Although the girls started last week, yesterday was our official back to school day.
It went very well. We even got finished up early, at around 1:15. Which was good, because by then I was totally pooped and needed a nap.
I was reminded of something early on however, as my morning almost got derailed with some annoying paperwork I had to do, and that is this: my #1 most important homeschooling productivity tip is to:
Keep my laptop and phone in another room during school time.
The best homeschool routine in the world can be totally worthless if one is constantly getting interrupted by electronics.
My time to be on online is early in the morning (when I’m typing this) and after school is done.
Having my phone in the other room (where I can hear it ring if there is a real emergency) means I’m not tempted to check email or Instagram or what-have-you.
I’m not going to sneak into Bloglovin’ to catch up on my favorite bloggers. I’m not going to get sucked into the internet vortex or get stressed out by spam comments here or other issues.
Notice I mention nothing about the children yet?
This tip is mostly about disciplining myself.
Of course, this also helps keep the kids on track. They don’t use the internet for their schoolwork, so if they do get online, it’s only going to distract them from more important things.
The kids did learn some important lessons yesterday.
My 11 year old daughter learned that you cannot leave highlighters and your history book on the sofa where the 2 year old can reach them.
Is putting down the phone a problem? Read more about how moms can break their cell phone addiction here.
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