This family work thing sounds neat. Is there somewhere else I can read more about it? Do your children have any specific areas or jobs, or are they just expected to look around and notice what needs doing during family work time? My parents always gave us specific chores growing up and us kids would often drag them out all day. But, it also seems like the few times we were working "together" on something there would be bickering like "so-and-so isn't working." Although, I suppose you could work on those problems.

I just finished my masters while hs children in core, lol, and scholar phase. I graduate this week! My suggestion is less is more. I would really consider all the activities and though each may be good in and of itself, the combination can turn a mother into chauffeur. If you try to do it all, you will experience more frustration.

You might reconsider how you manage your home. Have you ever considered family work rather than chores? With family work, there is a time to work and everyone is working until it is done. We set aside 30 min to 1 hour after dinner. We ended up with the rest of the evening free, and woke to a tidy home. Laundry can be dovetailed into the day..

I shifted to a structure of rhythms, a time to eat, a time for devotional, a time to study, a time to work, etc.

When I read Walden, it was my birthday two years ago. A friend invited me to a birthday lunch. She is not a TJEder and so I was surprised when she showed up for lunch with her copy of Walden (she had dug it out of storage and reread it!). I decided that day that every mother needs to read Walden at least once! The message to simplify was huge!

Also, Jacques Barzun had some interesting points on reading in his book Teacher in America. My mother-in-law had similar sentiments. When you are reading to study it is not the same as reading to entertain. The goals are different. My mil said its like beach combing, you are looking for the treasures. Each time you read, you are a different person, with more experiences and different things will stick out to you.

Read the Taming of the Screw by DeMille and Bolon, and How to Read a Book and Why. These are articles and it might help you use your study time more effectively.

If you do not simplify, it can take much longer to finish your degree, and there is a higher probability of burnout.

My husband and I are both trying to do the distance Master's program right now. We only have two little children so our lives are probablly not nearly as busy as yours is. However, my husband has found that he has to do one semester off and one semester on. GWCAn abbreviation of George Wythe University (formerly George Wythe College), a private liberal arts college headquartered in Cedar City, Utah, which Dr. Oliver DeMille helped found, and where he formerly served as president. There are also plans underway for building a much larger campus in Monticello, Utah, and plans have also been announced for a remote campus in Alberta, Canada. provides the lists of books for each class on their website and so you can have all of the books read before you actually take the class. I also did that this summer because we were going on vacations and my baby was due in July. So instead of going to school I read all the books for the two classes I am now taking in the Fall. I understand how hard it is to get in study time. I feel very happy if I can get 12- 15 hours a week in, and I am not homeschooling yet! You are doing great! The important thing I think is just to set an amount of time that you can study a week (8 hours is great if that is what you can do) and then make the program work for your life. I have found that GWCAn abbreviation of George Wythe University (formerly George Wythe College), a private liberal arts college headquartered in Cedar City, Utah, which Dr. Oliver DeMille helped found, and where he formerly served as president. There are also plans underway for building a much larger campus in Monticello, Utah, and plans have also been announced for a remote campus in Alberta, Canada. is really flexible and accomodating. I found out my sister lost her baby on the day of my Oral exam and written finals were due and I basically told them I wasn't going to be in contact for about a month (it was also Christmas and we were moving!) After that month I got in all of my work and they graded it and gave me credit. If that had been any other University my entire semester of work would have been wasted! So, anyway my ad vice is just to keep going, even if you have to do two semesters of "preparation" where you are not enrolled, and one semester enrolled where you can get the great mentoring. (I find that the mentoring is the most needed when I am writing my papers.) It is not a race and you need to do what is best for your family!

Deanna,

I am a Distance Studies student. This is actually my first semester. I am taking the Government 1 class. I am loving it and learning so much. I am also struggling with finding the time to devote to my studies. We are a TJEdRefers generally to the concepts presented in the book A Thomas Jefferson Education, written by Dr. Oliver DeMille. We also have an Introduction to Thomas Jefferson Education available elsewhere on this site. family and we have two children in the LOL phase and 2 in Core phase.

I am working out our priorities right now so I do not have any advice but I wanted to tell you that you are not alone.

Are these music classes Love of Learning or are they conveyor belt? Would your children continue to study music if you had to quit the classes, or would they be relieved not to study music? Whose decision is it to continue them?

Cooking can be simplified and you can teach your children to make meals. Don't feel guilty for eating canned soup now and then, but don't switch to carry-out food (expensive and unhealthy and means more gas and stress, because it requires leaving the home).

We manage, with seven children, about one official field trip per month. I know the wish to have them more frequently, but homeschooling is mainly "at home" (or at one stable location), not so much traveling that there's no time for pondering. (It is possible to do carschool, but save that for when you must learn while traveling; don't make a habit of keeping people always on the go.)

I'm earnestly trying to limit errands to one day per week, and doctor appointments on the same day each week, so that I can stay home on the other days. Chores get done more consistently when we're home to do them. And my standards of clean are lower than spotless; we cannot maintain a tidy home completely without limiting our children's investigations and formative play.

If you're also reading about the civil war, is this aloud to your children or is it on your own? Do you need to be studying both things on your own or should you decide one or the other is more important and inspire by letting your children know what you're studying for GWCAn abbreviation of George Wythe University (formerly George Wythe College), a private liberal arts college headquartered in Cedar City, Utah, which Dr. Oliver DeMille helped found, and where he formerly served as president. There are also plans underway for building a much larger campus in Monticello, Utah, and plans have also been announced for a remote campus in Alberta, Canada.?

Are you getting enough sleep? I finally have the determination to put "Walk" and "Nap" on my to-do list every day. I function much, much better when I'm well-rested, and walking restores my perspective, because I cannot read or clean or do anything else during that time but think and ponder and feel God's love through His creations. Don't use a walk as a reaon to stew over things; use it as a time to forgive yourself for not being perfect.