When is the best time to start your homeschool day?

When people find out that I homeschool, I typically hear one of the following questions in response:

• “Where do you find the patience to do that?” (Ha! I don’t.)
• “Are you going to homeschool all the way through high school?” (We take it a year at a time. But that is our desire…)
• “How long does it take you every day?” (read on…)

When I first started on my homeschooling journey, I fell victim to the lie that homeschool had to look exactly like the public school I grew up.

I thought that in order to be a success in the homeschool world and not fail my children’s education, that I had to almost exactly mirror that which I knew from public school.

That meant: rigid schedules, early mornings, very little wiggle room, squeezing in more than we were ready for and well… as you can imagine, children who dreaded school!

In addition to that, this rigid “minute-by-minute” schedule stuffed full of way too much academic material than we were ready for left me feeling very overwhelmed. I never had time in the morning to do the things that filled me up and equipped me for the day.

Exercise was nonexistent. If it didn’t happen in the morning, then it didn’t happen at all. And since I was insistent upon starting school at 7:30-8:00a, it didn’t happen!

In addition to that, Bible time often consisted only of the Children’s Bible stories that I was reading to the kids at night (which if you want to deepen your relationship with Christ… that’s just not going to cut it).

Time for things I enjoyed like reading? Ha, that just didn’t happen either. By the time we finished our homeschool day, it was time for me to tend to the housework, errands, laundry, and cooking. Then bedtime, wake up, repeat.

I felt like each day was on perpetual repeat and that I wasn’t going to get back to any type of self-care tasks until my kids graduated, not to mention, my kids were not enjoying “school time”  at all whatsoever.

Let’s just say the first little while of our homeschool journey was very painful.

After several meltdowns (by both the children AND me), it was time to reevaluate. It was time to zoom out and reconsider the big picture.

So I did what every stable homeschool mom does. I burst into tears when my husband walked through the door from work and told him I was a failure. (Yes, I am sure every man loves coming home to their wife as a puddle on the floor).

Thankfully God made him calm. I am sure that is the last thing he wanted to come home to that day, but he told me everything would be fine and that we would talk through things later that night… poor guy probably just wanted to get in the door and set his stuff down!

So I calmed down (ish).

Later that night we sat down together and talked. He asked some great questions and pointed somethings out which completely refocused my efforts. The result of that sit-down talk is 100% responsible for why I now start school at 10 am (and yes we finish before lunch)!

If this at all resonates with you, I encourage you to hit the pause button and take some time to zoom out and look at the big picture.

Here is how we “zoomed out” that night and looked at the big picture and how you can too:

1. Share your struggles with your husband.

Ladies, so often we are struggling and we hold it in. We put these unnecessary expectations on ourselves that we should be able to handle it all and we hold in the struggles. We don’t want to be a burden on our husbands who already have so many responsibilities.
Listen, you may be the main person involved in the homeschooling, but your husband is just as much a part of it as you. If you are struggling, let him know. After all, he is the school principal and responsible for making sure “school” is running smoothly and that things are moving toward the desired end goal. Talk to him! As much as we hope they do, THEY CAN’T READ OUR MINDS!
Now, I don’t recommend melting on the floor in a puddle as I did. Maybe instead be cool and simply let him know that you are having some struggles and want to share them with him. You’d like his input on how to resolve the issues at hand.

2. Seek the Lord in prayer

Truly this should be the first defense! So why am I putting it second? Because so often we wait until complete meltdown before seeking any defense. Our husbands, unfortunately, are often the first recipients of that mess and after that, we embark on the problem-solving endeavor.
Do yourself and your family a favor, start covering your homeschool in prayer every day from here on out. Whether things are going good or not, cover it in prayer. Make it your first defense.

Do yourself and your family a favor, start covering your homeschool in prayer every day from here on out.

3. Revisit your “why”.

Okay, you’ve covered your homeschool in prayer (and will continue to) and you’ve calmly asked your husband to sit down with you and discuss the current struggles that you are facing in your homeschool. Sweet, what’s next?
Answer this question: Why do we choose to homeschool?
Maybe this isn’t a question you have ever answered as a couple or maybe you have lost sight of it through the blurred lens of excessive curriculum and busy family life. Whether you’ve answered it or not in the past, get a pencil and paper and figure it out. This is your foundation. This is what your homeschool firmly stands on, without a solid clear foundation, it will crumble.
Something to keep in mind and be aware of while considering your why is this: is your motive to please the Lord or to please people (aka family, friends, and relatives)? Be careful that the motivation behind your desire to homeschool is not to please people. Your desire should ultimately be to please the Lord. Galatians 1:10 makes it clear that we need to seek to please the Lord and not man. Trust me on this one. Please! Don’t let someone else’s expectations for your children’s education be the motive behind your homeschool. This will only lead to disappointment and frustration (for all parties involved).
Find a place to stand firm (in the LORD) and stand strong!

This is your foundation. This is what your homeschool firmly stands on. Without a solid clear foundation, it will crumble.

3. Revamp your current routine to align with your “why”

Be real with yourself. Ask yourself if the most painful parts of your current school routine are REALLY necessary.
No, we can’t avoid teaching our kids to read, but maybe that child is not ready yet?
Yes, we must put in the time, but is it really bringing you any closer to your goal by starting at the crack of dawn?
Is it really necessary to have 6 hours of school a day?
Are you putting too much on your plate and your children’s’ plates?
Are you taking time to fill your own cup every day or are you trying to give away what you don’t have?
Are you trying to serve out of an empty pot?
Are you making the Lord the center of your homeschool?

I get it. You are busy, you are tired and you have no time for anything else. But if you are not intentionally seeking the Lord EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. then you are setting your homeschool up for a defenseless war against the enemy. We must equip ourselves daily to fight the spiritual battle and to have the Lord’s guidance each and every day. Period. Make time for it, this is a non-negotiable for the Christian homeschooler.

You guys, reevaluating our homeschool was so freeing for me! And for my husband and children! It is something I try to do any time I am feeling overwhelmed or if things just aren’t jiving in our routine. It is easy to fall back off track. Make it a habit to reevaluate at least monthly.

So what does a typical day in the Powers’ Homeschool look like?

So for starters I like to wake up around 5 am or 6 am, BUT we don’t start school until 10 am! Why is this? What do I do with all that time?!

One of my biggest defenses against the enemy is equipping my mind and spirit to be alert and to be energized. Waking up early allows me the ability to spend peaceful and abundant time in God’s word and in prayer each morning without taking away from my responsibilities to my family once they wake. Here is the tool I use to plan out my day intentionally!

Another important practice that I fill this morning time with is exercising at least 4 days a week. When my kids were young I was always out of breath and tired. I found that even though I felt like I had no extra energy… exercise was just the thing that I needed most to give me energy! If you don’t exercise regularly, you might be reading this like I am crazy… but trust me on this one. Regular exercise will give you more energy, help you sleep better at night and fill you with endorphins which heightens your mood throughout the day. Even 20 minutes a day goes a long way! Plan it and do it, you won’t regret it.

The last thing I do with that morning time is chores. I found before when I insisted on the early start, that we had no time for chores (which is just as important as academics in my eyes). I typically get most of my housework done before sitting down for school.

By starting school at 10 am, this allows us to have a relaxed, yet intentional and productive morning before school kicks off.

Then as I mentioned, we do our best to finish school before our 1 PM lunch, which does happen around 99% of the time. I follow a lot of homeschoolers of large families via podcasts and many of them proclaim a similar message: homeschooling should not take all day. If it is taking all day then it might be time to reevaluate. It is IMPERATIVE to leave time for a creative free time. Time for your child to flourish in their interests. This helps them to grow in their strengths that God has blessed them with.

I follow a lot of homeschoolers via podcasts and many of them proclaim a similar message: homeschooling should not take all day. 

In summary, don’t be afraid to hit the pause button on your homeschool. Taking time to fill your own cup every day is a MUST. Preparing your heart for the day is imperative. Don’t be afraid to try new schedules and remove the pain points or switch curriculum mid-year (I just switched math AND phonics last week). Keep your God ordained “why” in the center of your homeschool.

You can do this homeschool mom. Don’t be discouraged, reevaluate and try again. You are doing a great job and your kids are super blessed with the life you are giving them and the intentional time you are pouring into them.