Establishing Routines in Homeschool

Hi and welcome back!

While setting up your homeschool it’s very important to establish routines. Not a schedule. Here’s the difference: a schedule requires you to keep hard and set times to transition between activities and subjects; whereas a routine allows for some flow and flexibility. A routine is just the daily rhythm and provides stability for children so that they know what to expect next. The purpose behind establishing routines is productivity and when everyone knows what they should be doing as well as what’s expected of them, the day will run much more smoothly.

I’ve found a lot of success in the following schedule:

Wake/eat/get dressed.

Together work. This consists of a mix of a couple of the following subjects and may vary each day and each week. The subjects/ topics we cover in together work include news, science, geography, history, and read-alouds.

Individual work. During this time I begin working with my oldest while my middle daughter completes her independent work, piano, and she usually eats lunch during this time as well. After I work with my oldest (or we take a break and switch halfway through) I’ll teach my middle daughter her language arts and math for the day.

This leaves the other half of the day open for exploration, art, family time, and extra curriculars.

I also know of families who begin their day with a few quick chores ( starting a load of laundry, taking trash out, washing breakfast dishes, etc…). If you’d like to incorporate that think of a list and then delegate the tasks based on how appropriate each task is for the individual (their needs and age).

Other helpful ideas to begin the day are taking a walk as a family and listening to an audiobook over breakfast.

Keep the routine simple, don’t overthink it. I hope you’ve found these to be helpful. What does your routine look like and how does it vary throughout the week?