Homeschooling @ The Cluckery - My Favorite 7 Tips for a Successful Year
Wow. This September 2026 marks the 20th year of my homeschool career.
I’ve got to let that sink in for a moment. I didn’t even realize until just now that it has been 20 years. Gracious.
20 years and 5 children later, and this year looks a little different than it did so long ago! Then I had one student with a couple littles underfoot: now I’m back to one student with all the rest at work “adulting!”
You might say I’ve learned a trick or two over the years. Fewer ideals, lots more experience. But still the same love of homeschooling my babies.
So. My favorite tips for homeschooling are…
1) Have mercy on yourself!
Remember that you already HAVE a full-time job if you’re Mama, and when you start homeschooling, especially multiples, you add a SECOND full-time job on top. It took me years to realize this.
To quote Grandma Mott, “The housework will be there tomorrow.” My grandma was an excellent housekeeper who in later years regretted her perfection. She expressed her wish to me so many times that she had worried less about her house and more about spending time with her kids.
2) Use your crockpot!
For at least the first couple weeks, as you get your feet under you, so to speak, plan easy meals. Crockpot meals are perfect. It is SO comforting to know in the back of your mind that supper is cooking as you teach! Keep your eyes peeled for my latest video coming out in a couple weeks: Embarrassingly Easy Slow Cooker Chicken. The leftovers can be used for lunches the next day.
3) When you make supper, always make a double batch.
This tip is from my very experienced sister, Caroline. That way your lunch the next day can be a perfectly nourishing full meal complete with meat and vegetables, rather than being a brain-numbing PBJ or chips & salsa - again.
4) Set time aside in EACH school day for a read-aloud!
This has become one of the most treasured - and protected - times of our whole school day. I generally choose books that either match the time period we’re focused on in history OR books I want the kids to read but suspect might be too challenging. For instance, I wanted my kids to have exposure to Shakespeare’s plays, but handing Shakespeare to a 12-year old - or ANY-year-old? Impossible! But MOM reading it and “doing the voices” brings it to life.
Right now my 16-year-old and I are making our way through The Lord of the Rings series, and while the movies give me a headache😁, the books are incomparable. We’ve both enjoyed them thoroughly!
5) Have a schedule and stick to it.
This simple piece of advice was given to me by a stranger at the library 20 years ago, and it has been SO helpful.
See, if you don’t have a schedule and the kids are told, “Do your math,” the name of the game becomes getting it done as FAST as they can, understanding being optional. Then if ONE child has the capacity to work quickly and finishes in 30 minutes and ONE child has to work more slowly and takes two hours, the one who finished first is laughing and playing and poking fun at the other, who is by now a puddle of tears, crying over the math book and feeling like a failure. But when EACH child has to do his or her math for a set period of time and they know it, the pressure is off. And if ALL of your children are working on similar subjects at the same time, it lends peace to your day. Aaah.
6) Sit with your children.
Telling your kids to do their school work while you are cleaning the kitchen, chatting on the phone, or folding the laundry just doesn’t work very well. The kids NEED you for structure. Even when mine got older and were independent, I still structured my day and my work to be right there with them in case they had questions and to keep things on track. These e-mails I send out - most are written while Caleb sits next to me doing his math & grammar. Perhaps I’m working on some math of my own to make sure I’m able to answer his questions; maybe I’m studying a French lesson or working on my Collins Cluckery annual business plan. Perhaps I’m putting together our weekly menu plan. But the point is that I am THERE, present, and in the room, and it makes all the difference.
7) “More isn’t always better, Linus. Sometimes it’s just more.” (Sabrina)
Less is more! LESS IS MORE! Don’t fall into the trap of FOMO. Teach your kids the basics, starting with the fear of God and following up with The 3 R’s, and They. Will. Be. Fine.