You have dreamed of it: the perfect routine packed with productivity, sunshine, and joy. You have imagined bouncing out of bed only moments after hearing your morning alarm, enjoying your morning devotions, a quick workout, a relaxing shower and skincare routine, and having breakfast on the table before your kids even get out of bed. It all sounds so wonderful! You know you would feel put together if you could only figure out how it is really done, but you do not know how to transform your homeschooling routine effectively.
I am here to tell you that you can create the perfect homeschooling routine for you and your kids.
With that said, it would be unfair for me to lead you on to believe that the perfect homeschooling routine is one that will naturally happen each and every day. It will not. Life happens, but the beauty of it is that is okay.
My experience.
Growing up as a homeschooled kid, I remember having to start school by 8:00 am every morning. I would try to have my Bible and math classes done before our 20 minute snack-time that started at 10:00 am. From there, I would try to have my English and history classes done by lunch at 1:00 pm. Then, all that was left was science, electives, and homework.
Did it always work out smoothly for us? No, not at all. There were days when we ended up needing to go somewhere, and the routine was changed. Nonetheless, there was a base structure in place that encouraged us to be organized. It also helped us know what to expect and gave our homeschooling a form of consistency.
So, how do you formulate and establish your perfect routine for your homeschooling?
The answer lies in the idea of “habit stacking,” as introduced by James Clear in his book Atomic Habits (link here and below). Basically, as Clear explains,
“When it comes to building new habits, you can use the connectedness of behavior to your advantage. One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behavior on top. This is called habit stacking.”
– James Clear (link to article here)
Though it is an extremely simple idea, it is also incredibly powerful, and this technique can help you effectively transform your homeschooling routine.
1. Set a consistent start time.
To start a habit stack in your homeschooling, simply choose a starting time. Set a start time for your schooling and work hard to stick to it. It will help your kids develop discipline and stability since they will know what to expect each morning. If you have older children, it can also teach them responsibility as they learn to demonstrate discipline within their own morning routines.
Regardless of when you choose to start or what you want to start with, just try to make that starting time consistent each day.
2. Have consistent lunch/break times.
As I said before, 10:00 am was my family’s designated snack time break most days. Each of us kids looked forward to having a short break, and I enjoyed having that point of reference as a student to know how I was doing with my time management for the day. We then had lunch pretty consistently at 1:00 pm which was also a great point of reference. If I was finished with my history class by lunch, I knew I was doing pretty well with regards to time. If I was still on English, then I knew I had to pick up my pace a little in order to finish my school at a decent time.
3. Do subjects in the same order daily.
I think that this point is important. When I was in school, the regular order of subjects was Bible, math, English, history, and science. If I had electives that I was taking, those were normally last in the day.
Starting with my Bible class every day and ending with science took the guesswork out of the equation for me which helped add to the consistency in our homeschooling.
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The beauty of a routine is that every day marks a new beginning and yet another chance to try again, as was put so beautifully in the following quotation:
“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”
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Everyday will not be perfect, but let us embrace the beauty in the imperfections. Be gracious with yourself and your kids while continuing to strive for improvement and growth within your homeschooling. I hope that these tips have been helpful and that they enable you to transform your homeschooling routine effectively!
How do you establish consistency in your homeschool routine?
Do you have any other tips and tricks that have helped you develop an effective homeschooling routine?
Please let me know in the comments below!
Until next time
