Back to School: How to Organize Your Homeschool Day

The first day of school is just around the corner with many homeschool parents feeling unprepared. Getting back to school can be very stressful, but getting organized will make you feel and be much more prepared. I've written a previous article entitled "How to Prepare for Homeschool: Get Organized" with tips on how to prepare for the school year. In this article, I will share some ideas on how to organize your school day so that it runs more smoothly and efficiently.

Realistically, we all know that not every school day is going to be perfect. Some things are just a part of life, like illness or having a new baby during the school year. There are many things you can do though to make most school days go smoothly. With thirteen years of homeschooling, I've learned that schedules and routines along with eliminating chaos and wasted time, sets the stage for a much better school day. I'm not promising you perfection, but by implementing these practical organizational tips, you should find your school day running more smoothly and efficiently.

First, you should have a school schedule with a starting time, class order, lunch time and ending time.

1. Start by setting a realistic time for everyone to be up by in the morning.

2. Figure out how much time is needed for breakfast and getting ready for the day. You should have a morning routine with every child knowing what they need to do, like getting dressed, making their beds, brushing their teeth, etc. and what time they need to be done by.

3. Then set your school start time. Every child should know the start time and be ready at that time.

4. Next, decide which order you want to do the classes in. These decisions will be affected by how many classes your children do together, how many they do separate and how many they can do on their own.

5. Schedule classes you need to do with children at the same time as classes other children can be doing on their own. This way everyone is doing school and you are free to teach a class without interruption from the other children.

6. You can also have quiet reading assigned or computer school game time for any students that get done with their class before you are done teaching the other children. Every student needs to know which class they should be doing and what to do if they get done early. The goal is to keep things calm, quiet and non-chaotic to create a good learning environment and keep things moving along smoothly.

7. Now, find a good break in classes to set a lunch time. You may also want to have a short recess time after lunch to get some energy out of any restless children.

8. Then do your afternoon classes, ending at a reasonable time. It is good to have a "done by" time set so the school day doesn't tend to drag on longer than it should.

You should also have specific places for children to be doing school.

1. Pick a place to teach classes that you need to do with your children and places for children to do the classes they will be doing on their own. For example, you could teach classes at the dining room table and have children who are doing classes on their own be in their rooms.

2. Having desks or small tables in their rooms make an excellent place to do school. Older students often do well with being able to go to their room, shut the door and focus on school.

3. If you have the luxury of an extra room in your house, you could set up a school room with desks and assigned seating.

4. The important thing is for every child to know where they should be for specific classes at specific times. This creates a sense of order and routine, which children do well in.

Another important factor to organizing your school day is eliminating distractions that take you away from teaching school. This can be especially hard if you also work from your home like I do. You have to make yourself focus on school and not be pulled away by other things. I sell items online and write articles and poetry, so I am drawn to my computer. I've learned some guidelines to help me separate work and school.

1. If you use your computer a lot for work, it helps to not have your computer close at hand while doing school. The "out of sight, out of mind" helps minimize the pull it can have on you.

2. Check your email, sales, articles, accounts and anything else work related in the morning and leave them alone until you are done with school unless you are waiting on something that absolutely can't wait.

3. Screen your phone calls and do not answer them unless it's important. You're not being rude, you're prioritizing. You can call people back after school is done.

4. If you have a thought of something you need to do later, write it down so it doesn't distract you by thinking about it. Once it's written down, you know you can look at it later to remember what you needed to do.

Planning out meals also helps things go more smoothly and efficiently. If you know the night before what you will be doing for breakfast and lunch, then no time is wasted during the school day looking through cabinets and the refrigerator, trying to figure out a meal at the last moment.

1. Plan breakfast and lunch meals as simple and easy as you can.

2. Buy paper plates to use for lunch to make clean-up faster and easier.

3. You should also assign jobs to children that are old enough to help, like setting the table and helping with clean-up after the meals.

I hope these tips are helpful in getting your school day organized. A little organization can go a long way, making getting back to school less stressful and more enjoyable.