Works For Me Wednesday: Mom’s Retreat

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It’s nearly time for my annual mom’s retreat — a day of peace and quiet set aside for the purpose of planning. I try to take myself, a legal pad, a pen — and, this year, my laptop — away from the kids and the distractions at home and head to a local coffee shop at least once a year, before we start our new school year, for a day of planning our school year.

I have a nice lunch while considering the direction I want our school to take for the upcoming year. This is a great time for taking a look at our routine — our wake and sleep times, the most logical and effective general framework for our days, and our outside activities. It’s also a good time to begin looking at a basic curriculum outline — what we’ll be working on, how long we’ll likely be spending on each subject area each day, what I want to finish when and even brainstorming any obvious hands-on projects (for example, I knew really early on that we’d be doing the paper mache Earth last year).

I find the the coffee shop is a great place to do this. It gets me away from the phone, the laundry, and my family other distractions, and it helps me to focus on the task at hand rather than getting side-tracked by all the other things I could be doing. It also gives me a sense of purpose for what I’m doing, so I tend to get more accomplished in less time than I would at home.

It doesn’t hurt that this particular place has really good sweet tea.

I think every mom should have at least one mom retreat a year and one each quarter would probably be even more effective. Time away to plan definitely works for me. Come back tomorrow for more detailed tips on the actual planning process.

Visit Kristin at We Are THAT Family for more Works for Me Wednesday tips.

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Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.

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17 Comments

  1. I'd ask if I could come, but somehow I don't think we'd get much planning done.

    I wonder if I can talk my hubby into letting me have a day off like this…hmmmm. 🙂 I might be able to talk my MOM into it!

    Jolanthe

  2. I've been thinking this would be beneficial to do. I have a hang up though. How does one plan the subject areas without bringing the stacks of books one plans to be using with the children? I'll be back to read your next posts.

  3. Thanks for visiting! I love your blog and have sent it on to one of my best friends who homeschools. Great ideas. Enjoy the mushrooms!
    -Lee

  4. @ Anonymous, I do sometimes bring along *some* books, but this is not where I do my detailed planning. It's more of a time to get a basic idea of schedules and such for our days, overall.

    For the detailed planning, I stay at home — with my stacks and stacks of books. 😉 It's really nice when my dh will take the kids out for the day for that one.

  5. Thanks for stopping by my blog! This is a great idea, I will be back tomorrow to read the details. I am a homeschooling mama also.

  6. I need a day like this. I have tried to do something like this, but while at home, with all of the distractions, and it just does not work.

    I need a quiet place, with nothing to interfere.

    I may ask the hubs to take Zoe for a few on Saturday, and I will hit up the coffee place at Border's so I can write some stuff up and peruse the books while I am at it.

  7. This sounds like a fantastic idea! I might ask my husband to give me this for a day soon. I could use the down time and our year definitely needs a plan!

    Jessie

  8. I started doing this too only I do a once a month at the library for about an hour in the evening. Just to regroup. I can't believe how much can be done without the distractions of home.

  9. OOOhhhhh!!! What a FANTASTIC idea!!! I always think of it as having to go away overnight (which I can't do right now) so a day away (even at the library—which I love). Thanks for the idea : )

  10. I think this is a fabulous idea! I myself try to have a mom 'retreat' about once a month, which my lovely hubby is very willing to give me as he knows what life is like when his crazy Asian wife is strung out on stress! Thanks for sharing this!

  11. Oh, this sounds so good!! I'm one of those who is going back into some of your archives for tips. =D (Just thought I'd let you know!!)

  12. I'm going to do this at home while my guys are away for the weekend!

    I just started checking out your blog and am getting some fantastic ideas! Thanks

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