New Year, New Rhythm
Family Studies
Long before we ever homeschooled, I’ve always been someone who needs a rhythm to my day…just little anchors that feel predictable, but never so rigid that I feel suffocated.
Over the years, our homeschool rhythm has stayed pretty similar and it’s served us well. I’ve written a lot about rhythms before and I’ll link those posts below if you want to explore what has worked for us in the past.
But, there are seasons when even good rhythms need a little space to evolve. This season of life is calling for a little more independence and interest-based learning…
7:00-9:00 Morning Routine
Getting Ready
As our family wakes up the routine is pretty similar for everyone…getting dressed, brushing teeth, making beds, doing a few morning chores, and eating breakfast. We keep breakfasts really simple…yogurt, eggs, sausage, bagels, protein shakes or smoothies. Everyone is on their own for all of these things now which is kind of weird for me after having babies and toddlers for over a decade. I use Skylight Tasks to help everyone stay on task and remember what they need to do. (If you use my Skylight link it’ll save you $20 on your first order.) The kids know I expect them to be done with their breakfast and morning jobs by 9:00.
Reading Classes
My two youngest boys have their daily online reading classes during this time which has worked out really well because the classes never interfere with the rest of our day and I know they’re getting a really solid lesson. (1UA8WO is my referral code for Savvy and will give you anywhere from $25-$100 off depending what plan you sign up with.)
Personal Scripture Study & Administrative Time
This last year especially I’ve really struggled with balancing homeschool, housework, family life, and work. I’ve been trying to better manage my anxiety and just overall mental health. So, one thing I’ve been doing is setting aside time each morning after my personal scripture study and prayer time and just make lists of everything I need to touch on that day in those categories. I don’t work on anything…I just get it all out and my priorities organized. I’ve just been using my homeschool planner for this, but this last week I have been trialing the Apple Notes app and playing around with Todoist to see which might work best for us because I need something I can edit while I’m on the go.
Also, I’ve really just been kind of winging it for our devotionals and “open and going” our curriculum so I’m trying to switch gears a bit by slowing down and asking and listening to what it is I need to focus on with my kids that day. It’s amazing how simple these things are, but it has already been bringing me a lot more peace.
9:00-9:30 Devotional & Daily Overview
We’ve always had a morning devotional, but I’ve tweaked this a little bit. This year we’ve been doing a little extra family study during this time…like we did an emotional regulation and music appreciation unit in the fall and we’ve been combining this time with our scripture study. I just decided to condense the time here and focus more on a short spiritual thought to get us going and a daily overview for the kids. We go over what everyone needs to be working on or any classes or extra curriculars they can expect for that day. It’s basically just a time to communicate and touch on expectations and project work (see below).
We also occasionally say the pledge during this time and always have a family prayer. I keep our spiritual thought short and sweet…usually a church or YouTube clip, a picture book, a scripture or scripture story, ect.
9:30-12:30 Independent & Project Work
My Work
Okay, this is the biggest area I’m making adjustments. I’ve decided to try working during this time block. I usually work in the afternoons once we’re totally done with homeschool but lately my brain has just been mush by about 2:00. I also have other responsibilities weighing on me and I just feel like my day is turning and I’m not being very productive or efficient or intentional with our time. So, I’m just kind of flip flopping our day and prioritizing some of the things I need to get down and it’s just been a HUGE breath of fresh air for me. This is also the time I go back to those “administrative tasks” and to-lists. If I need to coordinate doctor appointments or make phone calls or buy someone a birthday present or prep something for homeschool…I do it during this time. I’ve noticed it’s almost immediately helping some dynamics of our home environment because if I’m stressed and anxious because I have all these little tasks hanging over me…so is everyone else. My kids are all still working on things and they pretty much work right by me so there are still a lot of interruptions, but I don’t quite fill so scattered brained trying to manage all the things mom’s manage.
Kid’s Work
Independent Project Work
So, what do my kids do during this time? Right after devotional my three oldest kids still go and do their independent work. My six year old is still really happy to just play and then I also have a list of activities for him and my 9 year old once he’s done with his independent work. It’s a very informal list right now…basically just interest based things like audio books, painting, sensory bins, 30 minutes of a computer game, music/bells, art and craft projects, legos, drawing books, Art Kids Hub, procreate, puzzles, YouTube exercise videos, ect. I also pay my kids for extra chores so they can also earn some money during this time. And, I know once the weather warms up they’ll be outside more too. The only rule is no entertainment TV, but I did tell them they could watch a documentary or educational show once a week.
I’ve also got a few things little projects I’m working on for them and “invitations to learn” that I’d like to be more intentional about setting out. Over the last few weeks I’ve seen all my kids do more art and reading or audiobooks. My youngest is loving his bells and also spent a few days making lots of lego stop motion videos. My 9 year old has been doing Tinkercad and playing around more with our 3D printer. My older girls have been spending time researching gardening. This week they’ve all been working on their Valentine boxes so I think it’s going to be good for everyone to just have a little more intentional time to work on their interests.
And, really, all of this isn’t really anything too new for my kids because we basically do a lot of these things in the afternoons anyway. We just call this project work...it’s very much of a Montessori/Piaget approach to education which is just so natural anyway…it’s a lot of learning through play. The main difference is I’m just not prioritizing one-on-one time with them in the mornings and I’m simplifying a bit in our family studies time. All of this has certainly come with some cons, but we’re working through them the best we can.
Lunch
The kids are also free to snack and they know when they’re starting to get hungry around lunch time they make their own lunches. Again…we keep things super simple…chicken nuggets in the air fryer, sandwiches, mini pizzas, charcuterie boards, ect. and they also will eat leftover dinner.
12:30-3:00 Classes, Family Studies, & One-on-One Time
Depending on the day my kids are in other various classes outside the home which just causes things to run a little differently. When we’re all home at the same time we have family studies, but it is not something that can be consistent every day because every day is a little different right now. Since family studies is one of my favorite times though I’m really working to be wise with the time we do have all together. I mentioned this in my last blog post: Mid Year Homeschool Curriculum Update but right now I decided to set aside any formal curriculum and just focus on whatever I feel like our family needs to be touching on…I’m just trying to be really intentional and let the Spirit guide us. Right now I feel like we need to be working on our Old Testament studies so that is our main focus, but, for example, last week we did about a 20 minute scripture lesson and then spent the rest of the time working on a fun art project and this week I am planning to do some extra geography review with them as well. Either way I aim for about an hour of family studies when we can get to it.
I also squeeze in one-on-time with each of the kids during this time block. Somedays I’m running a kid one place and then coming home and working one-on-one with another. Other days, everyone is home and I usually work with youngest to oldest. I’ve had to be a little more relaxed here though and it seems to be working out okay. If I miss a day with a child or multiple kids I fall back on my flex day (Friday), do two lessons another day, or do a lesson in the evening or even over the weekend. It feels a little choppy right now, but it’s working and I figure if things get a little too bumpy we can always switch to a year round schedule to give us a little more flexibility during the week. I think my main goal here is just to do our best to be consistent because I know that is something I am good at doing and we’ll probably need to tweak a few things along the way.
3:00-5:00 Play & Gym
Another area I’ve really needed to prioritize is getting back into a good work out routine so since my brain is mush by this time of the day anyway I thought that would be the best time to get out of the house and go to the gym. I’m very introverted so this hard for me to do, but like I mentioned I am trying to prioritize more of my mental (and physical) health right so I think getting out and having a few hours to myself will help. This is also the time I like to catch up on Marco Polos or listen to my podcasts so it’s been a good little break for me and is something I’m starting to look forward to. There are some days where it just doesn’t work out to go, but so far, I’ve been able to go at least a few times a week which I figure is better than nothing.
My husband is almost always home from work by this time so it’s also nice I have a little extra help during this time. So, if we have extra curriculars or doctor appointments he can help drive….though it kind of changes on the season/sport. If the kids are all at home, they are almost always playing with friends by this time or if no one is around to play they’ll be back to working on a project or just playing around at the house.
5:00-8:30 Evening Routine
Family Read Aloud
This part of our day is either really relaxed or really busy if we have sports or church activities. I come home from the gym and work on dinner. If we have sports then my husband has taken over that area, but, like recently, my boys had sports at different times and they would conflict so he’d take one and I’d take one. And, I’m serving with the youth at church right now so I’m at the church once a week so some nights it’s just a little crazy. When we have a schedule like this some of the daily house chores suffer, but we all work to catch up when we can. In my ideal world I like to be home and reset for the next day by cleaning and going over anything I need to get ready for the next day, but that just doesn’t always happen. When we have evenings that are scheduled back-to-back I try to prioritize time on Saturdays to get caught up on the house work.
8:30-10:00 Family Read Aloud & Bed Time Routine
If we’re home and things are going smoothly this is the time of day where we try to wind down and start getting ready for bed. We do our family read aloud during this time (we’re reading Percy Jackson right now) and then the kids get ready for bed and they can read or do quiet activities in their rooms until they go to sleep. This is also the time of day I like to try to get a little extra of my own reading in.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m really hopeful this rhythm will serve us better for this season of life. I think it offers a little more space for independent growth and will better support my mental health. Like I mentioned in my last post I am just so grateful we have the freedom to design our curriculum and our days however we’d like!
If you’d like to browse some of my other posts on rhythms here there are:
