You’re tired of trying to stay above water to teach home learning.
The kids are fighting. You have no time for yourself anymore. Everybody’s feeling a little stuck.
On top of the emotional piece, you had no idea there would be this much cleaning or meal prep with all the little bodies running around.
You started out with a plan…that you couldn’t quite follow after the first week. And you feel like you’re treading water aimlessly.
How are you going to do it all?!
Having the family at home was supposed to be full of laughter, good memories, bonding.
And it it still can be…
But it’s going to take more than your average fill-in-the-blanks schedule to take you from chasing lists to a peaceful, intentional day. You’ll need to create a life-giving plan perfect for your family.
transform desperation into contentment
There are 5 steps to a perfect schedule or routine, which I walk you through in greater detail in the 5 Day Challenge shown above.
- Analyzing your time: looking at how efficient your day is and what an ideal day would be.
- Assessing your needs: you are the heart of the home, you need time to recharge.
- Assessing your family’s needs: how to make family time life-giving.
- Discovering your household needs: time hacks for housework, meal prep, and errands.
- Putting it all together in a strategic schedule: how to make the most efficient schedule for your family.
Read on to for a little summary of how you can get it all done with a smile on everyone’s face… and start creating those good memories in your day.
analyze THE FAMILY’S needs
A key to making a life-giving schedule or routine is knowing what your family needs to thrive…and when.
Some questions to jumpstart your thinking:
- Don’t forget yourself: what do you need in your day to feel refreshed? Happy? Creative?
- When do you feel most productive? When are you most drained?
- How about the kids? When are they most cooperative? Or…not? 😉 My kids have the most trouble getting along right before supper, so I save TV time or have them play outside at that time.
- Which kids need the most instruction time or support from you? Which are the most independent?
- Any kids need more quality time than others? I can get sidelined easily, so I make sure to book in one-on-one time daily.
Once you’ve had time to know what everyone needs, you’re able to plan your day more intentionally.
Next up, I’ll show you how to schedule work, schooling, and rest times accordingly.
create the perfect schedule based on your needs
It’s vital to create a schedule based on your family’s priorities.
Start with putting in the locked-in activities, such as lunch, work or home learning. Then start adding your priorities in, like prayer time, downtime (YES, it should be a priority 😉 ), and quality time with your family.
the power of stations in your schedule
I also incorporate my secret technique to getting it all done – stations. Read my post here about using stations for indoor play activities, but I’ve adapted it for home learning as well.
I have a station for teaching and get that one-on-one time in.
Then they go right to the homework station so the learning is fresh and I can help if any questions come up.
I also include a cleaning station to keep on top of the daily mess that piles up. They can tackle their laundry, tidy up their rooms, sweep the hallway, whatever area I’ve noticed needs attention.
I follow with a fun station, so pull out a newish board game or they can use the iPad for educational games.
Finally, I have a snack station so they can assemble their own and my teaching isn’t interrupted. [Click here for snacks your kids can make on their own].
It’s a beautiful balance of productivity and fun. Switching it up every 30 min. or so keeps it lighthearted and they look forward to stations every day – to the point where they ask for them on the weekends when all I want to do is sit! 🙂
What priorities do you need to include in your stations?
an example: my perfect weekly schedule
Below is just an example of how I fit in my household needs. I have the most energy in the mornings so I book in the bulk of everything I possibly can and try to get it done by lunch.
Your schedule should be unique to your family, this is just to spark ideas.
I also need to point out the benefits of teaching my kids to cook. We purchased the Kids Cook Real Food program a couple of years ago and it was worth every penny, let me tell you!
There are classes for beginners – they help me with snack time and breakfast. My intermediates have learned stove safety so they are in charge of a healthy lunch. And my oldest can do oven and from-scratch cooking now so she helps with supper and the occasional dessert.
(Insert heavenly music here) – GAME-CHANGER, I tell ya!
handy dandy tools i use
- Morning baskets: I didn’t buy anything new, just collected a few books and games the kids had forgotten about. All of a sudden they love them again! I rotate the baskets each weekday morning.
- Go Noodle: When it’s too cold outside (we live in Canada where it’s winter 13 months of the year, oy), I let them take turns picking a video to exercise to. These are so much fun, the kids don’t even know they’re having Phys. Ed!
- Epic!: I’m not able to get to the library easily, so we have this app. So many books! They also have a Read-To-Me option for my pre-readers.
- Boogie Board (affil): This is my compact chalkboard/whiteboard I use every day. It saves paper so we also use it for math problems, I write down work to copy, it’s just so.handy.
- Timer (affil): My anxious kids struggle with any transition so this timer is a life-saver. Instead of “time–>no time” which can be too abrupt, it gives a visual transition to give them a warning. Yes!
- Kids Cook Real Food: We use their videos and recipes all.the.time. They are SO proud they can make meals and often get a little disgruntled if I make something without them!
- Laminator (affil): I save so much paper and ink this way. I like to print off reusable worksheets for my morning baskets and schooling, so this is just the best.
To craft a life-giving schedule, you need to be family-centred more than activity-based. Once you sit down and are aware of what your family needs to thrive, your schedule will fall into place!
read more:
- How I save an hour a day on housework
- Keep the kids busy for hours with this 5 minute trick!
- Should my kids do chores? 9 crucial benefits.
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