How to plan and organize your family’s schedules!
Are you working from home and possibly schooling from home too? Today, with COVID-19 guidelines, many have been unexpectedly thrown into the world of working from home and having their children school from home. I want to share my best tips for organizing your day with a family schedule template for schooling kids at home while you work from home. If you’re thinking about homeschooling permanently, these suggestions will help. Families benefit from having an organized schedule.
USE A PLANNER
You can use our Motivate Me Mom’s Digital Planner schedule template to plan your family’s daily schedules. (You can watch my video: “Create A Family Schedule Using A Digital Planner” which demonstrates creating the daily template on our digital planner) A digital planner can streamline your life! I show you how to plan the school and work day with a schedule so that you can be more successful.
DON’T BE OVERWHELMED
You may be asking, “How am I going to be productive, stay calm and give my best to BOTH kids and work while being at home? There is a better system than just having “TO-DO” LISTS. I’m suggesting basic solutions that can work for any mom or dad who needs to work from home while the kids school from home. These tips will keep you stay more organized, less stressed, and—dare I say—happier!
STAY FOCUSED
Kids need structure and they need breaks. The parent needs the organized day so that she or he can compartmentalize when to focus on kids and when to focus on her or his work. Do not….I repeat….do not try to answer your emails while helping your child with a school lesson. Even if you CAN do it, it’s just not a good choice. It makes your day stressful.
CREATE CLASS TIMES BY SUBJECT
Take cues from successful homeschoolers who use class times by subject. Also similar to being at school, the kids can have class periods by subject. They have lessons assigned for each subject. If they do not finish the lesson’s work during the class time, the subject is added to the end of the day and finished during the end-of-the-day ‘homework’ time. This motivates kids and helps them work more efficiently.
MANAGE MULTIPLE KIDS
Homeschoolers try to have all the kids work on the same subject at the same time. For the most part, all kids can work on the same subject at the same time. This helps you be able to watch over and track their work better. Maybe, focus on kids in the mornings and choose subjects that might need your help for that morning time. Only work in the afternoons—and evenings, if necessary.
Work can wait. If given a structured plan, kids can wait for when you’re available. You can personalize for whatever works for your family, maybe even alternating days instead of mornings/afternoons. The point here is to schedule time blocks for each—both school and work.
SCHEDULE YOUR DAY
Schedule the subjects for best managing your ‘teacher’ time for each child’s needs and your ‘work’ time for your job’s needs. It can be done! This is a daily schedule suggestion, but you may have to alternate days depending on your family’s needs.
SUGGESTED DAILY SCHEDULE:
7:15am – Mom/Dad WAKE UP – cook breakfast
8:00 – Kids WAKE UP
8:10 – Breakfast
8:30 – 9:00 Chores
*Breaks are the 10 MINUTES between class periods
First period – 9:00 – 9:45* – WRITING
Second period – 9:55 – 10:40* – MATH-01
Third period – 10:50 – 11:35* – MUSIC/ART
Fourth period – 11:45 – 12:30pm* – ENGLISH
> LUNCH/P.E. – 12:30 – 1:30 <
Fifth period – 1:30 – 2:15* – SCIENCE
Mom & Dad can ‘go to work’ at home – 1:30
Sixth period – 2:25 – 3:10* – HISTORY
Seventh period (30 min) – 3:20 – 3:50* – LANGUAGE
Eighth period – 4:00 – 4:45* – ELECTIVE
5:00 – 5:30 CHORES/Help w/dinner
5:30 DINNER
6:15 PLAY/FAMILY TIME
7:15 HOMEWORK
9:00 BEDTIME
USE SCHOOL ‘BELLS’
Use a cell phone set with alarms for class times’ beginning and class times’ ending. Have an alarm sound that rings for the start of the class period and a different alarm sound that rings for the end of the class period for a 10 minute break between the classes. Eat lunch and have P.E. together midday. Having the ‘bells’ helps all stay focused on the tasks at hand and not having to watch the clock.
HAVE A HOME WORKSPACE
After lunch, mom or dad can ‘go to work’ in their home office. Parents can always be available as the kids continue to work on their school. Having your own home workspace keeps unecessary questions from kids just because you’re working in the same room. They respect your time because you’ve given them the focus they needed earlier in the day.
DESIGNATE AN ERRAND DAY
Let me also suggest creating a time for running the family shopping errands. For example, on Wednesday mornings. This works for the youngest child(ren) to run errands with Mom on Wednesday mornings while the older kids stay home. I guess the ‘errand day’ idea has to be personal to your family’s availabilities, but I thought I would throw in this suggestion too! If you make shopping lists throughout the week. Shopping can almost always wait until Wednesday! (Check out our Family Meal Planning post and video)
I hope these ideas and tips help you plan an ‘at-home’ schedule for your family! Please comment and let me know if you have any questions or suggestions from your own experience.
Be blessed,
Momma