Homeschooling in Survival Mode ~
Written by Kari Patterson

My dad passed away three weeks ago. I wrote about him in my day-in-the-life post, how we live next door and the little boys run over every day. We helped care for him these last two years after my mom passed away.

She had Parkinson’s; he had leukemia. It’s been an intense few years.

We miss him daily and life isn’t the same without him. But I’m also finding that I’m finally coming up for air in terms of my schedule, that life has a little more space now.

I’m very aware that we were Homeschooling in Survival Mode most of this winter.

A dear homeschooling friend just went through a crisis due to her husband’s addiction. He was in rehab for 30 days, while she was on her own with four kids — two homeschooling, one toddling around getting into everything, and one six months along in her womb.

Pregnancy exhaustion + nursing + a toddler + single-parenting + homeschooling = Survival Mode

She texted our group thread asking for advice, and the flood of helpful responses inspired me in my own Survival Mode status. These caring and wise women rallied to encourage and support her.

So if you find yourself barely army-crawling through the days, wondering how on earth to homeschool through the craziness of Survival Mode, here are a few thoughts from my tribe:

5 Tips for Homeschooling in Survival Mode

1. Build stability as much as possible.

When things feel chaotic, it’s hard to learn. When we’re afraid or stressed, our capacity for comprehending new concepts or tackling coursework is extremely limited.

So I tried to keep as many regular routines as possible. Some were impossible — my little boys could no longer do their daily trips to Papa’s. I had to be away a lot caring for him, and I couldn’t take them with me.

It was hard. But we kept our consistent bedtime routine, we kept our read aloud time, we did our fun little letter worksheets, we continued all of our normal outside-home activities.

I chose to not feel guilty for leaving Dad in others’ care sometimes because it was important to keep a sense of stability and normalcy even in the midst of chaos.

2. Prioritize, and keep the must-do list short.

This is probably obvious, but some subjects can clearly wait. Do you HAVE to finish that unit on the life-cycle of frogs? I remember a seasoned homeschool mama of 9 children saying, “Just keep up on math. You can easily catch up on everything else, just keep up on math.”

And in my dozen years of homeschooling, I’ve also found that’s true. In really crazy seasons, we’ve made math and reading the only must-dos.

Tadpoles can wait.

Now, full disclosure: Sometimes the subjects that suffer are important ones. Our oldest (17) was definitely the hardest hit by this season, and he got so far behind in Pre-Calculus and Spanish he was overwhelmed and depressed and we realized there was no way he could catch up. We made the difficult decision to let him drop those two classes.

He’ll have to retake them next year, but he’s SO much happier and relieved to not feel like he’s hopelessly drowning in coursework. It is painful to feel like you’ve failed, for sure, but I’m grateful we were able to walk through this experience with him, and he gained some priceless lessons.

In the end, those lessons may be more valuable than Pre-Calc anyway.

3. Allow others to help.

Sometimes all it takes is a season of struggle for you to really find your people. I have found that in my times of weakness I’m amazed at how willing other moms are to step up and step in to help me.

But we have to let them. The day that my dad died another homeschool mama offered to take my boys to an Easter Egg hunt. It felt weird to send them off, oblivious to my sorrow, to run around and collect candy.

But I had to attend to details and they had to be gone, and I was grateful for the support, and by the time they were back around I was ready to navigate the grief with them. There are countless ways that other homeschool moms helped me through this season. But we have to let them.

4. Let the kids help.

Kids can feel powerless when life is crazy and there’s nothing they can do. Intentionally enlisting their help, in ways that are appropriate, will increase their stability and security like nothing else. 

Our teenagers helped significantly during both my parents’ final months and weeks. At 17 Dutch has now been a pallbearer twice. Heidi daily cared for two grandparents as they neared death. These are heavy things, but also good.

I was so proud of them, and I could tell that they felt good about being able to serve and make a significant contribution during a time of need. They both also spoke at Dad’s memorial, a learning and growth experience to be sure! The littles couldn’t be involved in that way, but they could “help Mommy”  with chores because Mommy was helping Papa.

5. Hold them, love them, keep them close.

While we certainly need to allow others to help, I also knew that more than ever my kids needed my nearness. There were times I could have easily given over the job of driving someone here, or being at a certain event, etc. but as much as possible, I tried to stay as close as possible.

As you know, most of the priceless, precious conversations we have with our children happen when we least expect it. We can’t schedule “Deep Conversation about Death & Eternity” into iCal. We just have to be there.

And if we stay close, as much as possible, we’ll get to be part of the most valuable part of their education: The growth that happens as they learn through daily life. I don’t want to miss that.

So dear friends, if you are homeschooling in survival mode, hang in there!

Know that you have a community right here who can rally around you as well. Drop us a line if you have questions, or just want to share what you’re going through.

We’d love to encourage you if we can.

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!

Homeschooling & Chronic Illness ~
Written by Lusi Austin from That Homeschool Life

We didn’t homeschool because of chronic illness. The decision was made to homeschool to support our autistic son’s needs 15 years ago. However as medical diagnoses came our way, homeschooling has become even more valuable to us.

At the start of our homeschool journey, I was in remission from my first auto immune disease diagnosis: a rare bleeding disorder affecting 3 in every 100,000 Australians. I’d had a splenectomy in 2005 after other treatments had failed. Prior to that illness, I’d never been sick in my life.

But all of a sudden, life became complex. There were medications to take, appointments to keep and ongoing paperwork. Then there were complications encountered post-splenectomy as I came to terms with having a very compromised immune system.

I remember reading once you have one auto immune disease, you are more susceptible to another. However I could never have imagined what that would mean for me or our family. Today as it stands, there are 12 auto immune diseases diagnosed between myself and our children (hubs has none).

Mine are ITP (Immune Thrombocytopenia Purpura), Raynaud’s Syndrome, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Secondary Sjogren’s Syndrome, Hashimotos Thyroiditis and Fibromyalgia. Between my children the diagnoses are ITP (also in remission now), Raynaud’s Syndrome, Ulcerative Colitis (Pancolitis), Coeliac Disease and Crohn’s and insulin dependent Type 1 Diabetes. Another child shows signs of Raynaud’s and there is a tentative diagnosis recently of psoriasis for one child.

I’m not sharing this for pity or sympathy. We actually love our life and have learned to accept the challenges sent our way (even while still acknowledging that things are very hard!) So why am I sharing this?

I share so you know you’re not alone if you too are struggling with homeschooling and chronic illnesses. I want you to know that it is not only possible to homeschool with illnesses, but that there are amazing benefits to doing so.

The gift of self-pacing

Being able to set the pace of our days, weeks and months has been one beautiful benefit of homeschooling. At the start of each week, we write up a big list on the white board. This has ideas for things we would LIKE to cover during the week.

We know we won’t always get through everything (or sometimes anything!), but we at least have something to aim for.

Sometimes we’ll wake up after our diabetic child has had a hypo (or two!) through the night leaving us more tired than usual. A flare for our child with IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) might mean that we cancel plans out in the community and stay home for the day. We have learned to set our own pace and this has brought us a sense of freedom and agency that has been very liberating.

Some days, we couch-school reading book after book or watching documentaries curdled up with snacks and blankets. It all depends on how we are managing and how we manage our symptoms. But rather than seeing these harder days as failures, we see them for what they are: the chance to connect and regulate.

Homeschooling and Chronic Illness

Sometimes the learning that we can manage is situational. If we are in hospital for a stint, we ‘count’ and record the learning that we are doing as we are there. Let me give you an example.

One of our children had to travel to receive monoclonal chemotherapy treatments. She was incredibly ill and there was no way that we could have tackled bookwork at that stage. So her learning revolved around where we were, what we did and what we saw while we were there.

During 12+ hour infusions, she was using a DVD series to distract herself and pass the time. We often talked about plot, character development and what she was loving about the series.  I took photos of that and I noted down the learning (part of the requirements for me in our State).

We pushed her around in a wheelchair and took note of all the amazing artworks, sculptures and photographs that adorned the hospital. Our rural hospital is small so this was a visual feast for the eyes. Again, I made note of this.

If she read a book, I noted it down. When she couldn’t find a video of what to expect with that treatment, she decided to make one for others. She took small videos and then edited them in an app on my phone.

This fitted in perfectly with technology and her photography elective that she was taking at the time. And by the end of those four weeks, we had an amazing collection of learning experiences.

Care is King

For us, taking care of ourselves means taking a read aloud to a local café. At other times, it looks like each of us staying in bed a little longer in the mornings or going for a walk. Caring for ourselves is another important life lesson and one that we can demonstrate practically to our kids.

Sometimes, caring for ourselves has meant accepting offers of help or outsourcing help when we’ve needed to. On a practical level it can mean pairing things up so we are making the most of our trips. For instance, if we are needing to leave the house to get needle tips for our diabetic child, then we might pair that up with stopping by the library or local art gallery since we are already out.

For anyone else homeschooling with chronic illness, I hope my sharing helps you feel seen and known.  It is my great hope that we are all able to find connection, encouragement and strength for each of our days.

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your type needs most!

5 Ways to Make the Most of Morning Routines~ 
Written by Amber O’Neal Johnston from Heritage Mom

Almost everything about our homeschooling vibe has changed over the years. Some aspects of what we do and how we spend our time are radically different from the early days, and others have shifted only minimally.

But an enriching morning routine is one thing that remains unchanged for our family.

These days I easily wake before my children. But even in the years when I was roused only by tiny lip smacks, and pudgy fingers literally pried my eyes open, we connected around the kitchen table every morning. There’s just something about starting our day with a predictable and pleasant cadence that sets the tone for the rest of our lessons and casual family time.

What you do during your morning time routine doesn’t matter as much as who you’re doing it with.

Every family has different priorities and interests, but the rhythms that pull you and your children closer together are the ones that you want to savor and make space for. It is more important to make the most of morning routines that are meaningful to your family.

Here are five ways to make the most of morning routines:

1. Prioritize kitchen table connections.

It doesn’t literally have to be at the kitchen table; that’s just where my family lands because we start chatting while enjoying breakfast. The point is to decide that the first part of your school day is spent learning, sharing, and being together in an intentional way.

When homemaking, outside work, or other commitments are piled high and the to-do list feels overwhelming, the temptation always exists to ditch morning connection in favor of a math lesson.

The struggle is real, and I get it! But you’ll never regret choosing to linger longer with interesting ideas and your favorite people.

2. Have a plan, even if it’s loosey-goosey.

You don’t have to schedule your family’s mornings down to the minute, but having a general rhythm in place helps you prepare and get the most out of your time. Write down what you’d ideally like to do during your morning table (or sofa) time. You may want to touch on the same things daily or create an entirely different plan for each day.

In our home, we mix it up with a little of each. Devotional, singing, poetry, reading aloud, and current events daily. Other things get rotated weekly or even just sprinkled in here or there.

3. Include other people when the opportunity arises.

My husband is present for a bit of our table time many mornings, but we also love to have grandparents, other family members, or friends who are visiting pull up a chair and join in the fun. It’s definitely a case of the more, the merrier.

I think everyone who has had the opportunity to participate in our morning routine has walked away feeling uplifted and inspired, and my kids enjoy nothing more than sharing their lives and learning with others.

4. Involve your kids.

It would be so easy just to sit and talk at my kids for an hour each morning because I have so many things to share with them, but lectures don’t breed connection. By incorporating my kids’ ideas and preferences into our routine, we’ve created something special that consistently speaks to us all.

5. Remain flexible when real life interferes!

There are some seasons when gathering for a beautiful morning feast with tea flowing and children smiling just isn’t realistic. Thankfully, this is not an all-or-nothing proposition.

Do what you can, when you can, with the full understanding that another season will bring a fresh perspective and opportunities to expand on what you’ve started, even if only in your heart.

With these ideas in mind, we’ve enjoyed years of fulfilling mornings, and your family can too! Let this be an inspiration for you to make the most of morning routines in your homeschool.

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your type needs most!

Now is the time of year for new beginnings. Yes, they can technically happen at any time, but the new year always feels like a fresh slate to sketch out our vision, update goals, and realign our practices with our values.

During this season of introspection and evaluation, I like to slow down, look back at what we’ve done so far in the school year, and update our homeschool schedule to best serve our family in the coming months.

I spend hours each summer working on the perfect-for-us homeschooling schedule. It’s not a strict hour-by-hour masterpiece, but rather a simple spreadsheet that informs each of us on what we hope to accomplish for the week. It also gives a snapshot of where we need to be and when, and it ends up being the heartbeat of our days and weeks.

Over the years, I’ve used different processes to create and streamline our schedule. Honestly, every strategy worked well for our age and stage, so I’m not a stickler for a particular system or format. But I am insistent on one thing: re-evaluating our schedule mid-year.

Things don’t always play out how I think they will when planning in the summer months. My children don’t learn evenly over a steady cadence, so someone will inevitably read or do more than I anticipated, and another will need more time than I allotted.

Outside commitments require different levels of engagement, and changes in my kids’ maturity levels and interests drive a need to reevaluate how we spend our time. And beyond the three Rs, other aspects of our daily and weekly rhythms shift through the months.

With all of this in mind, I follow the steps below to help frame our mid-year schedule updates:

1. Sit down to discuss all outside commitments as a family.

We have a heart-to-heart at the dinner table as we work together to determine what to keep and release for the remainder of the year. Once we’ve settled on our priorities, I add the outside-the-house commitments we plan to continue (or begin) to a blank schedule.

2. Review the current subjects being studied and the resources used for each.

I think about what’s working best for various subjects and try to be honest about things that simply aren’t moving the needle. I shift discarded items that aren’t working for us to a “parking lot” page in my notebook so they can be reviewed for future use since sometimes “no” is really “not right now.” I then add each subject to be covered daily or weekly to the schedule and write in the books or resources used for those subjects.

3. Add family house responsibilities (chores) to each person’s schedule.

This may seem odd for a homeschooling schedule, but I’ve found it necessary to view each child’s responsibilities beyond schoolwork to ensure their schedule remains realistic and balanced.

4. Consider in-house appointments or commitments.

In the past, I failed to give much attention to activities that didn’t require us to leave home, but in-house commitments impact our schedule just as much as other things.

Online classes or special teachers (piano, art, etc.) who come to the house to help with hobbies or interests must all be considered, and I layer those things in at the end.

5. Finally, I give the entire updated schedule one more careful review.

I go through it with everyone in the family to ensure they feel good about it before printing copies for each person.

Updating your homeschool schedule may sound like a daunting task to take on mid-year when we’re looking forward to smoother days instead of shaking things up.

But rest assured, the peace that comes from knowing that your schedule is serving your family in the best possible way more than makes up for the hassle or inconvenience of redoing something you worked so hard on.

When you expect and welcome mid-year changes rather than resist them, digging into the details and walking away with something better than what you started with makes the entire process a delight.

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!

4 habits that help our homeschool thrive in busy seasons ~
Written by Kari Patterson

After many years of slow homeschool days, limited activities, and just two kids, our season has certainly changed. I’m grateful for those years, but now with two teens we are in full-blown activity mode and throwing a couple extra kids into the mix hasn’t exactly slowed the pace.

With cross-country, theater, dance, ballet, voice lessons, and teaching literature, on top of our at-home lessons plus toting around two littles, life feels very full.

Prefer to listen instead?

Thankfully, seasons that stretch us force us to grow. Here are four helpful habits that help our homeschool through our busy season:

4 habits that help our homeschool thrive in busy seasons

1. Reset nightly.

It was my friend Mikaela who first introduced me to this idea of a reset. Instead of “cleaning the kitchen” we do a reset instead.

Each evening, in anticipation of another great day (wink), we do a reset. That means dishes are put away, and everything is put back where it belongs. Water bottles are refilled and placed in the cars.

Snack baggies are filled and put in the snack-grab bin in the pantry. Coffee pot is set. Car is emptied, returning random sweatshirts, school books, nerf darts or whatever else has migrated from its proper location.

Each home and routine is different, of course, but a nightly reset makes is so we aren’t starting out the day already behind. This is one of the habits that have helped our homeschool most.

2. Ditch the “all or nothing” mindset.

Maybe it’s just me, but often what keeps me from doing something at all is the fact that I can’t do it well, or can’t do it every day.

This year, I determined I was going to put some important habits in place even if we couldn’t do them perfectly or all the time. This meant an exercise schedule that was just 3-4days/week and included my little ones, a devotional time with the kids that was just 3-4 days/week (and included the reward of gummy bears if the littles sat still and had happy hearts!), a writing schedule that was just 1 day/week.

Sure, I’d love to do these things daily. But I can’t let what I can’t do keep me from what I can. The reality is, there are aspects of our lives that are outside of our control, and if I wait around for perfect circumstances in order to do what I believe is important, I’ll never do it.

If it is important, then three days of it is better than zero days of it. Two healthy meals are better than zero healthy meals. One workout is better than no workout. All those sporadic successes actually add up to a lot. 

3. Say a hard no to school on Sundays.

This didn’t apply when the kids were little, but now that we are neck deep in high school courses, there’s quite a bit of heavy-academic lifting. Each week the big kids create their own weekly schedule, planning out what work they will do each day.

If they can’t get something completed, it gets bumped to the next day, but Saturday night at 9pm is the hard deadline.

Because we’ve probably all been there, right? Trying to finish that paper late on a Sunday night and you run out of toner or your computer crashes or you stay up way too late and you’re exhausted the next morning and how’s that for a great start to the week? My hope and prayer is that Monday morning begins with rested students, minds that have mused, bodies that have slept or recreated, hearts that have worshipped.

Sunday is to our souls what the nightly reset is to our homes. 

4. Laugh.

My mom was a homeschool pioneer in the early 80s, and I’m still gleaning from her wisdom. In some of her old lesson plans, I found this index card:

Count the day lost in which your children have not laughed.

Laughed? You’d expect to see the word “learned”. But laughed?  That was my mom’s heart, and I am trying to make it my own as well.

I’m amazed at how simple it can be. For the littles, a funny voice or a silly face. Dumping all the warm laundry on their heads or “accidentally” making the bed on top of them. Right?! We know how to do it, but sometimes we forget.

For our teens it’s scrolling together through the Life of Fred account on Facebook, watching whatever YouTube video they’re into (mine love Corridor Crew and the Holderness Family), or getting creative and Rick Rolling them when they least expect it. Never gonna give you up!

Laughter doesn’t erase the hard things, but it sure does make them bearable, especially when the laughs are enjoyed together.

I hope these four habits that help our homeschool will carry you through busy seasons. Thanks for reading!

What’s Your Child’s Learning Style? Take Jamie’s new quiz now and set yourself up for homeschooling success by understanding the way they learn best!

Your Quick Start Guide to Homeschooling ~
Written by Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool

Everywhere I look online, I see parents trying to determine what is best for their kids as this new school year approaches.

I asked myself what I would want and need if I was considering homeschooling, and I decided I would want someone to simplify EVERYTHING and TELL ME WHAT TO DO.

Give me options and make them crystal clear. This post is my attempt to do so!

Would you rather listen to this post?

If you’ve decided to homeschool for part or all of this year, I’ve suggested below one easy way to get started (though remember it’s not the only way!).

Also, keep in mind these recommendations for academic/bookwork time based on age/grade:

• Pre-kindergarten: 15-30 minutes
• Kindergarten: 30-60 minutes
• Grades 1 & 2: 45 minutes to 1-1/2 hours
• Grades 3 & 4: 1-1/2 to 3 hours
• Grades 5 & 6: 2-1/2 – 3-1/2 hours
• Grades 7 & 8: 3 to 4-1/2 hours
• High School: 4-1/2 to 6 hours

Hopefully that has you breathing easier already! Now for more specifics.

Your Quick Start Guide to Homeschooling

Grades K-6:

Suggested focus for this age – Maintain (or reconnect to) your child’s natural love of learning!

One easy way to get started:

1. Order a BrainQuest (or other) workbook for your child’s current level.
2. Follow the 3 hour homeschool solution I’ve outlined previously.
3. Add in the power of home!

A bit more detail:

1. BrainQuest workbooks

Incorporate a bit of the 3R’s (reading instruction, writing, & arithmetic) into your homeschool days to keep your kids progressing in those subjects. It really is that simple!

These workbooks have around 300 pages, so help your child do 2-3 a day: one language arts page, one handwriting page, and/or one math page. (And because they would finish in only 100 days, you can take a break when it gets stressful!)

If your child can read and write already, ask them when they want to do their pages. Independently? With you at the table?

My kids used to like it when I would rip daily pages out of a workbook—that way they weren’t seeing ALL the empty ones still to come. It felt more manageable.

Use intentional bribery to motivate your child if necessary–don’t let this become a dreaded part of the day!

Is your child still working toward reading fluency? Then I also recommend trying Reading Eggs Online (4 weeks free) to help with the basics. Or if you want more structure and to do the teaching yourself, try All About Reading.

2. 3 Hour Homeschool Solution

Check out my post to find my recommended 3 hour plan for your homeschool lifestyle, including read alouds, book work, and intentional online learning.

3. Add in the power of home!

Don’t forget to use the building blocks of home to your advantage: chores, cooking and baking, discussions over a plate of brownies, playing with pets, board games, and whatever makes your family unique!

There is a learning opportunity around every corner.

If you want or need more structure:

With the above, you are covering the basics and beyond, so you don’t necessarily need a formal curriculum.

But if it would be a comfort to have a specific daily plan to follow, and your child would appreciate that structure, check out these all in one programs that go from PreK-12th grade: Oak Meadow (secular) or Sonlight (Christian).

Grades 7-12:

Suggested focus for this age – Deepen connection with your teen and keep track of their learning

One easy way to get started:

1. Use All in One Homeschool (a free, online curriculum) for subjects you need based on your state/country’s homeschool guidelines.
2. Find out what your child wants to learn about this year and count their hours.
3. Add in the power of home!

A bit more detail:

1. All in One Homeschool

This free, online curriculum offers daily assignments in a variety of subjects for all ages–pick and choose the essentials that your child needs this year. (Don’t try to do all of them!)

2. Ask your child; count the hours.

To homeschool older ages, you need to make it a partnership–otherwise each day becomes a battleground. When adolescents have the freedom to direct at least some of their education, it goes much more smoothly!

Set boundaries around what is and isn’t allowed during designated school hours, particularly as it relates to technology. But when it comes to their learning, involve your teen as much as possible in the decision-making.

Keep in mind that around 120 hours of work in an area equals one high school credit. If there’s something your child is passionate about and does a lot of already, those hours count! Your child’s piano practice and instruction becomes a music credit, and so on.

My 11th grade son needs a technology elective to graduate, so we created a “Lighting Design Technology” course that counts the hours he spends learning lighting design programming, something he was already doing in his free time since he hopes to work on Broadway.

Voila – now it has become an elective as well!

3. Add in the power of home!

With teens, having extra time to pour into their lives as a parent/mentor/friend can be an unexpected gift during this time–for them and you.

So don’t forget to use the building blocks of home to your advantage with your teens, too: chores, cooking and baking together, discussions over a plate of brownies, documentaries, and whatever makes your family unique!

I hope this quick start guide to homeschooling has lightened your load just a little–you can totally do this!

Yes, there will be tough days and moments as you find your way. But sometimes the best things in life are unexpected, and one year from now you and yours might just find that you love learning at home.

Please know that Simple Homeschool will always be here to help!

Have any questions? Ask below and we’ll do our best to help you out!

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!

10 morning routines to get your homeschooled kids up and moving ~
Written by Kris Bales of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Some days it can be challenging to get your family out of bed and ready for the homeschool day, but having a consistent morning routine can help.

Try these ten easy morning routines to get your homeschooled kids up and moving.

1. Exercise

Some kids wake up with energy that you need to harness. Others roll out of bed feeling sluggish and need something to get their energy flowing. For either type of kid (or adult), starting the day with morning exercise is a great idea!

Take the dog for a walk, get outside and jump on the trampoline, work out to an exercise video, or do a short yoga routine. Taking even 15-20 minutes to exercise each morning can be the perfect way to get everyone ready to start school with focus.

2. Breakfast and chores

If you’re like me and clutter drives you batty, beginning the day with breakfast and household chores may prove to be the perfect solution. When my kids were little (and all the way through middle school), they knew to check our chore chart first thing every morning.

I would straighten up the kitchen and dining room (our school area) or run the vacuum while the kids completed their chores. It gave everyone a chance to wake up and allowed us to start school in a clutter-free (for about 5 minutes at least!) space.

3. Morning meeting

A morning meeting is a fantastic way to get everyone on the same page before starting the day. The ages of your children will likely determine the details of your meeting.

With teens, it may just mean sitting down over coffee and going over their assignments for the day, making sure that they’re on track and don’t have any questions or need any extra help with a tricky concept.

For younger kids, you may enjoy a morning basket routine. Your morning basket may include books to read together, Scripture study, pieces of art to observe, some nature study journaling, or poetry.

Even if you don’t use a basket, this morning time is part of a predictable routine similar to the one I enjoyed when my younger two were in preschool. We’d have a letter, number, color, and shape of the week. We had calendar time where we’d discuss the months of the year and days of the week and add each days’ date to our calendar.

A morning meeting provides a gentle, predictable routine to start your homeschool day.

4. Music

Many homeschooling families like to start the day with music. The music may include a composer you’re studying, songs to help memorize facts (such as the state or capitals), or songs related to something you’re studying.

You may also use praise and worship or just-for-fun music. I used to always wake my kids with music blaring from our stereo speakers. (Yes, like an actual stereo with CDs, radio, and speakers and everything, not an iPod or phone playlist with a portable speaker. I’m old, y’all!)

I may have gone a little overboard because there are still songs that they associate with having to wake up in the mornings. It’s kind of sad to hear some of my favorite songs met with groans because of that association.

5. Videos

Other homeschooling families like to start the day with educational videos as a low-key way to get everyone ready to tackle the rest of their school day. We used to enjoy CNN Student News, which is now CNN 10, a ten-minute news show that explains news items that are making headlines and includes some general interest segments.

There are also tons of educational videos on YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. You could watch a documentary, the next video in a series about a topic you’re studying, or just a short, exciting clip you found online.

6. Read-aloud time

Another fantastic way to start your homeschool day is with read-aloud time. You may want to read while your kids eat breakfast or let everyone grab a cup of their favorite beverage and snuggle up on the couch or in a favorite outdoor spot.

You can read poetry, a captivating biography or historical fiction that relates to your current topic of study, or some just-for-fun books.

7. Bible study

Bible study is an excellent way to begin any day, homeschool or otherwise. I never wanted Bible study to feel like a school subject, but the best way to make sure it didn’t get neglected was to do it as a family before diving into our regular schoolwork.

When the kids were younger, I enjoyed Bible Study Guide for All Ages because we could all study the same topic but at age-appropriate levels for everyone. As they got older, we moved to the SOAP method of Bible study. We’ve also enjoyed scripture journaling with art.

The Scripture Memory Box is probably the one thing we’ve done consistently in our homeschool the longest. It’s simple and perfect for all ages.

8. Fresh air

Starting the day with some fresh air is a perfect way to get the wiggles out and get your daily dose of Vitamin D. When the weather permits, consider starting your day with some time outside.

You may choose to have a specific plan such as walking your neighborhood, playing in your backyard swing, or doing some nature study.

Or you may just prefer to let everyone run around and find their own ways to enjoy your time outside. Maybe you enjoy sipping your coffee or reading a book while the kids play in the yard or ride their bikes.

At our house, it’s a good idea for someone to throw the ball for our pup, Belle. Wearing her out before trying to concentrate on any kind of work is well worth the effort.

9. Free time

You may want to consider just giving everyone some free time before starting school each day. Giving your kids time to play video games, build with Legos, read a book, journal, or chat with other homeschooled friends makes for an effective way to prepare them to focus on school.

When starting the day with free time, I find that it’s smart to use another method, such as music, to transition to school. When kids hear the music begin to play, they know it’s time to start wrapping up what they’re doing. It’s much more pleasant for everyone than just cutting them off from their activities or nagging your children to put their activities aside.

10. Easy subjects first

My final suggestion is to start with easy subjects first. Some kids may prefer to tackle the hard stuff and get it out of the way, but my kids have always preferred doing a few easy tasks to get their minds warmed up for the day.

For us, this is usually stuff like Daily Grams, writing assignments, handwriting.

Discovering a routine that works for your family doesn’t have to be a big production. Sometimes all it takes is a simple activity that signals to everyone it’s time to start school.

What is your family’s favorite way to start your day?

What’s Your Homeschool Mom Personality? Take Jamie’s quiz now and receive a free personality report to help you organize your homeschool based on what your personality type needs most!

Written by Kara Fleck.

Whether it is a string of monotonous days, the need for a fresh take on a subject, or a little boredom creeping in, sooner or later almost everyone finds themselves needing some variety in the routine.

While I value dependable routines as much as the next person (maybe more) I know my kids appreciate shaking up our normal daily rhythms from time to time.

As a parent who is in her tenth year of this homeschool journey, I crave variety, too.

10 fresh takes for your homeschool routine

1. Location, location, location. Need a change of scenery? Our backyard picnic table and swing often save the homeschool day.

Move math to the driveway and work problems in sidewalk chalk. Do it in your pajamas and really make the neighbors wonder what you’re up to.

Gather up all your books and spread out on a blanket in the living room, like an educational picnic (real snacks are never a bad idea in my book), blanket fort optional but highly encouraged.

2. Take a break for some fresh air. Rain or shine, there are benefits to getting outdoors every day, even for a short time.

• Take a walk around the block.
• Do jumping jacks while you recite the alphabet or your math facts.
• Stand quietly on the front porch and take a few deep breaths.
• Make sun prints.
• Take a ten minute bubble blowing break.
• Stomp in the puddles.
• Look for rainbows after a storm.
• Build a quick snowman.
• Search for animal tracks in the snow.

3. Follow the rabbit trails. Don’t chain yourself to the schedule. There are so many interesting ideas, names, and places to learn about.

Take a week and watch that mini-series. Go to the library and check out all the books you can carry on the subject. Visit the factory and see how it’s made. Learn a recipe, or ten, from the time period you’re studying.

We have the freedom to drop the plans, scurry where our interests lead, dig deeper into what is really sparking our children’s thoughts, so follow those trails!

4. Don’t underestimate the value of a morning spent reading library books and baking.

5. Let your rhythms and routines reflect the seasons. The changing seasons are literally a living nature study.

Right now it still feels like summer. We haven’t been starting lessons until 10 a.m., allowing for lazy day sleep-ins. There are glasses of lemonade on our table and the wide open windows allow the cicadas’ song to filter in.

Last February, when the days seemed endless, we took every Friday off for an extra day of hibernation. Many winter mornings find us bundled in blankets on the sofa reading, sipping cocoa, woolly socks on our feet.

6. I know in some seasons of life they are easier to plan than others, but a field trip is a wonderful way to enrich a course of study, shake up the routine, and get some real world experience.

If you can’t actually get out there, take a virtual field trip.

7. See other teachers. My husband is more patient and proficient with certain subjects, so after dinner math time with him a few nights a week is a part of my highschooler’s routine.

My second grader recently discovered that the family cat is a patient friend to practice reading aloud with.

In my extended family we have a wildlife biologist, an entomologist, an electrician, beekeepers, an English teacher, and more. All people who love our kids and are happy to share what they know.

This isn’t even yet considering the people in the community, like our art club teacher, theater director, athletic coaches …

8. Adjust the assignment. Originally my son was going to draw the animals he has been studying but instead he’s been sculpting them in play doh. He’s enjoying the hands on creativity and I’ve been loving what he comes up with.

Does it have to be a written report? Could your child give an oral report instead? Or draw a comic? A scene in Lego? A dinner time round table discussion? If the goal isn’t specifically developing writing skills (and I know sometimes that IS the goal) but you want to gauge your child’s understanding of a subject, there are other ways to clue in as to what is registering and what needs review.

Elizabeth Foss has a list of alternatives to the typical book report that could easily be adapted to many subjects.

9. Learn in a group, across the grades. We started this year with a language arts main lesson block on the parts of speech – a new lesson for my eight-year-old but also a wonderful refresher for my fourth-grader. They enjoyed having lessons together and I enjoyed the two for the price of one teaching time.

10. Finally, let it go. If a subject feels forced or a child is digging in their heels, you might need a time out. Take a break. Try again tomorrow. Or next week. Don’t force what just isn’t fitting.

We once set a subject aside for months when it was causing daily tears and no breakthrough was in sight. When we came back to it my child was ready and things finally clicked, much quicker and happier than before.

What do you do when you need to add some variety to your normal homeschool rhythms and routines? Do you have any favorite ways to break up the days or add fresh perspective to a course of study?

The following is a post by Kari Patterson of Sacred Mundane.

One simple schedule-switch worked wonders for us.

One of the main reasons we homeschool is to have the freedom and flexibility to “go with” what life brings and what needs and situations present themselves, so we’re far from rigid. But though it’s fluid, we definitely have our daily routine, and I love it.

Except when I don’t love it because I hate it.

I mean this: For me there was this particular time of day I hated. Almost always. The time when we transitioned from our morning routine (chores, breakfast, etc. ) into formal learning, namely MATH.  It seemed that every book I read said, “Do math first thing in the morning, when children’s minds are fresh.”

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, right?

But every day, even though I knew my son knew the material, we would struggle. He would space off. Blank-stare for ten minutes at the simplest subtraction problems I knew he knew. I would push. He would cry.

Some would say, “Don’t worry about it! Just let him study what he loves.” If the subject were something peripheral perhaps I wouldn’t mind. But math matters! Some would say, “It’s the curriculum!  Get a new curriculum.” Certainly there are times to switch approaches altogether (and I may at some point), but I liked our curriculum.

So I did what many a desperate mom has done before me. 

Prayed!

And then something rather obvious occurred to me:

My son is not a morning person.

So why were we doing our most focused (and most challenging) material first thing, groggy-eyed and grumpy-tailed?

Then I did something else many a desperate mom has done before me.

Googled.

And interestingly, there is some research finding that time of day does greatly impact certain students’ ability to learn. And isn’t one of the benefits of homeschooling the ability to cater curriculum to each child’s needs?

Now, for those of us early-risers whose usual answer to everything is work harder, get up earlier, quit complaining, it can feel like a cop-out or really excessive catering to a child’s every whim. I didn’t want to do that. The world doesn’t revolve around whether or not you’re cheerful before 8 a.m.

But I most certainly wasn’t cheerful after waging the math-war each morning, so it was worth a try.

To my surprise, it worked.

When I suggested afternoon-school to my son, his eyes widened, incredulous. It seemed too good to be true. “You mean, in the morning I get to play?”

“Yes, after your chores you can read and play. We’ll do math after lunch.”

To my delight he spent his mornings doing what kids do best — learning as they play. He read encyclopedias and whole novels in one sitting, played outside with sticks and rocks and imagined worlds at war. He did his own thing, mostly ignoring me. (Read: my house got clean!) Then after lunch, when he was full of fun and food, I brought out the math book.

He did his lesson in record time. Not just once, but over and over. Now, I’m not saying it’s perfect, but way fewer blank stares, way fewer frustrations, way fewer tears.

All this to say, as you pencil in your schedule for the coming school-year, consider circadian rhythms.

It might just take a slight schedule-switch to work wonders for your struggling student … and you.

Your turn: How have you found schedule and/or time of day influences your homeschool?  What adjustments are you making to your schedule for next year? Thanks for reading.

You know those homeschooling families that get up before the sun, do their morning chores, have a big hearty breakfast, and start school by 8:00?

Yeah, we’re not one of those.

Not that there is anything wrong with being one of those families. To be honest, I can see many benefits in being early risers and many days I wish we were. However, we just aren’t.

We’re a family full of night owls who aren’t especially friendly before at least 10:00.  We start slowly in the mornings, we don’t like to eat for the first couple of hours that we’re up (well, except me — I’ve learned to eat early since I’ve started running), and we need some time to warm up before anyone can expect more than grunts that pass for conversation from most of  us.

That’s why part of making school simple for us means that we don’t start school at 8 AM. Or 9 AM. Or even 10 AM. On a good day, we start by 11 AM.

I used to stress over our late-starting tendencies. I used to try to get everyone up and get school started by a time that is more socially acceptable in both homeschooling and public schooling circles. Those attempts resulted in a stressed-out, grumpy mom and sleepy, irritable kids.

So, I quit forcing a routine that didn’t suit our family.

We are night owls. Period. One of the benefits of homeschooling is that we can work by the schedule that best fits our family. We do our best work in the afternoon, so why fight that? I once asked my husband about our schedule and he actually prefers the days when we aren’t quite finished with school when he gets home. It allows him time to unwind before the kids are demanding his attention.

So, I usually get the kids up sometime between 10:00 and 10:30, after I’ve had my quiet time and my morning run. We do some basic household chores, have our Bible lesson, and do some light schoolwork before stopping for lunch around noon when they’re typically ready to eat. Then, in the afternoon, we tackle the bulk of our schoolwork.

Do I worry that my kids won’t be able to handle a more typical schedule when they get older and have jobs? No. I worked a traditional first shift job before I became a stay-at-home mom. I didn’t like getting up early, but I adapted and so will they. They may not even have to adapt. After all, somebody has to work those second and third shift jobs.

Does it get hectic sometimes? Occasionally, when we have commitments in the early afternoon and evening. Usually, though, we just adjust our schedule when we have to. We’re homeschoolers; we’re flexible. We may not like it, but we are capable of getting an early start.

For the most part, though, I have come to terms with the fact that our homeschool may not look like other families’ homeschools – at least, not between the hours of 8 and 11 AM – but that’s okay. It’s not supposed to because it’s our homeschool based on our family’s needs.

That means it looks just the way it’s supposed to look – for us.

What time does your family usually start school?