Have you ever met someone who you love being around and you want to make them an instant friend? That’s how I felt when I met Kristi Clover. She’s sweet, smart and fun! She’s also a homeschooling mama of many wonderful kiddos and a blogger. She’s my type of lady! (And we have a book, Homeschooling Basics, coming out soon—and you can listen to Kristi and I talk about God using your pain and you past on her podcast here!)

Kristi’s course has helped me get my homeschool organized, and I’ve asked Kristi to write a post to tell my readers all about it. I know you’re going to LOVE this!

Planning for Joy in Your Homeschool

3 Practical Tips to Help You Plan Joy into Your Homeschool

Homeschooling can make me feel like one big, hot mess at times. There are so many things to juggle. A history lesson with one child, math problems with another, phonics with my pre-reader, and tantrums from my toddler — often all at the same time. Crazy! {Not to mention managing your home and filling everyone’s stomachs, which seem to always be empty.}

Homeschooling is not for the faint hearted, but the blessings that come will fill your heart with more joy than you could imagine. We are going on our tenth year of homeschooling and have just loved it. Yes, there are hard days. Yes, there are even really hard days. But I try to keep my eyes on the goal: To disciple my children to love the Lord and develop a love for learning that will last a life time.

Through the years I’ve discovered a few things that help me accomplish this goal — and brighten up our days.

3 Tips to Help You Plan Joy into Your Homeschool

1) PRAY!

I can’t tell you how important this is! So often we get wrapped up in our to-do list that we forget to invite the Lord to be a part of our planning. God is a God of details. We can pray for His blessing over our homeschool, but we can also pray for His discernment and wisdom in planning out our school days.

2) Get the BIG picture first!

It’s so easy to just go crazy with all our curriculum purchases. We get really excited about things and everything looks so fun, so we buy too much. This usually creates unnecessary stress as we try to fit it all in. I’ve learned through the years to slow down and create a game plan for what I’m going to teach and how I’m going to teach it. I call it a “course of study.” I write out all subjects I’d like to teach (or am required to teach), then add each of my kids’ names under each subject — and start filling in the curriculum or resources I’m going to use to teach. I’ve found that there is often a lot of overlap that I can do away with. This step also helps you to see if you are trying to pull off too much in one school year.

3) Get everything ORGANIZED!

Life happens in the middle of homeschooling. Kids get sick, you get sick, family visits, emergencies pop-up — LIFE! It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when things like this interrupt your homeschooling. I will admit that I’ve gotten a lot better at just “rolling with it” when the unexpected creeps in. I’ve learned to cherish the time we have days curled up on the couch together with the tissue box next to us. However, last year when I had unplanned major surgery I was so grateful for all the time I had taken to get us organized. Our homeschool year continued on without me for a few weeks.

Homeschooling can be challenging, but it can also be joy-filled. I’ve discovered that the more I have things organized and planned out, the more smoothly our days run — and we have more time for fun.

I’m excited to share that I just finished creating a brand new eCourse designed to help you learn how to prep and plan for your homeschool year. I’ve filled it with encouraging video tutorials that show you helpful systems and practical tips on how to get your homeschool organized. I also added tons of great printables! There are even two extra videos that are designed to help you learn how to motivate your kids and come up with a game plan with homeschooling with “littles” in the house.

I hope you will check it out. I pray it blesses your homeschool!

For a limited time receive $10 off your purchase of the Ultimate Homeschool Organization Course with code Clover10!

Kristi Clover is a Christian, homeschooling mom to five kids ranging from teens to tots and wife to her high school “crush.” Aside from her family (and chocolate), she’s passionate about encouraging women in their faith and inspiring them in their daily lives as moms, wives, and homeschoolers by offering “simple solutions for a more joy-filled life.”

Not surprisingly, you can usually find her at home trying to bring some order and fun into the mayhem of daily life. Kristi is a down-to-earth writer and an energetic speaker who loves to share about her adventures in marriage, motherhood, and homeschooling at KristiClover.com — and on her new podcast, the Simply Joyful Podcast! Kristi is also the creator of the Ultimate Homeschool Organization Course and the author of Homeschool Basics: How to Get Started, Keep Motivated, and Bring Out the Best in Your Kids, co-authored with Tricia Goyer.

Be sure to connect with Kristi online for an extra dose of encouragement for your day and get a free copy of her book, Sanity Savers for Moms, by clicking HERE.

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