Morning Routine for Homeschool Moms
Does anyone else benefit from peeking into the lives of those around them? I mean kindly peeking, of course. Not stalkerish peeking. Or critical peeking. I try really hard not to have a critical spirit, but it's one of my worst struggles, so I don't allow myself to be a critical peeker.
I both enjoy AND greatly benefit from seeing how other people manage their homes. Seeing how other people budget their time inspires me to do better with mine (and trust me, there's a lot of room for improvement!). I thought I would share what my morning routine looks like before the kids get up. I've followed this for months at a time, so I feel pretty confident that it works for me right now. Please keep in mind that I am certifiably lazy at heart, so I definitely have to pray for discipline to make this happen!
Before I took Crystal Paine's Makeover Your Mornings Course, I was sure that I just didn't have time for devotions in the morning. I was cramming my work schedule into breaks between homeschool subjects, and just generally not getting much done. I was groggy when the kids would wake up, and frustrated that nothing was getting done. I needed a sample of a morning routine for homeschool moms, but I couldn't find one that worked for me, until I learned in the Makeover Your Mornings Course how to make my own successful routine! If you're not able to sign up for it right now, there are lots of posts on the MoneySavingMom website that can help you make your mornings easier. I would definitely recommend checking them out! I wrote about this course when I wrote about “Finding Balance and Rest in Every Day”, and you may find some good tips there, too!
Here's what you should know about my morning routine, and why it will look different from yours:
- I work two jobs from home; 2. I have five kids (one of whom is a nursing baby); 3. My husband travels for work so he isn't bothered by alarm in the morning because he either a) isn't here, or b) is so exhausted he'll sleep through it (poor guy). 4. I write all of this down in my Purposeful Planner so I don't miss anything (plus, I love crossing things off of my to-do list, especially routine items). You are likely juggling a totally different set of circumstances, so rock your routine in your own way – this is just an example of how my mornings go!
My Morning Routine:
5:00am – Wake up and read for fun in bed (novels, books I enjoy, etc).
5:30am – Get out of bed, try to transfer baby back to crib without waking her up.
If I am successful – I head downstairs and put on pretty music, get a cup of tea brewing, and do one (quiet) chore. Then I have some quiet time with God, eat a light breakfast, and take my vitamins.
If I am unsuccessful, I weep bitterly and bang my head against the wall. Just kidding. I just enjoy an extra fifteen minutes of snuggle time and delay everything, no big deal. 🙂
6:00am – Work on my job tasks that I wrote down the night before in my planner as part of my evening routine.
7:45am – Make sure school is set up for the day (I do this as part of my evening routine, but this is where I check to make sure I didn't miss anything and that everything is out and ready for Morning Time) and exercise for thirty minutes.
8:20am – Wake the school-aged kids to start their morning routines and take a shower and get ready.
8:40am – Help to make breakfast (or supervise the kids) and start our read-alouds while they eat, then continue reading while they do their after-meal chores.
9:00am – Make sure littlest ones are up and changed and start our school day.
That's it! Then we're up and running, and there's no slowing down til mandatory quiet time after lunch. I wrote times down on my routine, but they are approximate. It's not a schedule, necessarily, but I do follow this order of getting things done, even if I'm delayed by sweet baby snuggles or not-so-sweet (but still very loved) teething babies. How do you plan your mornings?
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As a menopausal mom of 11 kids ??(my youngest is 5, I am 51) my mornings go according to my ability to keep my composure! Lol But I’ll be thinking of you at 5 am when I get up to make breakfast for my brood. Have a great day!
I saw your comment last night, so I was thinking of YOU this morning! I was thinking about how I’d probably have to wake up at 3am to manage a crowd of 11. I’m one of 10 kids, and I LOVE babies, so you are pretty much living my dream, but my husband wants to stop at 5. 🙂 You’re amazing!
This was very helpful. I am a new homeschool mom to 4 children and am trying to organize my day better so I can enjoy this new adventure. Do you have a schedule for the rest of your day?
Hi Julie! I emailed you because my response was too long to fit here. I hope that’s ok!
Well, in my HEAD I have this amazing plan to Do All The Things. Somewhere between there and doing them, something goes horribly awry lol. Time is something I have never managed well. I get so frustrated with myself for getting distracted and not getting stuff done. Thanks for sharing your routine! I also find it helpful to see how other people manage to get stuff done.
Hi Dawn! I know the feeling. I should have clarified that this is a “distraction-free” morning routine – it only works if the kids sleep long enough, and the phone doesn’t ring, etc. etc. Some days it takes me longer to get to everything.
Ha ha yeah…I totally get that! I know I need to pray every day for wisdom in managing my time (and then listening AND obeying) but I get distracted from that as well. I’ve just really have felt “at the end of my rope” with this this week. That’s when things often change for me. I don’t know how, but they do.
Hi there! I’m a mom of four trying to determine if I’ll be helping or hindering two of my kids (the school age kids/girls) if I decide to homeschool full time. I have a toddler and a baby currently and feel like no one is thriving the way I’d like. The girls attend a coop 3 days per week and then I lead the school’s lesson plan/curriculum the other 2 days. My 20 month old has the attention span of a Flea And the baby seems to be attached to me at all times. The girls are in first grade and are doing well but at home we rush through the school to get back to baby needs. I’m trying to figure out what other moms do to keep kids busy. I also shut my house down for naps after lunch and generally lay down with the boys because I’m tired and because they sleep better and longe. But that leaves me doing school while all are awake and that becomes very challenging to manage. Have you any tips to hero manage older kids and younger ones all in a day’s work so that you know your school age kids are really saturating the work and potentially finding what interests them?
I can only tell you what I do, and it might not work for everyone! I have special boxes, one for each day of the week, with baby/toddler learning toys…even dollar store stuff, that my little ones are not allowed to get into unless it’s school time for the bigger kids. I pull these out when my older three are doing school, and it keeps them fairly occupied. We use Sonlight Curriculum (which might be a lot for someone just starting out, because it’s very teacher-intensive – lots of reading!) so for our reading time I hold the baby and read, and we all do it together in the morning. After that, my oldest two (11 and 8) do spelling, while I work on reading with my 7-year-old and the baby and toddler play. Then I start everyone on math while the two little ones and I clean up their toys, then my big girls start creative writing and handwriting while my 7-year-old works on whatever schoolwork he has left. This routine looks different every year, depending on what we have going on. I can say that I love the one-on-one attention I’m able to give the kids, and they’ve flourished at home. I hope that helps a little!
Yep, I get it. I’m 32 with 9 children ages 4 months to 12 yrs. You are inspiring me to get back on a more structured routine.
Wow, Lindsay, you are so blessed! And so busy, I imagine! I always wished I could have more than 5, but I know to be thankful for the 5 I have, too. 🙂 Structure and routine are a big challenge for me, and something I constantly have to work on, but getting those mornings down makes a huge difference!
I have one little one, age 3. We are doing preschool right now. My goal is to be up by 5am. Kiddo is raring to go by 7am. Devotional, coffee, breakfast and shower. Get the curriculum ready and hit the livingroom carpet with the push broom (my quiet chore).