Limiting distractions in your homeschool

This is a re-post on someone emailing me and asking me, "how do I eliminate distractions in the classroom" and "everyone needs me at the same time".  This is a fun and simple way I have did it in the past. It has worked and saved my sanity.

My kids love these wooden kids craft sticks. We had a lot of fun decorating them. Are you wondering how these cute wooden kiddos can help limit distractions in your homeschool?

That is where the cups come in. When I am working with one of the kids and the other one has a question, they take one of the sticks and puts it into the empty cup. They don't interrupt me and will wait patiently by the table until I am finished with the other child. Sometimes, they will go in the play area until I am done. This way they know that I noticed they need me, and also that I won't forget that they need help. ( I need lots of help remembering what I need to do next).

I had to do something with Bug. She didn't understand that mom is explaining something to the other kids and would just interrupt when I was teaching. It would make the others lose their attention and I would forget my train of thought. Usually it was stuff, like her wanting to tell me about something that happened a week ago or something that was not an immediate concern.

Now, all the kids are more conscious of what they need. They know if it is something that can wait until after school not to put the stick in the jar. At first it started out like that and I would politely tell them, "these cups are for things that can't wait until after we are done with school." It took them a few weeks to get it. Now, it has been such a big help. 

I started using these several months ago. I love it when something so simple can be such a blessing. I hope this can help you in someway or give you some kind of idea how it can help your family with distractions during school. I know someone is going to ask, "where I got the craft sticks?" I picked them up at Hobby Lobby for a few dollars. The cups I picked them up at Target on clearance. As soon as I seen the bugs on the cup I knew that it was perfect for what I needed. Better yet, my Bug is crazy for bugs. May the Lord bless you and keep you this day.