Fall 2021

HOMESCHOOLIOWA.ORG

work alongside special needs families and seniors helping them declut-

ter and organize their homes. In my work with other parents, I have no-

ticed that we all tend to get stressed out and overwhelmed by trying

to make everything perfect for our kids. We need to embrace the fact that

everything will never be perfect, and that is okay! We must also remember

that our kids need us to guide them through the situations and challenges

they encounter. Yes, we are raising kids, but we are also raising future hus-

bands and wives.

As a Declutter Coach, I often heard from my adult clients that they were

frustratedwith themselves because they had tomaster life skills they should

have learned as children. Because of that experience, I have been very in-

tentional about incorporating the learning of life skills into our school day.

I have found that intentionally inserting life skills (or chores) into our morn-

ing and evening routines works best. Additionally, we use these tasks as a

way to take a break between our core subjects. I believe that I am setting

my kids up for success by taking time to put these things on the calendar

and into our educational plan. I often say, “if it’s not on the calendar, it’s not

going to happen!”

Measuring progress on mastering these life skills is easy and rewarding

for both parent and child. When folded towels are straight and orderly, your

child can have an instant sense of gratification in a job well done. When the

kitchen is clean after dinner in only thirty minutes instead of an hour, that is

cause for celebration! After your child has mastered a skill using your meth-

od, give them the freedom to create their own systems to complete the task.

To figure out which life skills to focus on, consider your child’s age and

what they have already mastered, plus what areas you see that they need

to develop in, and start there. Young children can learn to keep their toys

organized by simply picking up what they were playing with before getting

something else out. Older kids can take over the responsibility of putting

away the groceries and organizing the pantry. Make sure you give the kids

plenty of time to master the skill before adding another chore or rotating

chores. You might need to have one child clean the bathroom for a whole

year before they have truly mastered the art of keeping a bathroom clean

and organized in a reasonable amount of time. Also, children like to have

ownership of their jobs. That’s hard to do if the job is constantly changing.

Parents who had difficulty decluttering and organizing their spaces

shared with me that it is even harder helping their kids get organized.

Because organization is a foundational life skill, I surveyed my clients who

homeschool to see what their top questions were about organization. I am

sharing those questions and my answers here.

Q: What homeschool records should I keep?

Maintaining paperwork is one of the biggest struggles people have. As

homeschoolers, we have even more paperwork to keep organized! In Iowa,

there are a few different options that you can homeschool under. Some of

these options require more paperwork than others. Regardless of which

legal option you are using, here are some tips to get your paperwork orga-

nized for each child:

What to keep:

• Attendance records

• Information on the textbooks and workbooks

• Samples of schoolwork

• Any correspondence with school officials

• Information about field trips that you take

• Records of extra-curricular programs you participate in, music lessons,

Organized for

Success

BY WENDY ZANDERS