Well Planned Gal Articles - Well Planned Gal

Featured Articles

5 Steps for Finding the Best-Fit College For Your Teen

By Northwest University / February 8, 2021

Six Useful Websites for College Students

By Southern Adventist University / November 9, 2020

Isolated, Not Alone

By Azusa Pacific University Honors College / November 2, 2020

How to Use an Online Curriculum Well

By Alpha Omega Publications / September 14, 2020

If I Can’t Vote, What Can I Do? A Kid’s Guide to US Elections

By Sonlight Curriculum / June 22, 2020

My Children’s School Is Closed…Now What?

By Alpha Omega Publications / April 13, 2020

8 Experiences to Look for When Planning your Historical Homeschool Field Trip

By Destination Gettysburg / March 23, 2020

Homeschool 101

HOMESCHOOLING 101 SERIES

Discover answers to the most common homeschooling questions.

LEARN ABOUT HOMESCHOOLING

USING WELL PLANNED DAY PLANNERS

The question I am most often asked when I speak on planning and organization is: “What do you do when it all falls apart?” Another way of asking this is, “I try and try and it never seems to work.” These are broad questions, and there are so many possible reasons for a chasm to grow between the beautiful on-paper schedule and reality. Adequately assessing the reasons for this growing chasm takes time and specific questions. In this article, I hope to walk readers through a detailed evaluation of the possible reasons your plans might not be working out and what you can do about it.

10 Ingredients for Working and Homeschooling

Taking on the dual task of working from home and homeschooling seems to be a growing trend. I have been a work-at-home, homeschooling momma for nearly twenty years, with differing schedules depending on the age of our children. Here is a list of my top 10 ingredients for keeping my sanity while trying to be a super hero mom.

Well Planned Day: Yes, It’s Possible! (Part 1)

Juggling the priorities of home and children can keep any mom busy, but add homeschooling in the mix, and it becomes necessary to make a plan. Over the many years of our homeschooling journey, I have learned that success doesn’t start with a plan or even with keeping to a schedule; instead, successful homeschooling begins with the right thinking!

Making Schedule Adjustments

Whether it is in homeschooling or in general life, we all know that new schedules need some tweaking. We start a new school year and hold loosely to the plan, determined to find the adjustments and rhythm that fit us best. This is to be expected, and it does not mean the schedule doesn’t work. It simply means it needs to be polished, perfected, and conformed to fit the needs of our families. But, even the most smoothly running plan hits a snag now and then and requires change. The question we have to ask ourselves is do we need to start from scratch, or do we just need to make adjustments?

Rhythm of Routine

Although the job of being a mom can seem a bit overwhelming, keeping it well planned by instituting a daily routine makes all the difference.

Helping Your Children Learn Flexibility

Developing Schedule Habits in Little Ones

Habits we learn when we are young often stick with us for life. As parents, we can help assure that our children develop good time-managements skills by starting early and being consistent.

5 Tips To Maximize Productivity

Flexibility is a wonderful thing. If your personality lends itself toward flexibility in planning, you are probably one of those people who others can count on to help when an unexpected need arises or join in on a spontaneous play date. The problem arises when you are confronted with all of the things that haven’t gotten done or when you realize that you’ve dropped a ball that someone else was counting on you to hold.

Create a Schedule Practice for Elementary Kids

Although it will be a while before your child is ready to build a schedule on their own, this is a great stage to start implementing activities that help them practice schedule-building skills.

Instilling Time Management Skills in Middle Schoolers

By the time our students reach the middle school years, they are really ready to begin taking a more active role in managing their own time.

HOMESCHOOLING ARTICLES

STAGES OF EDUCATION

Learning naturally processes through a series of stages as children’s brains mature. Although the boundaries of these stages are by no means rigid, distinctions do exist based on how children develop. So, what should you expect in each of these stages? How should the developmental process affect how we teach? Explore the answers to these questions and more as you learn how to confidently walk your children through each stage of the homeschool journey. READ ARTICLE

STARTING OUT

Preschool - 1st Grade

The excitement stage of learning usually begins in kindergarten or first grade and extends through third or fourth grade. This is the time to let our children explore, gather, accumulate, and absorb as much as possible in fun, exciting ways.

Starting Out Articles

GETTING EXCITED

2nd - 4th Grade

Getting Excited Articles

BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND

5th - 8th Grade

This stage usually fits into what we call the middle school years, beginning in fifth or sixth grade and extending through about eighth grade. These years form a bridge between the years of excitement and the deeper thinking required in high school.

Beginning to Understand Articles

LEARNING TO REASON

9th - 12th Grade

This reasoning stage typically fits well into the high school years, starting around age fourteen or fifteen and extending to graduation. During these years, your child will try to establish his own foundation of beliefs and process why he thinks the way he does.

Learning to Reason Articles

BROWSE ARTICLES BY SCHOOL SUBJECTS

Math Language Arts History science bible music & art electives

HOMESCHOOL FAMILY

LIFE OF A HOMESCHOOL FAMILY

Help, I’m Married to a Fool

Twenty years. That is a long time to be married. Yet, it feels as if I blinked and my husband and I are celebrating our twentieth anniversary. Others observe a playful couple that seems to be taking incredible joy in the institute of marriage—but that has not always been the case. We have had ups and downs, both in the early and even recent years of marriage. We even separated for a period as we dealt with heavy issues.

Me Time

In order to be effective in our teaching and parenting, moms need to occasionally take some time out to unwind and focus on taking care of themselves. Here are some ideas to make the most of those precious moments.

Expectations

Reality sets in when that precious bundle is finally placed in our arms, and it is often so very different from our expectations. In fact, it may even be harder in many ways. But, as my fellow moms and I have discovered, reality is also much more delightful than we ever dreamed!

Seasons of Change

How do I reconcile contentment with what the Lord is doing in my life and the inevitable changes that I will never be prepared for? There is no simple formula, planner, or convenient pill to swallow.

Practicing Hope

Practice involved a frequency of conceptualizing, trying, failing, and sometimes succeeding. This is not a parallel or linear path traveled once, but more like an octagon I tried to draw as a teen, full of random lines trying to connect, going round and round.

Holding Onto Hope

As I explore this great verse on faith and the impact is has on parenting, homeschooling, and family journey, I am reminded that, through the unknowns of change, hope becomes my solid rock, my known.

Let Them: Nurturing Maturity in Our Children

Would they survive? Would I survive? Would they love or hate me? Would they walk away from what we had taught them or would they follow in the steps of the Christian faith? Would they be foolish or wise? Would they be selfish or caring?

20 Minute Energy Boost

It really doesn’t take much time to take care of ourselves and provide the energy boost we need to truly feel great, even in those stretches of life when our choices are severely limited.

Still in Need of Samaritans

We pondered the truth that Jesus clearly wanted Christians to note, that even the world is willing to get involved with messy situations. We also recognized that many churches are positively responding with recovery programs, and there is a growing trend in the younger generation to tackle these issues head on.

My Prayers

I find that, when I take the time to focus on praying the way Jesus taught, there is an abundance of grace in my day. Prayer is a means of grace that I have the privilege of tapping into anytime and anywhere.

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