I find that homeschool routines come more naturally and are easier to follow than homeschool schedules. A good homeschool routine follows your family's natural rhythm, gently weaving learning time into your daily life.
For example, I am not an early bird, and neither are my kids. Thus, a homeschool schedule starting at 8 a.m. would be unrealistic for us. We begin our day much later than many families—even on the momentous first day back to school!
This year, I had prepared a huge kick off for our first day of the new homeschool year, but I woke up at 9:45 a.m.! Can you believe that? It's true! I overslept on the first day back to school!
But it didn't matter. Even though we started late, we had a wonderful day because I was completely rested. Instead of fighting my natural rhythms and need for sleep, I relaxed into them and shifted the entire day back a few hours. No, we didn't do everything I had ambitiously planned, but we did plenty.
That's the beauty of following a flexible homeschool routine instead of a schedule. If I were operating by a fixed schedule, I might have felt miserable for failing on the very first day. Instead, we followed our own natural family routine, and it did not matter what time we started.
Here is a glimpse into our normal homeschool routine:
Morning Time
- B&B: Bible and breakfast: We start our morning time routine with focused time in the Bible. This is the best way to start our day as a family—putting God first.
- Prayer is also an important part of our B&B time. Starting our days with Bible and prayer helps my children develop a habit of daily morning devotionals.
- Character training: We also use our morning time to teach our children character traits or habits. We focus on a different character trait every 6-8 weeks. Teaching our kids the habits of attention and obedience, for example, has helped our homeschool run much more smoothly.
Table Time
- Math: Our table time begins with math because this is the time of day when my kids are fully awake, and their minds are fresh.
- Language Arts takes the longest portion of our table time and includes daily language arts topics like reading, dictation, spelling, handwriting, vocabulary, and grammar.
- History/Geography and Science: During table time, we alternate between history and science, covering each subject twice a week.
- Read-Alouds: Reading aloud is a big part of our daily homeschool routine. We generally do read-aloud time last as a transition from Math or Science into lunch and afternoon quiet time.
Teatime
Teatime in the afternoon is my kids' favorite time of the day. During teatime, we regroup in the living room or dining room for snacks, tea, or hot cocoa. Subjects we typically cover during our teatime include:
- Poetry
- Piano
- Music Appreciation
- Art Appreciation
- Nature Studies
- Foreign Language
We have fun listening to poetry every day. In addition, we loop through topics like fine arts and nature. Sometimes we even study Hebrew during teatime.
Once a week we go for a nature walk and have tea and cookies on our way back. And if we need to, we sometimes use teatime to catch up on Read-Aloud time.
Finding Your Homeschool Rhythm
Each homeschool year—even each season—may look very different for you. So, remember as your family changes, your routines may need to change as well. Don't be afraid to adjust your routine.
How is your homeschool routine working for you now? You many need to tweak it to create a better fit your family and flow along with (and not against) your natural rhythms.
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