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Unorganized and Homeschooling

Hi! I’m Wendy, and I’m an unorganized scatterbrain. There, I said it. But I have good news! I’m unorganized and homeschooling! As a matter of fact, this is my 20th year of homeschooling, I have two homeschool graduates and am currently homeschooling my youngest child, and I am evidence that even imperfect moms (very imperfect!) can homeschool and be successful at it.

No matter where you are on your homeschool journey–whether you’re brand new or have homeschooled for years–I want to remind you that you can do this! Honestly. In fact, let’s do it together!

But I need to be honest with you. No matter how many years you homeschool, you’ll never have a perfect homeschool year. Every single year will be different. Every year will have its challenges and rewards. After all, this is real life!

My house isn’t always clean. I don’t always have dinner ready when my husband gets home from work. My kids don’t always say the right things or behave nicely in front of others. But guess what? I’m a real person just like you! I’m imperfect. I get tired. I forget to be thankful for my blessings. I fuss too much at my children. I don’t always set a good example. But each day, each month, each new year is a chance to start over. To pick up where we left off and begin again.

So don’t worry if your homeschool is a little disorganized and chaotic. Don’t worry if you don’t get everything done every day. Don’t feel like you have to be perfect, your house has to be spotless, and dinner always has to be cooked from scratch and ready on time. It will be ok. You CAN be unorganized and homeschooling at the same time.


I’m here for you. All of us here at Hip Homeschool Moms are here for you. We want to inspire you, challenge you, support you, share information with you, and help you be the best mom, wife, teacher, and person that you can be. We want to be a place you can come for advice, information, answers, and support. I’m not perfect. We’re not perfect. But I’ve learned over my 20 years of homeschooling that perfection isn’t really what we need. Love, support, determination, and hard work are what we need to succeed.

So as you live this homeschool lifestyle, we want to hear from you. We want to be here for you. We want to know what you need and how we can help you.

What do you want to learn more about? What kinds of resources do you need? Are there questions we can help you answer? Please leave your comments, questions, and suggestions for how we can help you in the comments. We don’t have all the answers, but we can work together to help you find what works for you and your family.

Trust me. If I can do it, so can you!

It’s my prayer that you and your family enjoy many happy homeschool years! Let’s do this together!

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38 Comments

  1. I’m unorganized and a scatterbrain! My husband and I have decided that we want to try homeschooling our 4 year old little boy. I started homeschooling him in pre-k this past September with no “real” curriculum just things found on Pinterest. It’s going well so far and we’re about to start back up over the holidays. I’m all on board to homeschool as long as I can…my challenge is trying to convince my husband that I can and will succeed. He knows I’m unorganized and scatterbrained, we’ve been married 10 years (11 this year). Any tips or advice?

    1. Hi,

      I feel I can speak to this because I can relate. I can say affirmatively that I used to be very disorganized and scatter-brained as well. With God’s help, this has improved significantly, but the challenges have been awesome teachers and character builders! Over the holidays, I was reminded about the effort I need to put forth to continue improving in the way of balanced thought and emotions when I was at the grocery store. It came from the clerk when she said, “Don’t forget your noodle.” Possibly with reference to the package of pasta I had on the cash counter but I replied, “Thanks, I needed that reminder.” Since I was beginning to get overwhelmed with the busyness of the holiday season. I was reminded that in all things, especially when the emotions run high that the power or will to apply reason is important to acquire a balanced perspective on matters. This is harder than it sounds because it requires letting go and letting God and a letting go of too much need to control.

      My advice and for those for whom this message may apply: Don’t forget your noodle!

      Peace and God Bless!

  2. Thank you so much! I needed this! We just started our first year this 2016-17 school year, my daughters are 11 and 9. They love it and never want to go back to public school! I still doubt myself though! Hopefully as time progresses I will become more sure of myself. I worry all the time I’m not teaching enough, tracking enough (we live in PA and have stricter homeschool laws), being creative enough, etc. We homeschool at the dining room table, I’m not crafty or good with Pinterest lol! One of my resolutions for this year is to stop comparing myself to other homeschool moms and become more confident in what we do in our school. Thank you so much for this article!

    1. You’re very welcome, Beth! I’m glad it helped to encourage you! You might want to spend some time looking around on our site. I think we have lots of information here that can help inspire you and give you ideas for your homeschool. Also, don’t worry if you’re not great at crafty things. I’m not either! My kids actually prefer a more traditional textbook approach to homeschooling. Then they use their free time to do creative and artsy-crafty things. 🙂 Your homeschool doesn’t have to be the same as anyone else’s!

  3. Wondering – how many weeks have you taken off homeschooling older children when a new baby is born? I’m homeschooling 1st grade with my oldest, have twin toddlers at home, and am expecting a baby in March.

    1. Joy, when we built our house, we didn’t do school from August through December. Then we picked back up in January and schooled through the end of the summer until we were finished with that year’s work. (We did leave out some of the less important things that year, but we made sure to hit all of the important things.) Many of us still have the traditional school model in our heads, and it’s hard for us to give ourselves permission to deviate from it, so give yourself permission to do the year differently! 🙂

  4. Wendy, thank you so much for such an encouraging post. a couple days ago, I took a serious look at a private Christian School in the town over from us. I just felt like I couldn’t school anymore, because I feel like sometimes I just not cut out for it! My patience is at zero, my house is a mess, I just don’t know how to do it sometimes. I’m very unorganized kind of go with the flow person which seems to be at my downfall right now. I’m feeling better about it today, I guess my question is how do you manage homeschooling and keeping up with the housework? I have a 6 year old 4 year old 3 year old and 2 year old in the house. They’re very good at making messes, and terrible at cleaning them up! I feel so mentally exhausted after I do school with my 6 year old that I don’t even want to try and do housework. Any suggestions?

    1. Hi Lindsey! I’m sorry you’re feeling overwhelmed! That happens to all of us at times. But I’m glad you were encouraged by the article I wrote, and I’m glad you left this comment/question! First, it really does get easier as the kiddos get older and are responsible for more of their own school work and can help more around the house. I know that seems far in the future, but you’ll be surprised how quickly it gets here! My first thought when I read your comment is that you may be trying to do too much with your 6-year-old. Students at that age really don’t need to be doing more than 2 hours or so of school work a day. And if you’re worn out at the end of school, maybe the work is too hard or doesn’t fit your child’s learning style. (But more likely you’re just trying to do too much.) Another thing to look at is that your children (especially the 6- and 4-year-olds) can and should be helping in the house. No, the towels won’t look beautiful if your 6-year-old folds them and the toys won’t be perfectly organized if your 4-year-old puts them away, but that’s ok. When our kids are little, our houses aren’t going to look like those in Better Homes and Gardens. Meal planning is something else that may help you find more time in your day. Not complicated, time-consuming meal planning. I mean planning that calls for PB&J for lunch every Monday and spaghetti for dinner every Thursday evening and that kind of thing. Or eat leftovers for lunch each day. Or even grapes and cheese cubes! In other words, simplify everything you can. Involve the kids when you can. Relax your standards. Another thing that helps me tremendously is trying to get to bed at a reasonable time each evening. (Easier said than done–I know!!) If I’m so exhausted that I have to go to bed while the house is still a mess, I’m much better able to get up in the morning and quickly tackle the mess. If I’d tried to stay up and clean the night before, I wouldn’t have gotten it done, and it would have ruined the next day too because I’d have been tired all day. So think about what works for you and your family and don’t be afraid to make changes. But don’t make it complicated! Keep it simple. I promise it will get easier, so hang in there!

  5. I sure needed this I was getting ready to put my son in a private school.We have been unschooling for 2 years doing very little.I have been working with my son on somethings but he does not show any interest in learning.O no I shouldn’t compare him to other children but sometimes I can’t help it.I see younger kids in 1st grade reading on a 3rd grade level or how other kids are doing so much better.
    I can use any advise I can get.I have a 11 yr old son and I am having a lot of trouble getting him to do school work.His math is on a 1st grade level and his reading is maybe kindergarten.
    Now he likes to cook and is getting real good at it.Just wish he would learn to clean up when done.He helps with cleaning
    Please any advice I can get that would help.

    1. One of the best things you can do is request to join our Facebook community. We have lots of moms there who can give you information and advice as well as encouragement. Just go to this link to ask to be added: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HipHomeschoolMomsCommunity/. (It may take a few days to get approved because we get so many requests.) Another thing to consider is the possibility of learning problems or vision problems–anything that might be causing your son to have trouble or resist doing school work. Those are important considerations!

  6. Well, it’s good to know I’m not the only one that’s unorganized and a mess most days!! It’s our first year homeschooling and most days I feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants!

  7. I’m unorganized and scattered as well. This is my first year homeschooling. I and my husband decided to homeschool after noticing our girls really are not being taught anything. They were also being bullied by students and at time adults . So far we are doing good and I think it will better for both our girls in the long run.

  8. Thank you! My kids are little so I’m not super worried about our scattered schedule or this-n-that curriculum. Play is an important part of learning at this age. However, I’m concerned that my lack of strict routine will have to change as they get older. I just can’t do a strict routine. It’s nice to know where to go if I need some help and encouragement down the road. 🙂

  9. This is our first year homeschooling our kindergartener and 3rd grader. Some days it just seems impossible to get their schooling finished and pay attention to our 3 year old as well. This gave me hope! Thank you!!!

  10. This post is inspiring and relieving to hear! This is my second year homeschooling. There have been days where I feel like we are behind because of appointments, unexpected things come up, and just flat out tiredness. It feels nice knowing I’m not the only one! Thank you for keeping it real! ?

  11. I know I want to homeschool! I’ve joined a good homeschool group and my 5 year & 3 year old loves to do anything I pitch to her. Yet, I don’t know where to even start. How do I plan our day? Where do I even start with lesson planning? I feel overwhelmed with even beginning, and at the same time I feel like i need to get the house organized and caught up before I should begin our official homeschooling journey..,.

  12. This was a wonderful article! I will take all into thought and consideration after reading this article. I am a first time homeschool mom and sometimes I can attest to the not so perfect homeschool day. I am so thankful for the flexibility as life happens. So far it is going alright but I need to get the routine downpacked as far as timing and how long to homeschool. God bless you and thank you that as a mom, wife, teacher, referee, negotiator, you name it….we will be ok.

  13. Life seems to be happening much more often than school because of needing to travel several days a week due to a family situation. We’ve simplified school (only doing the basics) and gotten organized enough that it travels with us, but it’s still so hard for the kids (8th and 2nd) to keep up. Any suggestions?

  14. This is especially good advice for moms like myself that I actually work full-time but still participate in homeschooling our kids! My husband is a stay at home dad and teaches on the days that I’m not there. But it is certainly a family affair and my priority cannot be our neatness. It has to be our family. Thanks!

  15. This is me. This is my home School approach. I always say it’s an organized chaos… and I’m only half right. But my tribe of 5 are learning every single day. They are happy and healthy. And that is what is important.

  16. Thank you so much for this!!! As a mom who is just dipping her toes into the waters of homeschool, this really hit home!! My greatest concern is that I will be a stumbling block due to my less than organized tendencies! Thank you so much for sharing this and creating such a fun and vibrant community! So excited to explore it more!

  17. The comparison trap is so easy to get into. I have a junior and twins in 9th grade. When they get older it becomes apparent that even the well intentioned fellow homeschoolers think all kids should go to college. I know our family is different and I truly dont know if my kids will fit in a college setting. I’m trying to have the mind set of ..plan as if they are goin and get them ready and if they choose another path, that is okay. God has it all planned out for them and I can put my trust in him. There have been many times I feel ill equipped to homeschool and that is when I’m on my knees allowing Christ to take over. He has never failed me! ??

  18. I would love to have surprises in my mailbox especially for those hard homeschool days!
    Thank you for sharing your story.

  19. Love the article and had to share it in our homeschooling group! Thanks for the “monthly” give-away opportunity!

  20. I have been homeschooling for two years now, going into our 3rd. The first year was SO FUN! I work from home so our boys and I just ‘worked’ together during the day and it worked out so well. They were 15 and 11…Last year we were building a home and we lost our Grandma, so basically I’m confessing-we muddled through the year. Now I’m dealing with a 17 year old and a 13 year old. Their schedules are very different now and I finally made my first transcript! NAIL BITING MOMENT, you guys!!! haha My biggest issue is trying to figure out hours he’s taking versus how many he HAS to take to graduate and making sure I’m getting the right subjects in. I think we’re way overdoing it this year considering he’s also taking a local trade school 3 hour class (for the entire school year, every day) and working. Even typing it looks messy! Any thoughts?

    1. When my son was in about 10th grade, I started working on keeping a transcript for him. (I should have started sooner, but I didn’t.) I wrote down each class he had done in 9th and 10th grades and compared them to what students need to graduate in our area. For example, if he studied world history but did lots of reading for the class, I also gave him a literature credit. So on his transcript, I gave him 1 credit for world history and 1 credit for literature. Then I looked at what he still needed in order to graduate and/or get into college and made sure he took those classes or equivalent classes during his 11th and 12th grade years. This worked very well for us and helped me make sure he took everything he needed to take to graduate and get into college.

  21. OH, and by the way, you just being genuine makes other mommas take a deep breath and relax the shoulders. WHY are we not nicer to each other by just being ‘real’ more often? Holy moly, wow. LOL Thank you!

  22. I needed this. I sort of had homeschooling thrust upon me due to my son’s private school closing suddenly and while I’m confident I won’t ruin him, I’m anxious about making it work.

    Thank you.

  23. Hello, my husband and I are both teachers and I am currently a stay at home mom, subbing at the local school. We have decided that I will homeschool our daughter next year. I have no idea on where to begin, she will be in grade 7.

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