Did you know you can start your homeschool day whenever you want? You can actually work your homeschooling life right around or into your regular life the way that fits your family best. Who would have thought, right? Sidebar..this is me picking humor at myself because by the looks of it around here some days you might question whether I really did know that or not. But really, this is something kinda super awesome about homeschooling.
One of the things I am struggling to learn to let go of when it comes to this homeschooling business is what I think other people’s standards are for their lives.
I have this habit of thinking everyone else must be doing it better than I am, and I should pull from their repertoire and just forget I might even have one of my own. In all honesty, I am just three years in. So, pulling from everyone else’s experiences can be rather beneficial. Alas, though, I can take what works for us and leave the rest.
Tuning into my kids’ needs and my needs as their teacher is also rather beneficial alongside pulling from others’ experiences. Read more about how I have been finding our homeschool groove here.
With that being said, an early start to the homeschool day works wondrously for many families, just not so much this family. We have grown to appreciate a later start to our homeschooling day for a few different reasons.
Reason #1: It gives us the appropriate amount of time to really fuel up for the day.
I am an early riser, but I am not an early riser that is raring to go as soon as my feet hit the floor. I prefer to ease into the day. So, although I wake up early, I take my time to do so. This seems to help me get ahead of the day’s pressures that might ensue. Otherwise, I feel like I’m just being thrown into the day.
Read more about why being an introverted parent turned me into an early bird.
The same sort of rings true for my children. They wake up at a relatively decent time, but I don’t push them to be up by a particular hour. I let them wake naturally, and when they do wake, I let them do it at their own pace. Sometimes they play with toys or doodle in a notebook, or sometimes they just cuddle up to Mom for a little while.
No one is rushing to get things done by a specific time, and as a result, we seem to be less grouchy with one another overall, which makes for a much smoother school day.
Due to us all waking up at our own pace, we typically start our lessons between 10 and 11 am (sometimes even later, much later..shh)
Reason #2: I can get a decent start on household chores.
Getting chores done is sometimes one of the hardest things to accomplish while homeschooling and this allows me ample time to do so. While the kids are transitioning into their day playing with legos, listening to some music, drawing, etc. I can go ahead with some of the more noisier chores.
We live in a relatively small home, so noise travels everywhere. Once they’re up, I can start the washer, make a nice hardy breakfast for everyone, put away dishes, etc. with plenty of time to do so.
Reason #3: We’re able to focus better because the toddler is napping.
My kiddos wake up in an almost stairstep fashion (thankfully), starting with the youngest waking up the earliest. It works out pretty well, and I love that it enables me to get some time to focus on him, whether it’s playing with letter magnets on the front door, singing along to nursery rhymes, or reading Mother Goose poems.
Then, about 10 or 11, he goes down for a nap, and I can spend more time with my older two. It creates the perfect opportunity, really.
I’m sure I could list off more and more reasons why I find a later start to the homeschool day so awesome, but they would all generally fall into those three categories above.
Homeschooling truly has so many advantages; being on your own time frame is one of them!
Another article I think you’ll like: Homeschooling When a New Baby Arrives.
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