sometimes the best homeschooling days are those that veered seriously off the beaten path.

We should forge ahead and get those ducks in a row…just leave some space between them for life to happen!

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