Good morning everyone! Today I have another Tip Tuesday post to share with you. I always get a lot of questions about our daily routine and how I set it up. So today I’m sharing how we set up our basic daily schedule/routine. And how we get through each week with homeschooling, chores, sports, blogging, etc.
Keep in mind this is just a basic overall routine that we’ve been following for a while now. It has changed over the years based on our families needs, so your schedule will probably look different from ours. But hopefully this will at least give you a guideline to get started, and a few tips from me on why creating an overall routine can be helpful for your homeschool!
While each day can bring on a chaos of its own, we do have a basic routine that we try to stick to. Obviously things don’t always run smoothly around here, and some days are crazier than others. But I like to at least have a general guideline to get me through the day.
Here are some more basic tips to help keep things organized and running smoothly…
Set a basic family schedule
Setting a basic routine that your family follows can be a vital element to your homeschooling journey. For example dictating Monday as laundry day, Tuesday as bathrooms, and so on can help you stay on top of things instead of feeling like you’re drowning in a sea of tasks. You can rest, knowing at some point during the week, everything will get taken care of.
Delegate household tasks
If everyone is chipping in to help, chores won’t seem so daunting. Don’t be fooled by the younger ages of your children. Teaching them life skills even at an early age is entirely appropriate and also gives them a sense of worth and belonging in your family unit.
Keep things simple
Set expectations based on the needs of your family. Pairing down on activities, or labor intensive curriculum, might just save some of your sanity on a day to day basis.
Plan ahead
I’ve already talked about planning ahead for your school year, but I really can’t stress it enough. Being organized is extremely helpful in getting through a homeschooling year. When we don’t plan ahead we find ourselves flying by the seat of our pants, unprepared for activities, and sometimes even in a state of chaos in the classroom as we’re scrounging for supplies and materials.
If you’ve planned ahead and done your job well, then the homeschooling part is a matter of following a preset plan. You will find yourself much more prepared, and much less stressed. Having some sort of routine that you follow will go a long way to helping you stay above water. And good time management is crucial to both your mental and physical well-being.
Daily Schedules by Grade Level:
I’ve posted my daily schedules by grade below, so you can find the one that closest fits your students age!
Check out our daily schedules by grade!
- Preschool Daily Schedule
- Kindergarten Daily Schedule
- 1st Grade Daily Schedule
- 2nd Grade Daily Schedule
- 4th Grade Daily Schedule
- 5th Grade Daily Schedule
- 6th Grade Daily Schedule
- 7th Grade Daily Schedule
- Our Day in a VLOG!
- A Homeschool Parent’s Daily Schedule
For more information on homeschooling check out my Homeschooling 101: A guide to getting started!
Need help getting started homeschooling? I’ll be addressing this topic and more in my new How To Homeschool Masterclass! Click below to check it out! I’ll also be available to answer all of your unique questions in our own personal forum! Hope to see you there 🙂
Thank you! Inspiring, as always.
I’m in the thick of starting to make a plan and schedule for next year. We school year round. We take the month of June off and start back up in July. I feel like it is so hard to come up with a schedule/routine that allows me to school 4 kids. Thank you for reminding me to keep it simple.
What is Options that you have scheduled Friday’s?
We do an options program through our local school district. The kids get to do a handful of elective type classes we don’t usually do at home. They change classes each year so there is a nice variety offered.
This sounds interesting! So the children can attend these “option” classes at school? That would be a help to your lesson planning too right? 🙂
Yeah kind of, it means that I have to get all of our stuff done in 4 days instead of 5. It’s mostly electives, but some of the classes are core like Language Arts and Science. But since I never know what they’re offering, we usually end up doing those at home as well. So I don’t count on options for core classes. If anything they just get some added review there for subjects we’re doing already at home. But it is great for the electives like music, choir, PE, etc. And its fun for the kids to get to see friends and have a fun day 🙂
Yea, I probably wouldn’t want them taking core classes there anyway, but like you said, music, choir & PE would make it fun for the kids to branch out and see their friends 🙂
Thank you! I have used your schedules in the past as a guideline for us. Couple questions: If they finish before time, do they move on to the next subject? Do they do many of the subjects on their own?
Yes, they are allowed to move at their own speeds, so if they’re done early they can just move on to the next thing. That’s where the drawers come in handy because they’re not waiting for me to pull out their work. They can just go through them at their own pace.
Thank you! I have your Homeschooling 101 book, but I’m an auditory learner so these videos really help the information sink in.
I have been struggling with coming up with a routine for our family so things carry on without me home. My husband is fortunate to have a work at home job so he’s home with our boys during the day and I work outside the home during the day. It’s been a source of stress for me. We need a routine to make sure certain things get done! Our oldest is only in preschool but I want to get a good routine now before we have to track hours and days!
Hi
I am curious about the tracking software you use
We are just starting out here in Australia
Thanks for all your help I really have enjoyed it
Nichole
Hi Nichole,
Right now I’m using a super OLD version of Homeschool Tracker 🙂 They have an online one avail. now but I’m not sure if it has the same reports like I show in the video or not.
Good evening! You said something at the beginning of the video about a schedule software that you use.. I am curious as to what software this is… Trying to get planning for next year.
Hi Christi,
Right now I’m using a super OLD version of Homeschool Tracker 🙂 They have an online one avail. now but I’m not sure if it has the same reports like I show in the video or not.
Do your older children still go to bed at 8:00?
Yes, they’re in their rooms around 8pm, but they can read until about 8:30 or 9 depending on the night. We also let them stay up a bit later on weekends. But I find that they’re starting to get up later as they get older. Teens need more sleep! So I still have them go to bed around 8pm. I think it helps them wind down from the day and get a little bit of relaxing reading time before bed.
Good afternoon Erica. You mentioned a software that you use at the beginning of the video. I would like to know which one you use? Thanks for you tips, they are very helpful for me.
You had mentioned that you would let us know how to do your kid’s check list for school of their subjects, the one that is hanging behind you on the wall of your video. Is that through Homeschool tracker or is that something you created yourself? And you know I love love love your site!!!!!
Oh sorry, yes, the daily checklist that they use is a report that I print out from Homeschool Tracker.
Thank you, have a blessed week😊