Simplify Your Homeschool Routine (What Worked for Us)
I’ve simplified our homeschool routine recently, and it’s crazy how just a few small changes can make such a big difference. I’m sharing exactly what we did in this blog post, but the interesting thing is a couple of them aren’t related to school at all!
This is actually the second time I’ve made “cuts” this year. After about 7 weeks, I made a few adjustments, and now 12 weeks in, I was feeling the need for more. It’s difficult to do when you really feel like you’ve made the “right” curriculum choices, but the feeling remained – something’s gotta give!
Bye-Bye Beauty Subjects (for now)
This breaks my heart every single year…because it happens every single year. I always plan to add in things like poetry and hymn memorization, and I can never stick to it through the whole year. I’m starting to realize though that even doing it once or twice in the year makes such a difference.
This year we memorized Jabberwocky by Lewis Carrol. It’s the longest poem we’ve done, and we had a blast doing it! We also memorized a psalm and a hymn.
The reason I took took these subjects out is because I needed the morning time to do something different. I realized that shifting our lessons around would be better for our daily rhythm. That leads to me my next adjustment.
Moving History Time
Originally, we completed our history lesson together as a family after lunch. It was the last task of the day. I soon figured out that I was rushing all the kids to get their lists done so I could gather them all back together to do history in the afternoon.
It was a creating an unnecessary pressure. Now, we do history together first thing in the morning. This means that once it’s finished, everyone is on their own to get their lists done. I help them all through the process, but there’s no more need to call everyone back in.
I can’t believe what a difference this has made!
Alternating Spelling and Grammar
One of my kids is using a new spelling and grammar program this year. I feel like the consistency is needed, but it did add to the checklist. Instead of doing them both every day, I’ve decided to alternate weeks. One week we focus on grammar, the next we do spelling.
This has felt more doable, but I still feel good about the consistency she needs to make progress.
My 7-year-old daughter was doing the spelling program as well. I actually stopped her work completely. She is making amazing progress with reading and copy work, so I don’t plan to use the spelling workbook with her anymore unless I feel the need.
Cutting Curriculum I Truly Enjoyed
I was so bummed about this change. I started the year using More Than Words by Masterbooks. It’s one of my favorites, and I used it with my older kids as well. We had such a good rhythm going, and I was happy with it, but something else was working too.
This year I put my kids in the Awana program at church. It’s our first time doing it, and they work so hard memorizing scripture and completing their lessons in the Awana book. To me this felt like it was a good fit to be our Bible curriculum, and as much as I love More Than Words, I wasn’t going to hang on to it “just because”.
Chore Chart
This has nothing to do with our lessons, but I created a simple chore chart during our fall break, and it has been such a success! Keeping up with the house chores was overwhelming me, and now my house is picked up the majority of the time. I will have to share a post or something explaining how I worked it out, but all four kids (ages 6-12) have been so helpful in keeping the house clean.
The system feels simple yet thorough and I hope we continue to keep up with it. It has simplified our entire day and has removed a weight off my shoulders as well. I should mention – I’m still a part of picking up the house and my youngest still needs a lot of hand-holding, but it’s been such a positive thing as a whole.
Meal Planning
The other non-school related thing I did over break is make a meal plan – but not just any meal plan. I sat down and listed meals by categories and then arranged them over a two-month period in a way that fit our weekly schedule best. That means I have two months of meals planned! I’m honestly hoping just to alternate the months until we get sick of it.
Wow! I am blown away by the difference. No decision making, grocery lists are so much more enjoyable since I know what I need, everyone always knows what’s for dinner, and the best part, we are actually saving money in the process!
Small Changes, Big Difference
These were all such little things, but they’ve made such a big difference in our day. The last two especially have lifted a burden that I didn’t even realize was so big. I hope in sharing this it may inspire you as you think about simplifying your days. Start small and think outside the box. It’s not always lessons or curriculum that needs the switching. Sometimes it’s a small flip in the schedule or a system in the home that can really make a positive change in your routine.
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