How to Start Your Homeschool Day Even if You Are Not a Morning Person
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By
Colleen Kessler
- Apr 28, 2015
But, the homeschool day needs to start, and when you’re up before your kids, things go much more smoothly.
You can do much to change the way your morning goes by making some changes to your evening routines. The following ideas will help make your morning run better so you can get about your day.
1. Prepare As Much As You Can the Night Before
Choose the clothes you’re going to wear the next day. This goes for your children, as well. Help them find their clothes, put their shoes where they can easily find them, and get them to bed early.
As the children are bathing and getting ready for bed, you can take that time to prepare snacks and easy lunch foods for the next day. My kids and I also take a few hours once every 4-6 weeks and prepare baking mixes and instant oatmeal packets for quick breakfasts.
Using your Instructor's Guide as a reference, lay out school work and write assignments on a white board or in assignment notebooks. Make it easy for everyone to get started first thing in the morning. Do you have little ones? You can have special school boxes or trays filled with activities waiting for them when they get up. They’ll be busily engaged, and you can get the big kids off on the right foot.
2. Get Enough Rest
Be sure to go to bed early enough that you can get at least eight hours of sleep. Does this mean you have to go to bed at the same time as the children? Absolutely not, but you do want to get the rest you need, too.
I’m terrible about this, yet every time I stay up late, I pay the price. Nobody wants to spend their days with a grumpy, overtired mama, and if you’re too tired to enjoy your kids, you’re not really taking advantage of all that homeschooling has to offer.
Set your alarm clock, but place it across the room on the dresser or a table away from the bed. If your alarm is right next to the bed, it will be too easy for you to hit the snooze button. Make it so that you have to physically get up to turn your alarm off.
Try to get up early enough that you won’t be rushed. Give yourself enough time to take care of yourself before you wake the children whether that is a coffee ritual, reading the daily news, checking Facebook, or doing yoga. Rising early will help you start the day with a sense of peace and calm before all the hubbub starts.
Play Music During Your Morning Routine
Put on your favorite music to get you moving. If you have peppy music playing, you’ll be surprised how much you can get done and how good you’ll feel doing it.
The kids will join in too, and the day will start with smiles instead of grumbles.
Not everyone is a morning person by nature. That doesn’t mean you can’t make some changes to your schedule which will help you make your day run smoother. You can do as much as you can the night before, place your alarm across the room, or play music to get you going. Above all, get a good night’s sleep so you’re rested and able to function.
Your kids will thank you, and your homeschool will be the envy of all the other co-op families.
About the Author
Colleen is a former teacher of gifted children who hoped for nice, average kids.
Since things never quite work out as planned, she now stays at home to homeschool her highly gifted kids, trying desperately to stay one step ahead of them while writing about their adventures {and messes} at Raising Lifelong Learners.
You can find her avoiding housework by playing on the trampoline or going for hikes with her kids.
