Need a Do-Able Routine???
By Cindy Rushton

Mid-year! Can you EVEN believe it?? My son is finishing up his
sophomore year in High School while my daughter is wrapping up her
seventh grade year! I don't know about you, but this year has
already be flying by and now it is almost Spring-time again! WOWIE!

After the holidays I have found myself a bit "off-key." We began
building on to our home during the Holiday Season and we are almost
ready to welcome our business to its home here on Huckleberry Hill.
In the meantime, I have been re-organizing and re-strategizing to
completely re-vamp our business and our routine to once again adapt
to the business being in our home.

What about you? I have been getting letters like crazy asking about
how we are balancing so many areas of life and asking for tips on how
to organize the home and set up routines that can work for REAL
families! Soooo, if this is your need too, this article is just for
YOU!

Homeschools are all very, very different. Each and every home all has
its own package that makes the home full of blessings, challenges,
joy, and even trials. The only thing that really is a "blanket" need
for all homeschools AND all families is the great need for routine!

By setting up family routines, we take away much of the daily stress
and pain of deciding who does what, when they are to do whatever, and
how much they are to do. Routines are simply a MUST! Our children
have struggled at times when the routines were not clearly defined OR
were in total chaos. Likewise, I have felt the frustrations that
come along with constant decisions to be made or the pull of
constantly having "extra" things to think about that could be just
part of the routine, leaving my mind to think of more important
things!
So, what are some ideas for bringing routine into the home? What are
some practical, yet EASY ways to bring more order and peace into your
home? The following thoughts are a hodgepodge of my thoughts on
routine that I have collected through the years in my personal
journals. It has helped me so much to go back over these practical
helps. I pray that it will help as I share them with you…

Make Sure that God is FIRST!!

Remember that when you are planning your family routines, give
priority to the most important thing. I know that the academic
education of our children is a very high priority. However, there are
many highly educated people in our culture who are very dissatisfied
and disillusioned with life. Deep down, they know that there is more
to life! AND good news! There is!

The most important thing is our relationship with God! In 1 Timothy
1: 5, we find that God is very clear about our educational goals. I
think He is absolutely phenomenal! As the "perfect Teacher," His
clarity is unmatchable! What are those goals of instruction? They
may surprise you, but I doubt it: "love from a pure heart, a good
conscience, and a sincere faith." This only comes from a passionate
relationship with God!

In our culture, we have almost deified education at the expense of
dethroning God! Education has become an idol that demands worship of
those from all faiths and cultures. Yet, even education will not
bring that soul satisfaction that we all seek for! We are all made
with a void in our souls that cannot be satisfied with anyone or
anything else but God.

The only satisfaction for this huge void is a relationship with our
Lord. Relationships are not built spending one hour a week (or I will
indulge the "6-hour-a week-don't-miss-anything-at-church crew!"—six
hours a week!) in a crowd with 500 others, checking out the local
styles, singing a few hymns, praying alongside of those who are
praying, and leaving after maybe a tear or two falls! REAL
relationships take time ALONE. Really listening. Really getting to
know one another's hearts. Vibrant relationships require time and
commitment. Time set aside and devoted in whole to building the
relationship and developing a closer tie day-by-day!

Many of us who homeschool KNOW this...but, do our routines truly
reflect our passion for God? We all need our time with God as a
first priority in life! If nothing else is done each day, why not the
quiet times? Why not a few moments of solitude spent one-on-one with
God each day? Why not a few moments to pour out our hearts to the
Lord and let Him pour forth His heart into ours? Yes. This is THE
MAIN THING!

I know this. However, often I myself find the struggle is more for
the to-do's than for my relationship with God OR with the children.
If we value the relationships the most, we find that our priority
becomes that time to talk, read, relax, and even work together. Yes,
there is always more work to do than there is time to do it. We must
accept that reality while planning the time that we devote to that
work around time with God and each other!

FAMILY!!!

This brings me to the next area that must be a priority when setting
up a routine that will really work: Wrap the entire schedule around
family life!

For many, many years, I tried to set our whole routine around the
model of "school." We set our "school lessons" during the same hours
as the public schools. We even took the days off that they took off,
except for Summer break!

I was proud of the "work" that was being done, but it seemed that
little things would knock me "off-my-rocker!" Little things would
throw my whole life into chaos.

Finally, the Lord began to convict me about seeking out a
whole "lifestyle" of learning, not merely "school at home." A
lifestyle that got back to His design for the family in the first
place!

I knew deep in my heart that if I were going to have a "lifestyle" of
learning, then it meant that our daily routine would have to be more
relaxed, slower paced, and wrapped around our family life. This was
in direct contrast to our family life being wrapped around "school."
The difference was immeasurable!

Daddy was no longer an inconvenience, but the central figure of our
home-life! He could at last be the "King of His Castle" and "Priest
of our Home."
Lessons did not have to rely on textbooks—but, many of the lessons
could at last come from our life TOGETHER as a family!

The difference is like setting a bird free from the cage in which all
of her life has been spent, so at last she could fly free!

So, want a very important suggestion for establishing a do-able
routine just for YOUR family? Wrap life around being a family!
Learn together. Learn from each other. Set up a lifestyle of learning
that can go on for generations to come!

What ARE We REALLY Supposed to Teach???

Learning can be just this simple! The education of our day has become
entirely TOO complex and abstract! So, what ARE we supposed to be
teaching anyway??? Teach your children the SKILLS TO LEARN and give
them a PASSION for learning! Knowing this can make all of the
difference in the world when you are setting up a DO-ABLE routine!

How? Well, many hours are wasted in many children's lives each day.
EVEN those that homeschool. Curriculum companies have convinced us
that we need books to teach Spelling, Grammar, Literature, Language
Arts, Phonics, Reading, Vocabulary...and that just covers LANGUAGE
ARTS!!!

Going back to the old paths, we find that education just 100 years
ago was so much more simpler. In addition, that same education
trained up thinkers who became the writers, artists, composers,
theologians, politicians, inventors, and scientists that were world-
changers! Today, the fruit of our educational system is much too
sparse!

What DO you need? Well, our children need a time set aside each day
to learn, practice, and use skills of learning. What do those skills
include? They include: reading, writing, math, research, record-
keeping, and later communicating what they have been learning. From
the time our children are very, very young, they need daily time set
aside in our routines for their skills of learning to be learned and
utilized!

Another thing that is needed in our every day schedule is TIME to
pursue areas of our children's personal interests. This is the ONLY
way to truly encourage a love of learning in our children. Yes,
little children do LOVE learning. They love everything. But, their
love of learning will dry up unless they have the skills to continue
learning for their whole life and eventually, the time and
encouragement to spend time learning deeper in areas of their
interests.
The keys to lifelong learning are these two aspects of woven
together. You can't have one without the other. Without skills to
learn a child will eventually get frustrated when even trying to
learn. Without a love of learning, our children could possess all of
the skills of learning, but never use those skills without an
assignment and a deadline set up externally for them!

I wanted more! I wanted for my children to have the skills to learn
AND a love of learning that guaranteed that they would use those
skills to learn for the rest of their lives! These two goals helped
me to set up my daily routine to help me offer a balanced education
to my children.

Our daily routine includes a set time each day to learn and develop
their skills of learning through a daily table time. Our daily table
time covers a daily time of Bible Study as a family, daily Copywork
in our Notebooks, daily Math lessons, and daily Foreign Language
lessons. Our children know what to expect so there is no guesswork
involved, thus our daily stress of making small decisions of what to
do each day is alleviated!

Plus, our children know what it takes to get their table time
finished so we can work as a family on other projects. The family
time is just as important as academics, if not more so! Family time
for our family may mean something different for our family than yours—
it should since every family is completely different! One day Harold
may work with the children on rebuilding an old automobile. (Tomorrow
it looks like they will be working on changing my brake pads on my
car!) Another day Harold may work with the children on a project
needed for building our office. Every day is different, but the
lessons still have the bottom line—we take the time with the children
to teach them the things that REAL families need to know. They learn
practical skills by learning how to work with their hands. They learn
character qualities as they have to use them in working as a family.
They learn social skills as they learn to work together with us and
with those that God brings along our paths. Yep, this is another
important aspect of learning!

But, this is not all! All work and no play is not the way that God
designed us! I mentioned that love of learning, huh? Well, we try
to have a quiet time of the day that each of us can pursue areas of
interests. The children USE those skills of learning that they have
learned and continue to learn through the years during this time!
Actually probably more in depth than during our table time!

Right now, I am writing this article. Matthew is reading about Glock
Autopistols (surprised???). Elisabeth is reading about cats AND
drawing sketches of her favorites in her "notebook." And, Harold is
leisurely reading about flying. We are "using" those skills to learn
more, but this is not because of assignments. Rather, we are using
the skills we have to fill our minds with that necessary daily food
to keep us inspired and growing!

Take a look at your routine to see if it allows short times to learn
and practice the skills of learning (long times will burn ALL of you
out and possibly do more damage than good!) and if there is enough
time to pursue those interests that would instill of love of
learning???

Oops...Stiff or Flexible???

Yep! The hardest thing in the world for me as we began homeschooling
was to learn that MY plans were not always GOD'S PLANS! Shocking
huh???

Once I learned to be more flexible things really got much, much
better! My plans never took into account those gorgeous sunny days
in JANUARY! Nor did my plans take into consideration the moments that
needed to be seized to really teach the heart of my children. Know
what I mean?

So, remember that you can feel free to alter any given routine!

As we go through life, we find that life is so short. The sunny
moments simply must be snatched along the way. Some lessons only come
along once in a lifetime!

Even in Charlotte Mason's schools, she would ring a bell on nice days
and set off for an all day expedition! Can we be this spontaneous?
Yes, duty calls and responsibilities should be accepted habitually.
BUT, all the duty and responsibility is out of balance without the
liberty to enjoy life and its spontaneity...without time to make
precious memories!

Choose the BEST!

All through the years, we will face opportunities and options to
include so much in the education of our children. One of the
blessings of homeschooling today is that there are so many wonderful
activities and lessons. We have everything from field trips to
online classes...coops to civic events...sports to geography bees.
The sky is truly the limit!

We all want for our children to have ALL of the advantages that we
can give them. However, somewhere we have to choose the very best!
There are so many GOOD things. Those good things can battle against
our focus so that we do not have time for the very BEST things! It
just takes a little while before our routines are so overcrowded with
truly great activities, but no real substance!
We have to be constantly de-cluttering when it comes to time. We all
have only 24 hours in each and every day. These days are flying by.
We need to redeem the time and use each moment as God wants for us to
use it!

We need to KNOW where we are going? Why are we doing what we are
doing? Are we stressed out (just ask the kids!)? Can we stay home
just ONE day? How are our children behaving? (These can be little
warning signs to let us know if we are doing too much or if the
things that are really not important!). Is more really better? Are
the things that we are doing TRULY the BEST? Is MORE really better?
What CAN go?

I tend to get so busy that I don't have time to stop and think. I
don't have enough margin to slow down for even thirty minutes to
watch the sunset. Unless I constantly guard my lifestyle all
becomes "go-go-go...rush-rush-rush!" Yes, busy with stuff that is of
very little or no value for me or my family! Stuff...when I want the
BEST!

We must be very particular! We must reach for the BEST! We must guard
our routine to be sure that we MAKE time for the important...the
eternal! Everything is our day must be evaluated from an eternal
perspective leaving only those things that work toward the very best!

We need to schedule in time to plan...time to set goals...time to re-
fill our cups! Otherwise, we are no good for families and friends!.
We need this time so that we can make those important decisions
KNOWING that we have had time to really hear God and KNOW His perfect
will for our children! So much responsibility! LIVES that we affect
with daily decisions! But, it is not just decisions. We also have to
be filled up with GOOD stuff or we cannot pour forth into the lives
of those we love the most! Well, we can pour forth...but, I don't
think those around me want what I have to offer apart from my daily
time with Jesus! We need to slow down, be filled up, so we are
prepared DAILY to pour forth into the lives of others!

Easier said than done, I know! I have those days that my whole daily
routine is upset. I can begin the day fine with my quiet time (so of
course it is not ME!!). Yet, the moment I come in contact with my
family their attitudes throw me for a loop! (after ALL I do to train
them right!!!!)

That is when we need it even more! The routine is nothing if we lose
sight of the most important things: building relationships,
discipling our children up in the Lord, and making memories! But,
even these things are utterly impossible unless we have time with the
Lord! I KNOW how hard this can be!

When my children were little, I thought I would never be able to have
a quiet time without wiping breakfast cereal (spilled, of course) out
of my Bible! Yet! That time was priceless! It carried me through! It
laid the foundation for my relationship with God AND for my children
to KNOW how to spend their quiet times with the Lord! GO FIGURE!

If you see this as an impossibility, go to the Lord! Tell Him all
about it. I assure you beloved! He WILL provide. He'll provide
exactly what YOU need, but you need to trust that He will.
Diligently ask for His help!

Then, as our cups are filled...we must offer our families the VERY
BEST! We must guard the family routine to be sure that we MAKE time
for the important...the eternal!

We need to schedule in time to learn...time to play...time to make
sweet, sweet memories...time to really enjoy our children! Oh, time
to fill their little cups!

We only have our children for just a little while. For those with
children that are now towering over their heads, we only have our
children just a little while longer! Let us establish a home
centered on GOD...FAMILY...REAL LEARNING…forsaking all to choose the
VERY, VERY BEST!

What will happen? Oh, the stress will lessen. The eternal will
happen. The world will pass by. And, you will have a legacy, a legacy
that God designed from the foundation of the earth for the godly
homeschool family!

Happy Homeschooling!
__________________________________________________________________

Don't FORGET! See OUR CINDY RUSHTON EBAY STORE! We ALWAYS have NEAT
specials on there!!!!