Morning time is our favorite time of the homeschool day. We meet together every morning and read the Bible, a devotional, picture books, poetry, and more. As you can probably tell based off of that abundant description, keeping everything organized can be a challenge. I had a chance to try out a new, heavy-duty tote by Mollie Ollie and it has been perfect for our morning time!

Related: Morning Time with 1Thrive Wall Organizers

The Problem With a Morning Basket

We have a beautiful basket that we use to store morning time supplies, but I noticed that our books were getting damaged. Every time I put them in the basket, they would bump up against each other, and corner of a cover here or a page there would get dented or ripped. This is hard for any book lover to handle. 

My husband installed some front facing shelves for us in our morning time space, giving us a little more storage. But I realized that I don't reach for those books as often, partly because they look so pretty arranged just so, and also because it's a bit out of my reach from where I sit at morning time. 

So again, our morning time storage problems were 1) the books were getting damaged and 2) they weren't super accessible. 

Mollie Ollie Storage Tote

We were gifted Mollie Ollie's storage tote, and it solves both of our big morning time problems, and more!

This tote is made of heavy-duty felt, so it's really durable, but also looks nice in our morning time area. The inside of the tote is a great size! We could use it with or without the organizing insert, but using the insert gives us three compartments for our books. This makes the books easier to find because I can see them from the top, and reach them easily without dinging any corners or pages. 

On the outside, there are little pockets and zipper pockets that hold our smaller morning time items like pens, crayons, and scissors. This is so helpful because we can never find these when we need them!

Other Uses

When I shared this tote on Instagram, people chimed in with their great ideas for using this tote. It could be used for Mom's books and projects, and be taken with her on the go. It would be great for schooling in the summer, to take books outside or on a road trip. And of course, it could be used in the homeschool room or a child's room. 

I am not an affiliate, but wanted to share this great product with you! You can find it here.

I've shared my Amazon Affiliate store with you in this post. You can learn more about affiliate links in my policies.

Let's Clarify Assessment

An assessment might conjure up images of a half-sheet of wide-ruled paper passed out before a spelling test. Sure, that's one form of assessment, but  assessments aren't necessarily tests. An assessment can be anything that gives you an idea of your child's understanding.

In public schools, I often did quick little assessments on a scrap of paper, asking students to tell me what they learned in a lesson, or by asking them to put their heads down to measure their understanding based on the number of fingers they held up. These are non-traditional assessments, and that's the category that will be perfect for your homeschool.

Related: You Don't Have to be a Teacher to Homeschool

Non-Traditional Ways to Measure Homeschool Growth

Having a system of tracking progress, even in a Charlotte Mason education that avoids traditional grades, is a great way to avoid the end-of-the-year panic. You can make little investments throughout the year that will help you keep track of your child's progress.

If your state requires  reporting for homeschooling, you might be doing some of these already. And if you aren't sure what to report to the state because a Charlotte Mason education doesn't involve busy work, then read on!

1. Keep lists, lists, and more lists

This is a relatively simple way to track homeschool growth. We think we'll remember things like what books our children were reading independently at the beginning of second grade, but with a packed calendar and daily to-do's, your chances of forgetting are high. 

What books your child reads, (and what books you read to them), is just one option for list-keeping. Other possibilities are: 

• science experiments
• field trips
• nature hikes or observations
• recipes made
• songs mastered on a musical instrument
• community service projects completed
• library programs attended

When you revisit your list in the future, you are bound to see growth in the depth and richness of how you spent your time. Additionally, this makes a good option to turn into your state, depending on state requirements. 

2. Keep anecdotal notes

Anecdotal notes are little snapshots of your days. My planner has space for notes on the side of each week. I use that space to write down what we did, interesting or thoughtful comments my children made, or anything else that I think will be helpful to know in the future. This also is great for writing homeschool milestones, like "Read Frog and Toad by herself" or "Finished level 1 math today." As a bonus to tracking progress, you'll get to keep some precious memories from your homeschooling days. 

Related: Year 1 Curriculum from Home Education 

3. Narration

Charlotte Mason's idea of narration is actually a great tool for tracking our children's progress. Through it, we can tell if they're understanding and attending to the stories they read or listen to, are growing in vocabulary, and have connected with the ideas in a story. There are several ways to track narration as an assessment tool: 

• Video record narrations using a device
• Audio record narrations
• Transcribe a young child's narration
• Younger children can draw a picture for narration
• Have an older child write a narration in a copybook

4. Portfolio or Notebooks

We keep both portfolios and notebooks in different forms.  Since we don't have a lot of loose pieces of paper, we don't keep portfolios for school work, but for artwork. I bought three big portfolios, one for each of my children, on Amazon several years ago. Anytime we finish a project, or my son brings something home from Mother's Day Out, it goes into the portfolio. 

For schoolwork, I prefer to keep it all in notebooks. This gives us somewhere to write, draw pictures, or, for my son, to transcribe what he tells me. We use the notebooks from School Nest. These are colorful and laid out well, so that we can use one per subject and keep our work organized. 

5. Charlotte Mason Exams

Charlotte Mason exams are not the same as stressful, high-stake tests. It's basically an opportunity for students to share what they've learned from the books that they've read. The questions guide a student towards narration, but are a little more specific than just asking a child to narrate. An example Old Testament Bible question might be something like, "Describe how Joseph saved his family from famine." For non-narration subjects, you might have your student do a few math problems or do a science demonstration. However you choose to do exams, record everything you can either on video or on paper. 

Related: 2021 Charlotte Mason Curriculum Choices

6. Self-assessments

Sometimes I ask my children quick questions like, "What was the most interesting thing you learned today," or "What was the best part of our day?" Writing down the answers to these questions is a great way not only to track what your child has learned, but to get a glimpse into their hearts and interests. 

Do you have any assessments that work well for your family? 

Free Schedule Planning Pack

This is a sponsored post, paid for by Mr D Math. I wasn't required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own. Check out my policies section for more information on sponsored posts.

"A class? .....How?..."  Was my overwhelmed reply. I had no idea how to go about finding a sign language class, and we didn't have a lot of free time in our days to commit to one. 

When we had a chance to try Mr. D Math's American Sign Language online course, I knew that this was a solution that would make a certain 9-year-old very happy, and fit seamlessly with our schedule. 

Related: Learning a Foreign Language Like a Native 

Elementary ASL 1

Mr. D Math has quite a few sign language course options, but for Hadley, the perfect fit was Elementary ASL 1. This worked out well because I knew none of the content would be over her head since it is geared towards children her age. 

It was easy to get signed-up and started, and after some practice, she can get logged in really easily. She knows to first watch for any announcements on her course page, and then go right into the next lesson. 

Each lesson has a video component, so she can see how to correctly complete each sign. It's usually just a few minutes long and goes over a specific topic to sign. After she's done with the video lesson, she looks to see what additional practice there is. Sometimes there are printable worksheets or coloring sheets, quizzes, and even little homework assignments. These are all optional, but she finds them enjoyable. 

Our Experience Learning ASL 

Hadley is 33% through this course, and I can see that she is grasping so much, and enjoying what she's learning. When she sits down to do her ASL lessons, she often brings a little notepad to take notes. I just love that she finds so much joy in learning through this course!

Some of the optional assignments entail making videos, and sending them to the instructor for feedback. Hadley has done this and loved the sense of importance that it gave her. She adorably and nervously waited for the teacher's feedback, and was just thrilled to learn that she "passed" the (optional) assignment!

Each module has a quiz, and this is a new concept for her. She's learning to slow down and really try to find the right answer rather than just rushing through it all. 

Related: Charlotte Mason Foreign Language Lessons for the Early Years

Why This Works for Us

Having a self-paced online class is extremely helpful. Miss H can work on it when we have a lull in her lessons, or in the afternoon when there is free time. She doesn't feel pressure to complete each module, she WANTS to. For me, seeing her learn something that she has wanted to learn for a long time has been so rewarding. 

Learn more about Mr. Dr Math ASL Elementary and other courses through the button below.

Once, when this blog was new and I had a preschooler, toddler, and newborn, another mom asked me how I managed it all. Not one to try to keep up appearances, I said, "Well first of all, my house is a mess..." 

This story makes me smile because I've grown a lot since then (and obviously, so have my children). While my house was not a top priority at that point, it has crept into at least the top five more recently. More specifically, when we moved and renovated, I decided that I would need to better my habits so that we could be good stewards of our home and share it with others openly without being terribly embarrassed by the dried spaghetti noodles stuck to the floor. 

I am not one of those “naturally organized” people whom you'd think would be giving you any sort of advice on this topic. No, I'm an outside-the-box 30-something who never quite acquired those good housekeeping skills that I probably should have decades ago. But, maybe hearing from someone who was a hot mess and now does significantly better in this department will be helpful. So here it goes-

How I Improved Managing My Home While Homeschooling

I've used some affiliate links in this post to share a few of our favorite items with you. You can read about them in our policies section. 

1. Paying for a meal planning service.

I'm going to start with this one because feeding our families is something that we as moms and homeschoolers have to do pretty much all day every day. But this is something that used to send me into a panic at about 4:00 when I realized I didn't know what to make for dinner. Even if I did have a plan, I would still panic at 4:00 because "I could have sworn that I had ___________ in the pantry." 

About two years ago, I started using free meal plans to help me plan out our menus. I mainly used the plans from Tastes Better From Scratch, but would search out different plans when I needed to switch it up. When we figured out that our daughter needed to eat gluten free, we decided to buy a one-year subscription to eMeals, something that we had done earlier in our marriage. We get weekly menus and meals plans, and make 4 or 5 out of the 7 meals each week, subbing some nights for leftovers, dinners out, or old favorite recipes. This has been so helpful, especially while homeschooling, because I buy all the ingredients at the beginning of the week and know what I'm going to make ever day. There are different plans available based on dietary needs, so when we had a big lifestyle change, this was a lifesaver. 

Related: A Year of Positive Habits for Moms

2. Viewing Housekeeping Skills as Habits

As a Charlotte Mason homeschooler, habits are integral to what we do everyday. I didn't see why this shouldn't be the case with homemaking. While we were in the process of renovating, I read How To Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind by Dana K. White. When we moved in, I worked hard to adopt the habits of homemaking, like doing laundry and washing dishes. One of the hardest parts was accepting that these things were my responsibility, whether or not I wanted to do them, whether or not the kids destroyed the shiny, newly-mopped floor in just a few minutes. These habits have taken a long time to develop, and I'm clearly not all there yet, but I'm not sure I will ever be "all there." My family is my top priority, and chasing them around to make sure they keep the house clean replaces spending actual quality time with them. 

3. Figuring Out The Never Ending Laundry Piles

Our laundry basket feels a little bit like Mary Poppin's purse: just when I think I've tackled it all, more and more keeps flowing out in what seems like an impossible, never-ending supply. When I started viewing housekeeping as habits, I designated one day a week for laundry. My goal was to get all the laundry done in that day. This worked for a little while, but soon we got busier outside the home and I just didn't have a whole day to devote to washing, drying, and folding. 

Recently, I switched to the "one load a day" method. This works great with my approach of housekeeping-as-habits. A daily load of laundry has become a habit. I don't feel overwhelmed by putting away one load of laundry, and no matter what we have going on during the day, I can usually make time for it (popping a load in each morning and making sure it is put away by evening). 

4. Delegating

Delegating is easier said than done for many of us, especially when our kids are young and we're not sure what they're doing will get done, ahem, right.  But I've had to decide that being done at all is better than not. So, now my kids each put their laundry away, and even though it's mostly crammed in their drawers, this is hugely helpful. 

My husband also gifted me once a month house cleaning for Christmas, something I never thought we'd do. Having the house clean all at once is motivation to keep it clean. 

There are other ways to delegate, too. We have a Roomba vacuum that sweeps the floor while we put the kids to bed. 

5. Not Going to Bed Until The Kitchen Is Clean

Letting the kitchen get messy during a busy day of homeschooling and then failing to clean it up after dinner was my biggest housekeeping mistake.  Waking up to a messy kitchen in the morning filled me with a sense of dread, and then I felt overwhelmed by the thought of having to get it clean at some point and would procrastinate. Spending 20 minutes or so at the end of the day making sure everything is put away and the counters are all wiped down has made a huge difference. I also treat running the dishwasher like a daily habit, running it at night and unloading it the next morning- almost every day. 

6. Manage the Clutter

Decluttering goes in cycles for me. I get on a big kick, declutter well, and then feel like I'm done, giving up the task and giving into my shopping habits. Then, I hit panic mode when it feels like I can never get my house clean, and know I have to start over again. Some days, all of us tackle a room together, making decisions about what stays and what goes. Other times, I just have to declutter as I live my life, finding something I don't need in a space and getting rid of it. 

But clutter isn't always excess things that need to be purged, sometimes it's just the things that are in the wrong place, and my over-burdened brain doesn't think to put it back immediately. From Dana K White's book, I learned that it's helpful to put something back where it belongs right away, rather than letting things pile up on the stairs, in laundry baskets, and more importantly, as a stressful, looming task in my brain. 

Related: How Clutter Can Sabotage the Learning Environment

I hope this encourages you that little by little, you can improve in this area. 

My days of reading books with a little one curled up on my lap are numbered. This year, I'm going to be intentional about reading picture books throughout the Christmas season, a way to slow down and enjoy my children's littleness. 

We've collected quite a few Christmas books over the years, at least one for each day of Advent. I've put them in my Amazon Affiliate Store and you can see them here. Keep reading as I share some of my favorites. 

I've used affiliate links in this post. You can read more about them in my policies section.

The Remember Tree- We were gifted this book last year, and it quickly became a favorite. It sweetly tells the story of Christmas through a grandmother’s treasured Remember Tree from her own childhood. Each of the tree’s ornaments is introduced through a riddle. What a creative way to keep children engaged!

The story and breathtaking illustrations make this a book that you’ll want to add to your collection.

Related: Book Treasuries That Make Great Gifts

The Glorious Impossible- A few years, I scoured my go-to used book sites for The Glorious Impossible by Madeline L’Engle. It features the art of Giotto, and is unfortunately out of print. I had ordered a copy and a few weeks later was told it wasn’t coming . It turns out that waiting until July to look again was a good decision, because I found it easily in the off -season. Telling you that story now in case the Amazon price is through the roof!

This book is absolutely beautiful and it is perfect for us because we've studied Giotto in the past. This definitely isn't a book to read all at once- we read a couple of pages at a time. 

Related: Symbols of Christmas Study 

The Advent Storybook- We actually have two books with this name, but the version by Laura Richie is more Gospel-centric. Each day tells a story from the Bible, in preparation for Christmas day. 

If you don't want to buy a new book but like this idea, reading one chapter of the Jesus Storybook Bible each day of Advent is an alternative. 

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey- This is a book that we HAVE to read every year. It has such a mellow mood, but at the same time it's engaging and everyone gets caught up in the mystery and miracle. We also have the movie, which we make a point to watch every year after we read the book. (That is linked in my Amazon Store). 

Peter Rabbit's Christmas Collection- If you've been hanging around here for awhile, you've probably seen me share this book before. This is the sweetest collection for Christmas, featuring Beatrix Potter stories and art. Some of the stories are in other collections we have, but some were new to us, like The Tailor Of Gloucestor. We don't read the whole thing each year, but a few stories here and there add so much charm to this season!

What will you be reading this Christmas?