The Homeschooling Secret Weapon: A Morning Routine
Early on in your homeschooling, working out a morning routine is priceless. It is advisable to stick to the same hours every day.
A morning routine makes it easier for your kids to learn and gives structure to their experience. It also allows your child to free his or her mind from other conflicting activities, which allows them to concentrate on getting chores and studies done first.
More importantly, the homeschooling parent needs to start their day on the right foot. Having a morning routine as a homeschooler can make or break your day. Since we don't necessarily need to be somewhere at 8 a.m., it can be easy to lounge around the house, drink your morning coffee, and get caught up on email or Facebook. Before you know it, it's 10 a.m. and no school has been done.
Here are a couple of ideas to help create a consistent morning routine for you and your family.
Quiet Time for Mom – Gather Your Thoughts
Pick a quiet place in your home where you can be alone for at least fifteen minutes before the day begins. Use this time to pray or meditate about the day ahead. Imagine what you want your day to look like. Write it down and look at this page throughout the day to stay on track. Jot down any notes and thoughts you have about what you want to accomplish today.
Taking this time to be alone with your thoughts before the children wake up will help you have the energy to tackle the demands of the day.This time to yourself is also great for exercising. Exercising tends to be the thing that never gets done. Tackle things that you want to do but never find the time to do later in the day.
If you knock these out first thing in the morning, you will feel invigorated knowing you have already accomplished an important task even before breakfast is on the table.
Make a List and Check it Twice
Having your morning routine in written form ensures success. Children love to mark things off as they go. This helps them feel productive and gives them a sense of accomplishment. As a homeschool parent, you need a morning checklist too.
Creating a morning checklist is simple.
Picture what your ideal morning looks like and simply schedule tasks for each person in the family to complete. Print this schedule out and have it in front of you every morning. Before long, you will find that the routine becomes second nature to your whole family and your ideal morning routine is now a reality.
Homeschool Tracker can help you create a morning schedule with chores and tasks to complete. Printing out a "Daily Task List" every morning is a quick way to generate this checklist.
Consistency is the Key
Organizing your morning, living it out, and seeing the fruits of that planning will reap rewards for the whole family. Having a written plan will help make your ideal morning routine a reality. Consistency helps your children be more disciplined and will teach them valuable lessons that they can use as they grow into young adults.
Having a written plan will help make your ideal morning routine a reality.
Create your morning schedule and stick to it. Peaceful and smooth mornings will become a reality and everyone in the family will benefit.
This article is a guest post from Kimberly at Organized Homeschool. Check out her blog for tips on organizing your Homeschool and your family.
Interested in contributing to our blog? Email us!
