Implementing Schedules and Routines, need for order

The themes I kept reading during the summer were: simplify and schedule to make your homeschool more pleasant. I put in some time coming up with the oh-so-perfect schedule. I attempted to stick to it for about two weeks. All this to say, a precise schedule is not for everyone, so don’t beat yourself up over it.

What can you do? I don’t know how many children you have or their ages, for that surely plays a part in what you are able to do. Tristan, from this forum, has a wonderful series about chore training on her blog. I have used some of her tips to greatly improve the clean-up routine around here.

You are right about habits helping you. I’m thinking along the lines of practical habits like cleaning the kitchen right after a meal or training your children to put away their materials/toys/etc. when they are finished. These little habits help to keep our home generally tidy.

One great tip I came across this year was to have a set school time. We have a time to begin and a time to end. We generally follow a regular order within that time frame, but I’m not glued to the clock watching times. If the student gave his best efforts during school time but did not quite finish, then it carries over to the next day with no worries. If the child dawdled or didn’t finish assignments because he didn’t try, then he/she has to work on it in the afternoon while everyone else has free time- a logical no-fun consequence. I’ve only had that happen once this year with one of my children.

I also find that household habits are easier to enforce when they happen around mealtimes. After breakfast, everyone gets ready for the day, feeds a pet, and tidies bedrooms. I start a load of laundry. After lunch, everyone has a specific area to clean up. I clean up the kitchen and tend to laundry. After dinner, everyone puts away laundry. These are the habits that help our family.

I have to stress taking the time to train your child in the chores/responsibilities you expect from them. Tristan explains this well on her blog.

I’m sure there are tons more tips to be shared, but these are some I’ve found most helpful. Also, make sure you are getting enough sleep! 😉

I think there is a difference between a schedule and a daily rhythm. A schedule, to me, is like following the clock, doing certain things at certain times. A daily rhythm is basically just going about your day win a sense of order that is not bound within blocks of time. For instance, it is habitual to wake, dress, make the bed, brush my teeth, and make breakfast each day. Whether I wake at 6:30 or 8:30, I still do these exact same things in that order. Meal times make great re-grouping spots in the day, I think. Everyone can gather, re-focus, and then go on about the rest of their day until the next meal. In our home, breakfast is always before school, chores are always after school, but may occur before or after lunch, depending on what time school was finished. Play time is always after lunch and chores. So whether we are home all day, or go for a play date with friends in the afternoon, our day is not scheduled but ordered so that there is a sense of order and predictability.

The thought of being bound to the clock for a schedule makes me uneasy. I lean toward perfectionist tendencies anyway, and if I thought I had to follow a set schedule each day, there would be no room for grace for myself or the children. However, I enjoy the rhythm of our days and the predictability it gives us. The children are less likely to complain about chores because they know to expect them each day. We all look forward to daddy coming home for lunch each day. And so on.

Maybe you need a general outline for your day, but not necessarily a specific, hour-by-hour plan. Perhaps that would help the days go by more smoothly for everyone. And then just get into the habit of it.

Funny I should stumble across this thread. I just read this article today and may try this. Somehow our days have gotten out of hand, which is making life more difficult than it needs to be. I have some health challenges that have brought out some heart issues or perhaps some emotional hurts – I am not sure which. Even though my girls are much older, I am still planning to use this idea in various areas of our lives to help us get ourselves back on track a bit.

Hope this is helpful,

~jacqleene