Thistle Hill Ranch: Homeschooling at Thistle Hill Ranch

I often get asked, " How do you do it all?"

The quick answer is, I don't!

This view in our back pasture, makes all the hardwork worth it! This will be our view in the next year or so, out our new house windows. Hard to be patient, but fun to look forward to!

If there is anything I've learned from my crazy upbringing, it was to just keep going, never give up, and you'll never know the answer to life's questions, unless you TRY!

So, the first all important rule I set for our family, is ORGANIZATION!

Organization is a MUST, with our home, ranch, and homeschooling. If you aren't organized, life that becomes, or already is chaotic, gets more chaotic and stressful!

When I talk about organization, I mean EVERYTHING!

So how do I stay organized? It takes work, but less work in the long run, than if I wasn't.

Here are a Few Examples:

1. When I get up in the morning, after getting dressed, I make a run through the house gathering laundry, & hand towels (every 2 days; because, let's face it, they get gross!), and start a load in the washer. The boys are getting up by this point, making their beds, getting dressed, and doing their morning chores.

~ The boys have individual, and together chores. These include: vacuuming (the entryway, back door area, which includes kitchen dining room, and laundry room...it's very dusty/dirty on a farm), doing dishes, (unload and load morning dishes), feeding dogs and letting them out, feeding the cat, and changing all animals waters. Then, they move on to the ducks and geese coop, and then the barn for the horses. This is watering, feeding, & cleaning their stalls.

2. While the boys are completing their morning chores, I am doing various housework, (dusting, making my bed, folding laundry, and prepping any school lessons.

3. While the boys are doing their first 3 lessons on their own, I blog, mop, return emails, go through my calendar for upcoming Dr. visits, Veterinarian visits, grocery shopping, going through mail and filing receipts and other documents.

Early Morning Vet Visit for Artificial Insemination Round 2!

{I know that seems like a lot, and it is, but some of these things are daily, others not. So it stays fairly even keel...not too overwhelming.}

4. I plan their curriculum, pretty much to the letter, over the summer. Therefore, over the school year, I only have to adjust the curriculum on an "as needed" basis. This is part of the "being organized". This life we lead now is crazy busy, ( isn't everybody's?), and the way to stay sane is stay organized.

5. Day before yesterday, after homeschooling, I cleaned my bathroom from top to bottom, all drawers, baskets, (dumped old medications, lotions, etc.), wiped down all the drawers.

Then, I moved on to my dresser drawers and closet. I do this twice a year. I move out the seasonal clothes and get rid of anything that is worn out or needs to be donated. This helps me keep my closet and drawers organized and current.

6. I clean out my fridge about every other week, to get rid of any forgotten leftovers, or expired foods. This helps me keep on top of grocery shopping too. Everything shopping need, is an event in the country. My favorite grocery store 25 minutes away. The boys haircuts, Target, Best Buy, ie. major shopping, is 30 minutes away. To maximize my trips, I plan haircuts, gift shopping, etc. and hit those places first and then grocery shop on the way home. This helps my weeks go by more smoothly. We have a great meat market and small grocer in town for emergencies or just quick meal needs too.

So what does ALL of this have to do with homeschooling on the ranch?

If I didn't have the rest of our daily lives organized, homeschooling would be a joke! I have my oldest getting closer and closer to being college bound. Planning a students credits for college, takes dedication and LOTS of careful planning. The extra curricular activities carrying into school credits, (labs, leadership in the community, community service, etc., etc., etc.), can be quite overwhelming.

This planning scares me to death! I won't lie...

But, if you stay focused, keep up on your daily life needs and chores, then everything else falls into place. Keep yourself surrounded with supportive, like minded people, and keep on keeping on!

One of the girls supporting the other during Artificial Insemination. So sweet!

Some people say I'm "overly organized", even OCD; but, I look at it as my safety net. I thrive in a clean, tidy, organized environment. Right down to fresh cut flowers in almost every room. {I pick wildflowers, cut trimmings from bushes, anything to bring the outside in and freshen/brighten my home.} It makes me happy, it makes me take a deep relaxing breath, and my family loves it too.

These are roses from my rose bush in the backyard!

I bought this 2 months ago, and it's doing well, the trick is 2 ice cubes every other week!

Fresh picked pansies. They actually produce more blooms, the more you pick. And an aloe plant has always been a must! They heal cuts and scrapes FAST!

When people tell me they don't care if their home is untidy, I sometimes wonder if that's really true, or if it is really because they don't know where to start?

Hopefully if you're that person, that doesn't know where to start, I have helped in some way show, it IS possible to do it all. My boys are older and they help tremendously. But, when they were little, I did their "now" chores. I just got up earlier or stayed up later. But, either way, it got done.

Homeschooling is easy when you PLAN!

Plan your curriculum around your life's time. Everyone has a different life, therefore, different life's time.

Our math and science is taught by online and CD tutors. Geography is something I started with them, and then, they continued on their own. I made out flash cards for every country, with their capital on the back, and organized them by continent. They have to copy them into a notebook, by continent and include their government, and top resources. Amazing what they are learning and researching on their own with this project. It is fun to here them mention the countries outside of school time.

This allows me "free time" to get all my stuff done. I'm here, so if there are any questions, I'm here to help. And as I mentioned before, we have a math tutor that comes once a week to help with any gaps.

Then, we have time after lunch, for the rest of school. Literature, is my favorite subject! I love all the literature we are finishing together. Papers they are writing, and exposure to history through literature too. I add in poetry, reading from an American Anthology book, and even Emily Post's Etiquette. They hate etiquette, but funny how several things from our lessons they have already needed! Not so dumb now!

This is our living room ottoman, where I'm usually parked, writing, planning, reading, and occasionally folding laundry here, instead of on the dining room table. Always with a coffee, or 2 tea bags and a dash of cream, or the occassional evening wine glass.

Our girls relaxing in the shade after the rain...more rain coming today!

Glen and the boys, checking out all the creek beds surrounding the property.

I hope I have helped give a glimpse of what our real life is like. It's definitely not for everyone, but it is something we love. We love the time as a family that is definitely fleeting. We also appreciate every moment we have on the ranch. We know they are growing fast, and homeschooling is just one more way to help them grow into strong, respectful, well educated young men, through hard work and lots of love.

This is Landen riding Bailey with Joe, who trains them in horseback riding.