Tips for Creating a Homeschool Daily Schedule from a Mom of 9
For all of you Type A homeschoolers out there, the words “structure” and “routine” translate to blissful harmony in the soul. Scheduling your school day is a no-brainer and is achieved oh-so-effortlessly. For the Type B’s (like me), those words are akin to a foreign language. It’s a language we want to know, but it’s something of an enigma that seems ever elusive.
Before motherhood, I could be carefree with no overt consequences. Fast-forward to the birth of nine children in the space of twelve years, and I assure you, I have learned the value of structure and routine in the homeschool day! Even if you know right from the get-go that your schedule will be majorly derailed by day’s end, I promise it will bring a modicum of peace and order to your household.
I love planners. I love to buy them. I love to write in them with pretty colored ink. (I also love to lose them somewhere in my Paper Mount Everest approximately one week after said colored inking.) Yet I doggedly type and retype, write, and rewrite my school goals and my laudable daily plans, and it really and truly does pay off. Call me indefatigable.
Planners may work for you. Or a family whiteboard in your mudroom. Even a simple editable Word document may be sufficient. Find whatever works, but write down your plans. Write your yearly overview and your weekly goals. Then, be willing to change them as needed. (Because the need is likely to arise five minutes into Day One).
In all seriousness, I actually spend an inordinate amount of time planning each homeschool year. I love books. I love learning. And I want to pass that on to my children. Our time with our children is limited, and we homeschool parents ought to be zealous in educating them. Of course, you will miss some things (school teachers do too)! Yet we must cultivate a passion for grounding our kids in great literature, solid theology, and a strong foundation in the Three R’s (Reading, Writing, and ‘Rithmatic). No one loves your children more than you do, so it is your privilege to ensure they receive a quality education, and you are absolutely qualified to give it!
Top 9 Tips for Structuring Your Homeschool Day
Here are my top tips for maintaining sanity in a busy school day, with each point detailed below:
- Schedule around meal times
- Write down your plan
- Be flexible
- Get your children independent as soon as possible
- Combine subjects as much as possible
- Read out loud together every day
- Be realistic
- Keep the big rocks, the big rocks
- Pray for your children every day
Schedule Around Mealtimes
We all have to eat several times each day, and I don’t see that changing in the foreseeable future. Get your meals on a routine. You will occasionally have interruptions that throw off your plans, but it is stressful for you and your kids if no one knows the approximate time to expect breakfast, lunch, and supper. My goal is usually to finish all of our school by lunchtime, which gives us about four good hours. It’s difficult, especially in the young years, to hold their attention much longer, and their free play is just as important as their structured time. My young elementary children get about one hour each of individual time with me, as I cycle them through, my upper elementary students are usually finished by 1:00 and my high schoolers work throughout the day on their own schedule. If you have fewer than nine children, you might be able to scrounge up a few more available minutes for schooling. Still, this schedule is realistic for me, as my kids, for inexplicable reasons, choose breakfast, lunch, and supper over extra math lessons any day.
Write Down Your Plan
A written plan can keep you focused. Refer to it daily, weekly, or monthly. There is not necessarily a right or wrong way to plan; the important thing is that you do it. Print off copies for your children if it helps them see the big picture. Make them checklists if that is beneficial. Ask them what they are interested in studying and take their interests into consideration. Allowing your kids to be involved in the planning process can give them a feeling of ownership and excitement for their school year.
Be Flexible
You know what they say about the best-laid plans of mice and men… I’m not sure how it works out for all mouse families, but I’m certain the homeschooling ones can relate to the tragic derailment of carefully crafted plans.
Flexibility is absolutely key to your happiness and your children’s happiness.
If you are too rigid and demanding, you and your kids will all feel stressed, and that stress will be a barrier to true learning. You might awake to a potty-training accident, a feverish four-year-old, a tree-climbing-induced concussion, and a feral heifer who has broken out of her pasture and is sallying across your front yard. (The likelihood of any or all of these occurrences on any given day is, for me, approximately one hundred percent.) You must be adaptable. If you hold too tightly to the beloved and beautifully inked plan, you will face the roller coaster of constant despair.
Get Your Children Independent ASAP
Write your children’s daily lists in a notebook that they can check off. I give them planners around age nine, make it a requirement to keep up with theirs, and bring it back at day’s end. My tentative goal for independence is third grade, although it may be sixth or seventh grade for some. The sooner you can have them taking ownership of their education, the more time you can devote to the younger ones or other exciting endeavors like laundry sorting.
Combine Subjects, When Possible
Science, history, art, poetry—there are many topics you can cover all together or in smaller groups. This has made our family more cohesive, as we are sharing the same memories and learning the same poems together. It strengthens sibling relationships and makes your job easier—a win-win!
Read Out Loud Together Every Day
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: if I only had time for one thing in my school day, it would be our reading hour together. I would rather skip all the “real” subjects if I had to choose between that and our chapter book. Fortunately, we won’t have to make that desperate decision most days! I have held to this philosophy since the beginning, and there were years when I felt my faith shaken. I internally agonized over the drift in math or spelling skills and fought the panicked desire to cancel reading time in order to focus on perceived weaknesses in their education. I even briefly considered canceling the cookies and milk that accompanied our special Reading Hour, which just goes to show what a desperate and dark moment I was truly experiencing.
Fortunately, I regained my reason and kept the preeminence of reading time, and I am so happy I did. My children are bright, inquisitive, creative, and happy and they love academics. Did I mention they are adorable too? (A perhaps irrelevant yet noteworthy point.)
Be Realistic
If you have scheduled eight hours of schoolwork into your day, kudos to you for shooting for the stars. I, for one, will not even attempt such a feat. You have to know your limits and your children’s limits. Schedule realistic goals. One of my hardest decisions is choosing what to add and what to leave out each year. There are hundreds of good books, courses, and extra-curricular activities. Sometimes when I scan our schoolroom shelves, I feel sad about the books we may never have time to read. But I smile to think of the books we have read, the memories we have made, and the relatively little stress we’ve felt because we aren’t rushing hither and thither to events and activities all week. It may seem like a great idea to sign up for several sports, theater, and art classes in September, but will you be dreading those commitments by December?
Keep the ‘Big Rocks,’ the ‘Big Rocks’
Set your priorities and stay focused. There is no rule that states you must complete every page in the workbook. But the Bible does command us to raise our children in the Lord. Character development and spiritual training are paramount. If you are dealing with toddler tantrums or sullen six-year-olds, addressing those attitudes might take precedence over your math lesson for the day. You won’t regret taking the time to instill character, values, and a love of God. Spend time in the Word every day with your family. For us, this happens at family devotions each night, but it may work better for you in the mornings. The biggest elements of our day are the three mealtimes, nightly family devotions, and our two family reading times (once in the afternoon and once after devotions). Everything else gets pegged in around those fixed points. After defining your big rocks, select which smaller ones to add and keep them in their proper place of lesser importance. Easier said than done, yet still worth doing!
Pray for your Children Every Day
Homeschooling can be hard. Life, in general, can be hard. Pray that you will have the fortitude, joy, cheerfulness, and perseverance to teach your children well. Pray for your children to have teachable hearts, a love for learning, and sweet relationships with each other. Most importantly, pray that God will draw you and them to Himself this school year and that you will grow together as you learn to love Him with your mind, soul, and spirit.