Kortney Garrison

Lazy Genius Your Homeschool–Principle #3: The Magic Question

14 July 2021 by Kortney 4 Comments

This might be the question that rules all others! What can I do now to make homeschooling easier? There are, of course, a million ways to answer this question–that’s the beauty of Kendra’s work. She’s offering principles. Not hacks, but ways of thinking that can guide your own decisions.

One (tiny!) shift that has made all the difference for us is the Homeschool Shelf. We have one shelf where the homeschooling books for the year live. It’s actually an end table with a shelf on the bottom that my parents got as a wedding present over 50 years ago! Just this one place. Textbooks, free reads from the historical era, picture books that we own–this is the place I stash things as I come across them or they arrive from the bookstore.

I also have a morning time basket and shelves for our notebooks and workbooks. When it’s time for school, everything we need is in one spot. And when school is over, there’s one place where everything returns.

This isn’t rocket science, and it certainly won’t solve all your problems. But this one trick saves my bacon regularly! And that’s the heart of the magic question. What can I do now to make things easier later? It’s very hard to homeschool if you have to track down what you need before you ever get started. Having a dedicated shelf means things have a home, and we can begin our work with ease.

These first 3 principles work so well in tandem. I’d put them in reverse order: Magic Question, Start Small, and Decide Once. If you just used these 3 to guide your homeschool planning this year, you would be so far ahead of the game!

Which principle resonates most with you?

If you are new to The Lazy Genius, here’s the Starter Kit! 20 episodes that will get you energized and moving in the right direction!

And you can find all the posts in this series right here.

Lazy Genius Your Homeschool–Principle #2: Start Small

26 June 2021 by Kortney Leave a Comment

{If you happen to be reading this on June 26th…the Kindle edition of Lazy Genius Way is on sale today for $1.99. Very much worth it!}

Is there anything more daunting than dinner? Every single day. It takes an unbelievable amount of energy and thought to plan, shop, prepare, and clean up meals. One clue to the difficulty is in that list. Meal planning is a project with many steps instead of a single task that we can quickly mark off.

When it comes to meal planning, there are all kinds of classes and products and systems aimed specifically at homeschool moms. And I’ve taken some of these classes and learned so much! But really, meal planning is an approachable place where you can start small and see real benefits.

Start doubling one dinner each week. Just once. Eat one and freeze one.

Blessedly, this is not a fill-your-freezer all day cooking event! This is just one extra. For the long co-op day. For the end of the week. For an easy weekend meal. Or just for a Tuesday when you’re already tired. Here are a few casserole meals that we eat that are very easy to double.

One already prepped meal isn’t going to change everything. There are still the other 6 dinners that need making. But starting small creates a tiny bit of margin, a little breathing room. And that’s not a small thing.

“Small is beautiful” could be the motto of our homeschool, so this principle feels very intuitive to me. Here are a few more places you might consider taking small steps.

Sometimes, it can feel like the small things don’t really count. If it’s not big and flashy, if it’s not a part of a curriculum or a program, it’s not really school. Small feels pedestrian.

But really, small is where we can take action. Small is repeatable. Small is sustainable.

If you are new to The Lazy Genius, here’s the Starter Kit! 20 episodes that will get you energized and moving in the right direction!

And you can find all the posts in this series right here.

Lazy Genius Your Homeschool–Principle #1: Decide Once

19 June 2021 by Kortney

As the school year winds down, my mind has started to cast forward to next year. Booklists, supply lists and schedules oh my! This will be our first year homeschooling high school. So Summertime prep feels different, a little more urgent.

I’m a big fan of Kendra Adachi’s new book called The Lazy Genius Way. I borrowed both the Kindle version and the hardcopy from our library. After tearful returns, I decided I probably needed to own my own copy! The straightforward book offers 13 principles to help you decide what matters and focus your energy, attention, and creativity there.

I thought I’d spend the summer sharing each principle and how we’re using it in our homeschool–just one way the principle might apply. The idea isn’t necessarily to copy what we’re doing, but to see how the principles might work in your own homeschool, the place where YOU are the expert!

Let’s get started with Lazy Genius Principle #1–Decide Once.

This principle helps us sidestep decision fatigue by clearly choosing what we’ll do in a given situation–just one time. So for example, at our house school starts at 9 am. Yes, we have the flexibility to start late. Yes, there are exceptions. But I never have to decide if it’s time to start school. I’ve decided once that 9 usually works! And I don’t have to convince kids to leave Lego or puzzles or drawing. They know when it’s time to set those aside.

But the place where deciding once has helped the most is with procedure lists. Out of all the things that could count for “doing history” I decided once that we will listen to the Story of the World audiobook, do map work, and read occasional picture books. We do other things too. But this is the reliable pattern that I can plan and prepare for.

Has decision fatigue derailed your homeschool? Is there a place where you might decide once and reap the benefits of clarity and peace?

If you are new to The Lazy Genius, here’s the Starter Kit! 20 episodes that will get you energized and moving in the right direction!

And you can find all the posts in this series right here.

The Magic of Index Cards

30 May 2021 by Kortney

In a recent episode of her podcast, writing coach Ann Kroeker talked about the moment she got serious about writing. A visiting professor showed her class a box of 3×5 cards. On each card he had written the name of a poem and then all the journals where he had submitted the poem. After seeing his system for tracking submissions, Ann went to the bookstore and bought her own filing box and stack of cards. She was a writer! And this was how professional writers worked. This action marked the beginning of Ann’s professional career.

Although I use a simple spreadsheet instead of index cards, the process sounded very familiar. I think I started keeping track after an excellent class with Rachel Mindell. Keeping the spreadsheet updated is a small way to stay in touch with a larger, ongoing faithfulness to the work.

I will be using index cards in the coming weeks to participate in ICAD, Index Card a Day. The idea is to use a small, cheap, accessible medium and create something every day for the months of June and July. We’ve been participating for years and LOVE the community of creators that share their work. It’s a great way to welcome in Summer and share a tiny bit of creative work with kids.

Intrigued? You can learn more from (clockwise from upper left): Tammy @ Daisy Yellow, Amy @ Creativity Matters Podcast, Tammy @ Daisy Yellow, Teresa @ Right Brain Planner, and Amy @ Creativity Matters Podcast….every link is to new, inspiring words + art by these talented women! I hope the beginning of Summer is creative + nourishing.