After many years of homeschooling, it stands to reason that I possess some earth-shattering, success secrets in the area of scheduling, right? I do. And it’s simple, “Your schedule is only as good as the paper it is written on!”
In other words, your schedule is a GUIDE, not your master!
I could share our particular schedule with you, and you, in turn, could attempt to implement it, get frustrated and quit. Leaving you feeling like a total failure. When in truth, what works in your household won’t necessarily work in mine and vice versa.
What I can encourage you to do is 3 simple things that have blessed our homeschool throughout the years:
1) Take a good look at what activities you have planned each week that take you out of the home.
Co-ops, sports and field trips can be a good thing, but, they can also cause a lot of undue stress. Evaluate them carefully and keep in mind, that it’s ok to say “no”! It’s also alright to have seasons when you are home more than “out”!
2) Don’t over schedule your day to the point where you don’t have wiggle room for illness or those “teachable moments” that crop up unexpectedly.
Some of these moments are a great jumping off points to explore rabbit trails of interest and some are times to help your child grow closer to the Lord. Rather than seeing these as interruptions, see them as opportunities. Take advantage of them!
3) Have a plan of ‘attack’ laid out the night before.
Lay out appropriate materials that will be needed for the next day the night before. This is incredibly helpful especially if your morning wake up is less than early or rough!
Short and sweet, that’s pretty much our recipe for successful planning and scheduling. This is what we come back to time and time again during the years of this wondrous journey.
