As a homeschooling mom of many with more than 20 years of homeschooling and parenting experience, I’ve learned a few secrets to make our homeschooling days easier.
When my son was an only child, homeschooling was a breeze. Through the years, we have added several more children to the mix. Sometimes those children were temporarily in our home, like our preschool-age foster babies. And then of course, there have been several biologically-born children that are permanent additions to our homeschool.
I have homeschooled children that are above-average in their learning (one began reading at age 4) and I’ve homeschooled children with learning difficulties (one didn’t read until age 8). Every homeschool year has looked different for us, and because of that, I have a lot of experience to share with you.
So now that you know about my parenting and homeschool experience, I’m excited to share these top 7 secreted I’ve discovered along the way to make our days easier. I hope and pray that these secretes will bless your family and help you have easier homeschool days as well.
On to #1…
Secret #1
Create a Homeschool Routine
Children thrive on routine, and many moms do too. Taking the time to create a routine for your homeschool will help bring a comfortable rhythm to your days.
A homeschool routine is not the same as a rigid schedule. That’s definitely not what I’m suggesting here.
What I am suggesting is that you establish an order to your day. Ours looks something like this…
Morning Meeting: Starting at about the same time each morning, we gather to read from the Bible, practice our Latin vocabulary, and read a short story.
Morning Tasks: Kids are expected to make their beds, get dressed, eat breakfast, and brush their teeth.
Individual Work/Tutoring: Each child works individually to complete some subject while I work one-on-one with those that need it.
Lunch/Chores: Most of my kids are double-digits, so they make their own lunch and clean up afterwards. After lunch, everyone has at least one chore to put the house back in order.
Afternoons: Some days we have co-op classes, sport practices, or free time to explore their own interests. Most academic work is completed by noon.
Call to Action: Take an hour or so to list all the things you’d like to accomplish in a day, and then eliminate unnecessary tasks.
Secret #2
Curriculum is a Tool, Not a Tyrant
There are so many curriculum choices available today, that you might find yourself overwhelmed. No matter which curriculum(s) you decide to use, make them work for you.
Many curriculums are set up to be “open and go”, meaning the lessons are pre-planned and pre-scheduled. Many moms, myself included, feel stressed when it’s Day 20 of the school year, and we’re only on lesson 12.
Curriculum is a tool to help you teach and train your children. It is not your master. Be on guard, and don’t allow yourself to be controlled by the curriculum.
Call to Action: Decide how you will use your curriculum, and remember that schools consider curriculum complete when 70% is done.
Secret #3
Don’t Try to Duplicate Public School at Home
While a routine is important to a smooth homeschool day, your children don’t need seven hours of school each day.
You don’t need school desks and a chalkboard, even though I do use a white board from time to time. 🙂
If little Johnny learns his spelling words best while jumping rope, let the boy jump! If it’s a beautiful day, go read a good book on a blanket under a tree. Learning is NOT confined to a classroom.
Call to Action: Relax. Don’t compare your days to a public school day. Remember that what you’re doing is completely different and much more efficient.
Secret #4
Require Daily Quiet Time
No matter a child’s age, I believe spending an hour or so of quiet time is good for the soul and the brain. It is a daily discipline that I have instituted since my oldest was the only.
Besides being good for the kids, a daily Quiet Time can be great for mom’s sanity as well. Personally, it has saved mine multiple times.
The rules for Quiet Time are simple. No one has to sleep, but everyone must be in their room, on their bed, doing something quiet.
Ideas for quiet activities include coloring, drawing, reading, listening to audio books, listening to music. At times, I’ve allowed building with legos or other quiet activities that can’t be done on the bed.
The main thing we don’t allow is screens or other technology. This hour is dedicated to relaxation and rest.
Call to Action: Decide the best time of day to add a Quiet Hour to your daily routine. If your little ones nap, that’s a good place to start.
Secret #5
Teach Your Kids Life Skills
You may think this tip doesn’t affect your homeschool, but I disagree completely.
When you homeschool, you also have the responsibility of all the regular household chores–laundry, dusting, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, meal prep and clean up, etc.
When your children are small, you will have to manage your home mostly alone. But I suggest that you begin to teach household chores to your little ones by the time they are three or four years old.
In our home, as soon as they were out of their cribs and into a toddler bed, we began encouraging them to make their beds. This was a simple task that included pulling the blanket up on their bed every morning.
We praised them and gave them high-fives to reinforce that the task was appreciated and important. Later, they were given age-appropriate tasks.
I get it! When they’re small, kids often make more mess than they clean up, but I’m telling you–it’s worth it in the long run!
The book, Life Skills for Kids, was a wonderful resource for us. And we found out our kids were capable of much more than we thought.
I have several teens and a preteen in the house, and they can do laundry, cook meals, and clean as well as I can. What a relief to have help in keeping our home, and I’m confident in their abilities to keep their own homes as they leave our nest.
Call to Action: Take a few minutes to consider all the household chores that need to be completed in a week, and make sure everyone has at least one age-appropriate task to complete.
Secret #6
Include FUN in Your Lesson Plans
Education is important. That’s true. But “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”.
When it comes to homeschool, all work and no play makes miserable families. Learning can and should be fun!
One simple idea to bring fun to your homeschool days is to turn everyone loose outside. Children need to spend a large portion of their day outside, and it doesn’t hurt mom to get some fresh air and sunshine either.
Aside from playing and exploring outside, here are a few ideas to bring fun into your homeschool.
- Draw something
- Paint something
- Play a game
- Bake something
- Go on a field trip
Call to Action: Everyone’s budget and available time is different. For ideas that will fit in any budget, check out my blog post full of fun ideas.
Secret #7 Give Grace!
Throughout your homeschool career, whether that’s one year or decades like me, you will have plenty of opportunities to extend grace to your children as well as yourself.
It is so important for yourself that you learn to hold yourself and your children to an achievable standard and not some always-out-of-reach standard that someone else has set for you.
After struggling through learning disabilities with one of my children, I’ve learned that PROGRESS (not perfection), is the best goal to have for our homeschool.
Call to Action: Grace is God’s unmerited favor, His goodness that we don’t deserve. Dear homeschool mama, decide today to extend grace to yourself and others.