Are you trying to juggle homeschooling, housekeeping, and your children’s outside activities? It’s important to protect your family’s schedule, but once you’ve decided what’s most important for your family then you have to manage your new schedule. Routines can help you keep things running and stay on top of your new schedule at the same time.
There are five different routines that can make a big difference in your school week if you develop them and stick to them as much as possible.
Cleaning Routine
It’s hard to homeschool well in a messy home, because as you’re sitting there teaching your children you’re distracted by what needs done. Working a cleaning routine into your daily schedule allows you time to get the cleaning out of the way so you can focus on your children instead of the dishes.
Take 15-30 minutes before school each day to clean the kitchen and tidy up other areas of the house. A lot of ground can be covered in a short amount of time especially if everyone is helping.
Morning Routine
You may not realize it, but most likely you already have a morning routine. Most of us have naturally developed a routine that we follow after we wake up and it sets the tone for the rest of the day.
Is your morning routine helping you accomplish what you hope to with your day? If not, fine tune your morning routine with the steps I layed out in this post.
Evening Routine
Spending a few minutes in the evening preparing for the next day can make a huge impact on how your day gets started. There’s actually quite a few things that you can do the night before to help the next day run even smoother.
To develop an evening routine consider a few things:
- What is on your morning routine that you can prepare the night before? Even something as simple as laying out your clothes for the next day can help.
- Is there something you can do in the evening that will help you start your day with less stress? For me, that’s making sure the kitchen is clean. It’s not fun waking up to a dirty kitchen and it only takes 15-20 minutes to clean it after dinner.
- What’s on Your Calendar? Don’t be surprised in the morning by an appointment you had forgotten about.
After School Routine
After a long school day an after school routine is often overlooked, but it can make a big difference in keeping your homeschool organized. It takes only minutes and helps the next school day run smoother.
No one likes wasting time trying to find the book they need for a particular subject, so as part of your after school routine have everyone put their books and supplies away where they belong. For more ideas about putting together an after school routine this post might be helpful.
Get out the Door Routine
Does your family participate in outside activities, like sports, co-op, special classes, or church activities? If so, a get out the door routine can be very beneficial.
Here are a few tips for developing a get out the door routine:
- Start the night before.
- Lay out your clothes.
- Put backpacks and equipment by the door or even better in the vehicle.
- Pack lunches.
- Think ahead about dinner. Does something need set out to thaw or put in the slow cooker?
- Keep breakfast simple.
- Plan on leaving 10-15 minutes earlier than you need to.
One Last Thing
Routines take some time to establish, but once everyone has done them consistently for a few weeks they become second nature. They are well worth the effort it takes to get them going. I hope these routines will help your homeschool week run even smoother.
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Sarita Harbour is a busy mom/step-mom, and grandmother blessed with seven kids ranging from age 32 down to seven. She lives off the grid with her family in a lakefront chalet in the beautiful wilderness of Canada’s far north. She spends her days teaching, writing, and learning the ropes of homesteading off the grid. Visit her site, Off Grid Life, for free printables and resources on homesteading, homeschooling, and self-reliance for the whole family.
