Having an Action Plan

I was thinking how very grateful I am for my Action Plan. It's where I keep all my goals for my family, homeschool, individual children, and even myself. Having tried various methods for time management and goal keeping, my Action Plan is what works best for my family.

I got this from "A Recipe for Success" by Rachel and Oliver DeMille, then fitted it to my family. Twice a year, in the spring and fall, there is a routine I follow to create my Action Plan.

1. Declutter! I go through my house top to bottom getting rid of junk. Flylady.com is the place to go for help on this one if you have never done a good declutter, or you get stuck in the middle of the mess and give up. (ME!) For those that know me, I am always joking about doing my 6th month purge for 6 months! This does lay the foundation for a better education, because environment is a very important element of education.

2. I create a list of all I do, then cut out the things I don't need to be doing. Some things just stop, some are delegated, some are put on the back burner. The goal here is to cut it by 50%, freeing up more time for relationships, education, and the things that really matter.

3. For me both of these should be done by either Oct 1 or Apr 1, depending on the season. This way I can spend the next weekend at the LDS General Conference, to get a great spiritual refill and contemplate what to focus on next. It really doesn't matter your religion, find a way to refill, including study, prayer, and/or meditation to focus on what is important to you.

4. Then I find a quiet time and place, with my husband (hopefully!), to discuss and write out what we feel important about each of our children and ourselves. We like to escape somewhere, and let the kids have a weekend with the grandparents. This spring we went to a beautiful spot on a little island north of Seattle. We had so much fun, and got alot of thinking down on paper.

5. From what we write, we create (okay, let's get real, I create) a working plan that incorporates the goals we have, and the goals we have for each of our children. I do this very prayerfully, and it takes a few days.

6. Then, I use it. Weekly I review my Action Plan, and plan my week accordingly.

It really is very simple. There are simple questions suggested in the book above by DeMille that I follow, adding my own here and there. If you are interested in more information, email me at reallifeeducation@hotmail.com.

Learning Something New...

So today I enter the blogging world.

As a homeschooler, I believe in modeling a life of learning. I know computers are great, but honestly, I know very little about how to use one. So I am diving right on in, and learning how. I have a vision of being able to connect with other homeschooling families with the same ideals, and goals as I do. I also believe that I have alot to offer in many ways. I have been homeschooling for 15 years now. That includes my oldest sons early years. We were firm on our decision to homeschool before he was even born. In fact, none of my children have been to public schools. So I have alot to share with how I make homeschooling work for my family. It might help someone else! I know I sure depended on experienced homeschoolers my first few years, and beyond! I still do.