How I Stay Organized *Without* a Daily Schedule

I have been a homeschooling mom for eight years now, and I have received numerous pieces of advice along the way, advice that often pertains to scheduling and time management.

I have tried many different ways of planning and organizing my homeschool day, but I found that having a strict daily schedule prevented me from meeting my children’s individual needs, which undermined the reasoning behind my decision to homeschool.

Instead of having a daily schedule, I use the following tricks to make my homeschool day go as smoothly as possible.

1. Curbing the morning madness.

In my house, the morning is by far the most hectic time of day. My youngest son cries while I try to make coffee, and the noise he makes wakes up my four-year-old, who immediately wants breakfast.

Because of this, I don’t have time to go over every assignment with my three school-aged kids before they begin work.

Instead, every Sunday night, I make a copy of our weekly checklist, which lists every workbook and divides them into two categories: independent and “with mom.”

I tell my kids to do the next two pages in each workbook every day. That way, I don’t have to write every specific assignment in the mornings and can print off the same checklist every week.

I also like to set out my kids’ workbooks in piles before I go to bed at night so they have no excuses not to get started.

2. Managing one-on-one time.

Homeschooling three kids isn’t easy, especially since I have a first grader who is reluctant to do school. It’s difficult to give each kid the one-on-one time they need.

To rectify this, I have my fourth and fifth graders do the same science, history, and Latin. In addition, my fifth grader and college student can help their younger siblings. One other thing I find helpful is not letting my kids all take a break together until lunch.

Instead, they take individual breaks when I need to help another student so that they each get the time with me that they need.

3. Making grading less grating.

When I homeschooled my oldest, I would let her completed work pile up and do a long session of grading. Now, I grade each kid’s work during that same school day. I have the student near me when I grade so that we can go over any errors together.

This has greatly reduced the time I spend on homeschooling outside of the school day.

Through trial and error, I have found that the above tricks definitely made my homeschool day easier, while still allowing the kids and me to be free from a strict schedule.

About Elizabeth Turajski

Elizabeth Turajski is a homeschooling mom and a nurse. She enjoys gardening, vintage books, and long walks.