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Canadian mom blogger, homeschooling 3 kids sharing kids printables, kids' activities, homeschooling tips, parenting and organization ideas.

You are here: Home / Homeschool Tips / Get into a Homeschool Routine – Make a Schedule

Get into a Homeschool Routine – Make a Schedule

By Monique 21 Comments


This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
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Create a homeschool routine and make a homeschool schedule
You don't need to plan every minute but your child will work better knowing what lies ahead, get into a homeschool routine and make a homeschool schedule

You kids refuse to do their homeschooling work because they’d rather play with their toys. Trying to get your kids to sit down at the table is like pulling teeth because no one will listen.

You have a child who refuses to write just one sentence with a toddler wreaking havoc on your newly organized bookshelves and that coffee of yours is sitting in your microwave and cold again for the third time.

Is it dinner time yet? Wait, it can’t be because you have no idea what you’re going to feed these kids when it comes and your chicken is still frozen.

If you’re feeling the overwhelm of homeschool your kids, running your home and running around to activities not to mention those pesky errands, you need help.

You need to create a homeschool routine for your entire family. It sounds simple but it will change the way your kids behave when they know what to expect.

>> See more ideas on How to Homeschool Successfully

When they know their routine, they can transition into on their own, they don’t wait on you and they can do things on their own.

Isn’t that the dream? Sure is for me.

I want them to be able to work independently and as we go up a grade, hopefully, they can take more on each year.

Now it’s time to plan your homeschool day by making your own schedule. So you’ve determined your child’s learning style and chosen which homeschool method you’d like to use. You’ve also decided to set limits on your child’s screen time.

You don't need to plan every minute but your child will work better knowing what lies ahead, get into a homeschool routine and make a homeschool schedule

Why do you need a homeschool routine?

Children thrive in a routine, they know what to expect, you’ll eliminate the questions asking you what should they do next, everyone will know what’s expected of them and there won’t be any surprises.

Your children will be able to transition into the next thing without questions, well hopefully. They know that there will be an end to the giant pile of school work.

Decide if you’re a paper and pen or digital file kind of girl. I like to make my schedules on the computer because it’s easy to change. Things come up, people get sick so it’s so much easier to make edits an electronic schedule than a paper one. I make one for me and then a larger printed version for the children.

I have one for each child, my 7th grader has a planner and he writes out his weekly schedule. My kindergartner has a picture schedule so he knows what he is doing. I have velcro stickies on the back so I can change things up or move them around. I used contact paper on the pictures and the schedule was placed in a sheet protector so that it will hopefully last the school year.

Homeschool schedule for grade 5

Grade 5 Weekly homeschool schedule

Kindergarten Homeschool Schedule

fun dinsaur kindergarten homeschool schedule

Fill it in with what you’d like to accomplish each day. This may take some trial and error in the beginning but you’ll soon get a better idea of how long it takes your child to complete each subject.

Be prepared to stick to your schedule (well sort of), if it works and you and your children are happy with it, stick to it. You’ll be on track to finish everything that you’ve planned out. Don’t be afraid to scrap things if they don’t work out. Or you may just need to rearrange things to make it work.

Be flexible, the curriculum may not work out, sicknesses and things may occur that force you to make some changes. Don’t be afraid to postpone things or chuck it altogether.

Are you one of those moms who cringes at those messy projects? Well, if your children are asking for them just go ahead and schedule them in.

We do all our science experiments and projects on Fridays that way I only have to do one major clean up at the end of the day. And the kids have enjoyed creating something super messy. The fun projects are always messy ones.

Are you neglecting art or music? Well, schedule those things as well. If you schedule it, you will feel more obligated to get it done. When you’re just trying to finish the day’s work, those subjects are the most likely to get postponed.

Schedule it in, gather your supplies the night before, and this way, you’ll be sure to incorporate it into your day.

Schedule a catch-up day, I schedule a lighter day on Fridays so that we can catch up on anything that we missed earlier in the week. Since we homeschool year round, I’m not really worried about losing that time.

I always schedule math as our first subject, it is the most labor and brain intensive for my son, M1, so this has always been the case for us. For my younger child, we always do our reading lessons first.

Download the weekly schedule below:

Get the Weekly Schedule Here >>

More Homeschool Schedule Ideas

If you need help getting started with homeschool planning, my eBook Homeschool Planning for the Unorganized Mom is available or you can grab the bundle and it comes with my homeschool planner.

Homeschool Planning for the Unorganized Mom eBook

More Homeschool Schedules

Our kindergarten homeschool schedule with a relaxed approach to homeschooling including free printable schedule

Kindergarten homeschool schedule 

Get more done in your homeschool with the free printable homeschool planner so you can stay on top of your homeschool day. Bring peace into your day and know what each child has to finish for the day.

Free Printable Homeschool Planner

Go ahead and visit the other posts in this series.

Ideas on how to homeschool boys because they sure are different from girls
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I share educational printables and activities to help teachers make learning about math and science fun!


Filed Under: Homeschool Tips, Homeschool 101

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. JamericanSpice says

    June 14, 2014 at 2:51 pm

    This is great. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Monique says

      June 18, 2014 at 6:38 pm

      No problem.

      Reply
  2. Michelle says

    September 10, 2014 at 10:32 pm

    Thanks for linking up to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party, I pinned your post to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Board!

    I have come to learn that scheduling is VERY important to stay on track with your goals.

    Reply
    • Monique says

      September 11, 2014 at 8:06 pm

      Yes, because it’s so easy to get off track.

      Reply
  3. Terri Presser says

    November 9, 2014 at 5:32 pm

    Great ideas, thanks for sharing. Maybe if you have time you would like to link up at Good Morning Mondays at Darling Downs Diaries. Blessings

    Reply
  4. Lauren says

    November 10, 2014 at 11:16 am

    Love your organization. I definitely think that kids appreciate when we are organized especially with school. Thanks so much for linking up with us at Mommy Needs a Timeout Thursday! See you this week! We party at 8 pm EST on Wednesday!
    Lauren
    http://twintestedpinapproved.wordpress.com

    Reply
  5. Tammy says

    November 15, 2014 at 3:53 pm

    I didn’t home school my child. Wish I did. All these wonderful ideas the home school moms have are wonderful. Thanks for sharing

    Reply
  6. Jennifer Dawn says

    November 19, 2014 at 12:00 am

    How true this is! Yes, a routine is so important! I love the kindergarten schedule you made! My daughter is being homeschooled for kindergarten this year. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Ashley says

    November 26, 2014 at 4:28 pm

    Good ideas even for someone who has done it a bit! Featured you on Mom’s Library this week!

    Reply
    • Monique says

      December 3, 2014 at 8:24 pm

      Thanks!

      Reply
  8. Jessi says

    May 28, 2015 at 7:59 am

    Great post. It gave me some ideas for this next year of homeschooling with a 4th grader and a toddler. I was wondering what you do for music and art for your kids and where I might get some structured ideas and plans for those subjects. Thanks for your help!

    Reply
    • Monique says

      October 16, 2015 at 12:57 pm

      We’re not artistic or musically inclined here. My oldest learned the guitar with Guitar Hero on the Play Station 3 and my son is learning the keyboard with the online lessons from Homeschool Piano and I have a review for it. Awesome program.
      For art we’re doing Masters the Masters.

      Reply
  9. Allison says

    January 2, 2016 at 8:45 am

    Great ideas! Thanks for posting this. I am going to use these ideas right away. I would like to gently suggest that you proofread your post a little better to check for punctuation errors. Have a blessed day, and thank you for sharing!

    Reply
    • Monique says

      January 4, 2016 at 6:06 pm

      Thank you. this is one of my old posts and sad to say I have not looked at it in ages.

      Reply
  10. Amy says

    January 25, 2016 at 9:14 pm

    We are a little obsessed about scheduling too! I designed and had manufactured a wet/dry erase schedule for homeschool families. As you put it, one of the most important aspects of a workable schedule is starting with the things you’d like to accomplish. Sometimes we forget what is most important in our days unless we are reminded with a schedule! Anyways, feel free to check out my schedules at http://www.lovemyschedule.com. Love your blog!!

    Reply
  11. kelly polizzi says

    April 24, 2016 at 3:03 pm

    hi, was wondering if there was an editable version of the schedule?

    Reply
    • Monique says

      April 25, 2016 at 11:01 pm

      Not at this time.

      Reply
  12. Carissa says

    August 1, 2017 at 5:02 pm

    Thank you for all of your words of advice and encouragement on your blog. This printable schedule is awesome! This will be our second year of homeschooling, so we’re still trying to find out what works best for us. Thank you for putting this giveaway together!

    Reply
    • Monique says

      August 1, 2017 at 11:06 pm

      You’re welcome!

      Reply
  13. Emanuela says

    August 3, 2017 at 8:46 pm

    Awesome! Thank you for sharing this with us.

    Reply
    • Monique says

      August 8, 2017 at 10:57 pm

      Sure thing!

      Reply

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