It can be hard to let go of our ideas of what school should look like. After all, those of us that attended public school as kids have only those experiences to go by. I have learned through this first year of homeschooling that what is familiar isn't always what is best for my family. C and I are not morning people. So the cute little schedule I made up where we are up, fed and dressed by eight just did not work for us! We were both grumpy and felt like we needed more time to slowly wake up and enjoy some quiet time in the morning. Adjusting our schedule to allow us a slower start in the morning has really helped us have more joy in our learning time!
When should you start your homeschool day?
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you decide what will work best for your family:
- Are you a morning person?
- Is your child(ren) a morning person?
- Do you have busy morning with outside commitments? (Doctor appointments, gymnastics, etc)
- Do you have busy evenings with outside commitments? (church, sports, etc)
- What time of day do you feel the most energized?
The first question you should ask yourself if whether or not you are a morning person and then whether or not your children are morning people. Having a joyful school day starts with mommy's attitude! Are your children morning people? If the answer is no, your family may benefit from having school in the afternoon. If the kids are morning people but mommy isn't, maybe you could start the day with individual work and end with the work that calls for the most instruction. Of course, you need to take your outside commitments into account when planning your schedule.
What Subjects Should I Start With?
If you are blessed to have kids that enjoy all subjects it is easier to schedule your subjects. For those of us that have kids that have a subject or two they can't stand, it can be a little more tricky!
- Are you the type of person that likes to hurry and finish things you aren't looking forward to?
- Are your kids?
- Are you (or they) the type that likes to start with something simple and then tackle the difficult things?
If you and your kids have different attitudes towards difficult tasks, consider who gets most frustrated during the hard subjects. It is not always the kids!
Take Action Breaks in your School Day
Younger kids have a hard time sitting down for longer periods at a time. To help C when it is time to focus, I made action break tickets. She gets three a day and can use them whenever she starts feeling restless. You can read more about how we use them and how to get your copy here.
I hope this helps you make a homeschool schedule that works for your family. I would love to hear about your family's schedule in the comments section below! Thank you so much for visiting Joy Focused Learning!
~Angela
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Great ideas! We're most productive in the afternoon, so I wholeheartedly agree!
ReplyDeleteIt took my awhile to accept that we could be a successful homeschool family when we are still hanging out not being productive at 9:00 am but when forced ourselves we were so grumpy!
DeleteHi from HHH!
ReplyDeleteI am a former public school teacher who now homeschools. School is all about a tight schedule! Homeschooling is all about flexibility! Our schedule changes as we need. We have more of a routine than a schedule.
We are small business owners so we must be flexible with Daddy's schedule. The kiddos stay up "late" each night reading and snuggling with Daddy. If we didn't homeschool that wouldn't be possible because they'd have to be up at the crack of dawn. We get a late start each morning and that is just right for our family.
I love that your kids are able to have time with Daddy thanks to homeschooling! :)
DeleteI love your idea about the action breaks! I never thought of that. When my oldest daughter was younger, that probably would have been helpful to reign in her breaks and distractions. :)
ReplyDeleteWe are preparing to homeschool for next year. Every morning that we are rushing out the door to get to school I think they it will be so much more peaceful if we could just get our day started a little later without the stress of being late.
ReplyDelete