Our Homeschool ROutine

By the end of a carefree summer, I long to get back into the routine of school. I enjoy a solid, daily rhythm and I’ve learned that it keeps our household more peaceful, too. I'm not quite ready yet for the summer to be over yet, but I'm quickly getting there...

A couple years ago, when I was caring for my four older children while pregnant with the Littles, I had a tough season. Nearly every night, I struggled with insomnia, but I still had to wake up early with the kids. I could get out of bed and keep the household moving, but with low energy due to pregnancy, I could only manage to accomplish one thing each day, such as a doctor’s appointment, shopping, play date, or library visit. So, if we had anything outside of the house on our schedule, homeschool would get bumped. But, the result of so little consistent structure is that every day was a fight to get our school-time started: I had to convince myself to do it (which was really hard!) and then I had to convince Peter, too. I needed to change the expectation from, “Are we doing school today?” to “This is a school day.” I’m happy to say, this past year was so much better; even when the quarantine changed some of our plans, it really only improved our daily routine because we were able to do the same thing each day and we all knew what to expect.

I try to see life from a children’s perspective: if I woke up planning on one thing (i.e. playing), but someone else made seemingly random decisions about what I had to do (sometimes we do school, but sometimes not), I would be frustrated and obstinate, too. With a consistent routine, my Bigs wake up knowing what to expect and, as a result, we have less whining about school. Even my preschoolers and babies behave better when we have an order to our day.

Routine versus schedule
In the current stage of my children’s lives, I don’t keep a tight “schedule” where we let the clock tell us what to do; too many distractions pop up during a school day (dirty diapers, boo-boos, accidents, messes) that would throw us off a schedule. I do need a firm start time, otherwise I’ll try to keep finishing one more chore. So, this past year, I called the kids together to start at 9:00, we took a snack break at 10:00, and then stopped for lunch at 12:00. Otherwise, we flowed from one part of our routine into the next. By sticking to a routine, we move on to the next subject or project without worrying about what the clock says.

A sample of our routine this past year
Now that the babies sleep through the night, I am able to wake up in time to shower and read my Bible before the kids get up. I will never judge the mother who rolls out of bed when she hears the kids screaming for their breakfast because I’ve been there! And, those rough days have given me a gratefulness for every quiet morning when I can get up first; peaceful mornings are so glorious.

After almost nine years of having kids, we’ve finally been able to set a realistic and consistent wake-up time for our children (soooo many mornings of waking at 6:00 to excessively cheerful children). The Middles have an okay-to-wake clock that flashes rainbows at 7:00 am to let them know that they can get up. The Bigs like to sneak into the Middles’ room just before it turns on so they can see it, too. Breakfast and morning chores (getting dressed, making beds, and unloading the dishwasher) follow.

I prefer to do school in the morning because I feel most productive and have more energy then - we haven’t gotten distracted by other activities yet. By the afternoon, I’m more apt to be worn out and my head is thinking about evening plans. William Blake says, “Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.” And, that works for us!

So, at 9:00, I herd everyone to the couch to read a picture book together. Some homeschoolers call this “morning time.” I began doing it because it cuts down on whining about lessons starting and eases us into school time - all my kids love to be read to. When the book is done, I move the kids into their activities starting with the youngest. The Littles have independent play-time in their crib or pack-n-play with a few toys. I give the Middles a not-very-messy activity that will occupy them long enough for me to do kindergarten with William. Our K program only takes about 30-45 minutes of actual sit-down time, which was plenty for my busy five year old.

At 10:00, we break for snack. Hungry kids are grumpy and whiny. I can’t handle whining, so I feed them. I feel like a good mom if I have home-made muffins on hand, but usually snack is a handful of pretzels or dry cereal.

After snack, I may give a toy from the shelf to the Middles, but I usually let William decide how to spend his freetime (he loves being outside, even by himself). Then, I focus on Peter until lunch. He will have already done any independent work, such as handwriting, copy work, or reading. We do his math lesson together, but then he does the workbook the next day during his independent time; I check his work during snack break. We save fun projects or science experiments for the end as incentive to get the not-as-fun stuff done.

Lunch is at 12:00. I serve leftovers or sandwiches so I don’t spend much time getting it ready.

Nap time follows. Being an introvert means that talking exhausts me. Even while loving to homeschool and be with my children, I need a break from them to make it through the day as a happy momma. Nap time is an hour where I don’t have to talk to anyone and I do what I can to maintain peace during that time. However, I have learned that it is more important to keep the school routine consistent. Therefore, I schedule most appointments in the afternoons, rather than during our morning school. Many times, that means the Littles only get a car nap that day (early bedtime!) and my only downtime is while driving, but a consistent day is more important for everyone’s attitude.

I allow about an hour and a half of TV and afternoon snack time when everyone gets up from their nap. The kids each have their own day where they get to pick what to watch. I love that this TV time extends the quietness of nap time because this is when I get household cleaning completed.

If my kitchen is a mess, I cannot cook in it. At 4:00 I move into kitchen cleaning and then make dinner. We eat between 5:30-6:00. The rest of the evening is cleaning up the house, baths, and bedtime. The Middles and Littles go to bed between 7:15-7:30. By 7:45, I begin reading a chapter book with Peter and William. We choose to put the Bigs to bed soon after for an early bedtime, but they both have book lights and are allowed to read on their own for a little bit before going to sleep. It’s so nice to have adult time with Michael after the children are gone for the evening. I joke that mom is off duty after 8:00. But seriously… she is.