Homeschooling Schedule Must Do’s!

New homeschooling moms often miss two essentials that establish a sustainable homeschooling schedule that rocks. You need to add these if you wanna curb mom burn out and increase your homeschoolers engagement. In this Homeschooling Joyfully Parenting Tip video, Kelly Nault, MA, covers how to rock your schedule like a homeschooling rock star.

New homeschooling moms often ask me how to create a sustainable homeschooling schedule that rocks—one that both keeps their child engaged AND supports a homeschooling mom’s patience levels.

Face it: homeschooling’s a huge job, particularly if you don’t use two scheduling “must do’s.” By the way… they’re likely not what you think. That’s why I’m excited your reading this.

If we haven’t yet met, I’m Kelly Nault. I help dedicated moms with strong-willed kids eliminate family tension and exhausting tantrums, so they can enjoy the loving family they deserve.

Welcome to week two of our month-long Homeschooling Joyfully Parenting Tips. This week we’ll focus on: rocking your schedule like a homeschooling rockstar.

So one of the biggest mistakes new homeschooling moms make—one that increases frustration, decreases child engagement, and can also lead to mom burnout—is attempting to recreate a school structure that follows a curriculum to a "T."

In reality, curriculums are forever changing and not set in stone year after year. The beauty of homeschooling is that it allows a landscape of flexibility to round out the areas your child needs to strengthen AND provides latitude to follow your child’s passions.

So if your kid’s crazy about cooking, or dogs… go ahead, use this as their science topic. Got a kid who loves Minecraft? Why not see if they can build a Roman fortress as their Social Studies project.

We all want our kids to thrive and be happy. Don’t we?

That’s why the first must-do to add to your schedule is… dum da da dum: flexibility. Now, you know your child better than anyone, so I encourage you to ditch the rigidity of a tight and generic curriculum. Instead, figure out what inspires your kid and customize your lessons. I also invite you to ask: "What skills do I want my child to have, that will not only help him or her survive in this world, but thrive in schooling and beyond?"

Unless you’re a diehard unschooler… I don’t want you to ditch basics like reading, math, and science. While I urge you to look outside the homeschooling box and include things that’ll make your child’s heart sing, you also need to utilize the second scheduling must-do: structure. Yes ma’am, structure along with flexibility provides that perfect yin/yang marriage for successful homeschooling.

Math’s a solid example of a topic that lends itself to structure—worksheets, or a JumpStart Math workbook—but this doesn’t prevent you from throwing in practical math while at the grocery store (say, getting them to estimate your bill, or when baking and using fractions).

So how does my suggestion of flexibility and structure land for you? How are you balancing your homeschooling schedule? What parts are you rocking? Any areas you’re struggling with? I’d love to know. Please leave a comment.

Oh… and I invite you to forward this to any fellow homeschooling moms who may be looking for support right now. :) And until we meet next, may you remember just how precious you are. Yup, your family’s lucky to have you.