Mornings. For some, they’re a cherished part of the day, spent slowly sipping coffee, watching the sunrise while reading the paper, and watching the world wake up. But for others (like parents with kids), mornings can be absolute mayhem.
If you want to ensure a good homeschool day, it’s important to have a solid morning routine in place. On the days we don’t follow a routine, we end up frustrated and grumpy, not to mention unproductive.
Every time we’ve followed this routine, we’ve had a great day. This is the best morning routine I’ve tried so I wanted to share it with other homeschool moms in hopes of helping that overwhelmed mama who struggles to get through the day, as I used to.
Plan and Get Organized the Night Before
There’s nothing worse than waking up without a plan. It’s a surefire way to get frustrated and start your day off on the wrong foot. That’s why it’s essential to plan and get organized the night before.
If you’re using a curriculum, look at tomorrow’s lessons for each subject and see what supplies and materials you’ll need. Pull everything that you’ll need ahead of time and have it ready for the morning.
If you’re not using a curriculum, think about what you plan to go over the next day, what supplies and materials you’ll need to teach those topics, and get those materials pulled and ready.
For us, since we are a traveling homeschool family, we use a clipboard (with storage) filled with the next day’s worksheets, flashcards to do on the road, a writing tablet, the book we are reading aloud, and a travel game.
Also, planning ahead for tomorrow’s breakfast is a big help too. I don’t always plan ahead for breakfast, but when I do, I appreciate it the next morning.
By making a plan and getting organized after my son goes to bed the night before, we are able to start our day peacefully.
Wake Up Before the Kids
Since our lives involve quite a bit of freedom, it’s easy to let myself sleep until my son wakes up. Those are the days that I struggle the most.
Jumping out of bed to start breakfast, chores, and whatever else might need to be done is a bad start to my day.
When I wake up an hour before my son wakes up, I have time to have a cup of coffee and some quiet time. Since I work remotely, I also use this time to get any computer work I need to do done while the house is quiet.
By starting my day off alone, I am able to focus my attention on my son when he wakes up. Those are my most successful, peaceful days.
Eat Breakfast Together
Sitting down and eating together is such a bonding time for a family. I do not bring up school lessons during this time, but rather take the time to just talk.
How did you sleep? What did you dream about? What would you like to do today? What are some things you’d like to learn about? I try to ask open-ended questions and just let my son talk.
Because I’ve already had my cup of coffee, I’m much more alert and enthusiastic than if we rolled out of bed at the same time.
Once we finish breakfast, we clean up our dishes, wipe the table, and head to the couch for our next part of the day.
Snuggle and Documentary Time
Before starting our formal lessons, I like to find a YouTube video about whatever my son said he’d like to learn about at breakfast and we watch a short documentary about the topic. I try to keep the video short, usually around 10-15 minutes.
Some recent topics have been alligators, bats, monkeys, and dolphins. He’s on an animal kick. Probably because we are in Florida right now and wildlife is everywhere!
The point of doing this is to let my son know that I am listening to him and catering his learning to things that interest him. Also, we get to start our day off with snuggles, and what mama doesn’t enjoy snuggling their kids?
Get Dressed
When you’re homeschooling, and don’t have plans to leave the house that day, it’s easy to want to stay in your pajamas all day. I try to only do this one day a week.
I’ve found that getting dressed and ready has an impact on just more than what we’re wearing. We feel more productive when we wear regular clothes. When we wear our pajamas all day, we tend to be a little lazier.
I totally understand the desire to wear comfortable clothes, but I think there’s a balance between comfy clothes and last night’s pajamas.
Life Skills
I am a firm believer in teaching children life skills. I have met way too many adults that do not know the proper way to clean a bathroom, do laundry, create a budget, or manage their money. My son will not be in that category.
During this part of the day, I like to focus on a life skill to teach or practice with my son.
Find some age-appropriate tasks that your children can be responsible for.
Here are some life skills to teach kids:
- Emptying trash cans
- Making their bed
- Cleaning their room
- Sorting the mail
- Feeding pets
- Dusting
- Vacuuming
- Mopping
- Creating a budget
- Managing money
- Cleaning bathrooms
- Loading or unloading the dishwasher
- Putting toys away
- Folding laundry
- Washing dishes
- Washing laundry
- Prepping and cooking food
- Cleaning windows or mirrors
- Watering plants
- Sorting laundry
- Brushing teeth
- Setting the table
- Shoveling show
- Pumping gas
- Cleaning out the refrigerator
The Thinking Tree has an amazing activity book for learning life skills. Using this book, kids are prompted to research and learn how to do 36 life skills, such as how to do first aid, how to change a light bulb, and how to pump gas in a car.
Here’s an article on The Thinking Tree that explains the activity book in more detail.
Calendar Time
Once we are dressed and ready for the day, we head to the kitchen table and pull out our magnetic calendar. I love using this as a way to teach about time-related topics, which tend to be difficult for children to learn.
The calendar has magnets for the date, month, year, day of the week, weather, planned activities, season, and it even has a clock on the front that kids can move to the correct time.
I’ve found that by using this, my son is getting a better feel for the order of the days of the week and how long months and seasons last.
It’s also a great opportunity to discuss the plan for the day and he can put the activity magnets on the calendar in order so he knows what to expect.
Learning Songs
As a beginner homeschool mom, I thought I was responsible for TEACHING every single topic. I was wrong!
There are so many resources available for learning. Take advantage of them!
We have been loving Jack Hartmann’s YouTube channel. My son is learning all about counting money, phonics, seasons, counting to 100, rhyming, and the months of the year – all in song form.
The songs are active and many incorporate physical exercises into the videos. It’s a great way to learn and get the wiggles out at the same time.
I created a playlist for the topics that he is working on learning. Once he learns those topics, we can make a new playlist or add to the existing one. It’s so nice to have a YouTube playlist created so we don’t have to search for the videos each day and search in between songs.
Setting Expectations
Kids need to know what to expect. Before we start any formal lessons, we discuss the expectations for the day.
Here are my 3 main expectations:
- I don’t expect your work to be perfect, but I do expect it to be your best.
- Please raise your hand if you have something to say when I’m reading aloud.
- If something is hard, I still expect you to try it before you said you can’t do it. You can do hard things.
- Let me know if you need a break.
We tend to get off on the right foot if we discuss expectations. Once we have set expectations, we are ready to begin the formal lessons.
Math and English Language Arts
I like to start the formal lessons with the main subjects – reading, writing, and math. I choose to do this because if we have to cut our homeschool day short for any reason, I can rest assured that he is getting consistent practice in the most important classes.
During this time, we might do worksheets, play an educational math game such as Snakes and Ladders, practice tracing letters, or do read alouds.
Every single day looks different, but I’ve found an effective way to keep him engaged and entertained during class. The answer lies in – the power to choose.
Kids want to feel like they are in control, and giving them 2 options and letting them choose is highly effective. Bonus points if you use fun options.
For example, I might say, “ok, it’s time to work on math. Would you rather play BINGO or go on a Shape Scavenger Hunt?”
Either way, he is learning a math concept we are working on (identifying numbers 0-100 or learning shapes). By letting him choose, it eliminates a lot of whining and push back from him.
This article discusses many of the choices I’ve given him during our school days.
Lunch and Free Play
After we finish our math and ELA, my son gets free play while I’m preparing lunch. Usually, he builds with LEGO or magnetic tiles, plays with his marble run, climbs trees, or plays with his kitchen playset.
Sometimes he chooses to help me cook lunch. I have him help me read cooking directions and recipes. Sometimes, he wants to cook lunch on his own. I sit back and take a break, and he makes us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or macaroni and cheese. As he gets older, I’ll teach him how to cook more difficult things that require the stove or oven.
Science and History
We do not do any formal science or history classes yet. However, I do try to incorporate it by watching some documentaries or exploring outside. Since we travel to different places, we love to explore nature.
Sometimes, we collect pine cones, learn about how they function, and use them for an art project. Other times, we walk in creek beds and talk about different types of rocks.
One day recently, we went to a beach and collected seashells. You can even take it a step farther and bring a book to the beach that helps you identify different types of seashells.
For history, we discuss geography or the history of the city we are visiting. Historical conversations even came up on our last hiking trip. We found a bird feather and it brought up how people used to write with quills dipped in ink before ink pens were invented.
Conclusion
Implementing a morning routine for your homeschool is one of the best ways to ensure that your day goes smoothly. With a little preparation and routine, you can help create a positive atmosphere for learning.
Follow our tips, and your kids will be ready to learn and have fun! Of course, every family is different, so feel free to adapt these ideas to fit your own needs. What’s most important is that you create a routine that works for your family.
If you want some great ideas for your own morning routine, check out Your Learning Basket. It helps all the family members come together to do some learning together. Even if your children are of different ages, they can still benefit from listening to read alouds, doing some music or art together, or doing daily devotions.
I hope you’ve found this article to be helpful in creating a morning routine that works for your family! Happy homeschooling!
