Routine is our anchor. It’s the glue that holds our homeschooling together. We try to incorporate fun and unusual field trips and activities, but our day to day is filled with small group activities, classes, projects, sports, volunteering, and part-time jobs.
With the coronavirus, we have all lost so many of our routines and our rhythms that anchor us. As homeschoolers, it’s hard enough. For those thrust into homeschooling from public school, I can’t imagine how disruptive it must feel.
I think it’s helpful to look at what remnants of your regular routine can be preserved. For us, it’s things like:
Getting up at a regular time to start school
Me reading history during breakfast
Scheduled school work to be completed each day
Chores/Me reminding everyone to do their chores 🙂
Working out/exercise/outside time
Reading aloud most evenings
Your routine is going to look different. That doesn’t matter. It doesn’t need to be fancy and it shouldn’t be hard to maintain. Start easy. What matters is finding some sustainable routines to give your days a sense of structure.
Two points I would like to make about my list of routines:
- Our ‘scheduled schoolwork to be completed each day’ is not necessarily extensive. As a long-time homeschooler, I know that getting ‘something’ done each day adds up over time.
- I find that working out/exercise/outside time is best when led by your kids. You can encourage them, but they need to be in charge. I think all of us get this – if someone told me I had to go run 5 miles, I would dread it. If I found a new trail to run that increased my distance, I would be more likely to do a long run. (For me, 5 miles is a long run.)
Whether you’ve been homeschooling for a while or have suddenly been pushed into it, I hope that you are able to anchor yourself with routines that work for both you and your family.
Take care, Sarah