Why You Need a Homeschool Start Time

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Are you struggling with your days quietly disappearing with nothing to show for it?

Then I bet you don’t have a homeschool start time for your days!

There are main three reasons I advocate you establish a starting time for your homeschool. Let’s go through them!

1. Prevents the Good from Drowning the Best

Have you ever experienced one of those days, a day where you never get the chance to sit down and homeschool your kids? I have!

The day starts out with the best of intentions, but then one thing after another pops up. You want to finish folding the laundry before you begin homeschooling. A friend calls to chat. The kids are playing happily. And I loathe disturbing kids who are happily playing together!

And so you wait 15 minutes. You postpone starting school by another 30 minutes. Before you know it, it’s lunchtime and nothing’s been done! And you have appointments lined up for the afternoon. Yikes!

This is a simple case of the good drowning the best.

Folding laundry, chatting with friends, and letting the kids play happily are all good things. Very good things in fact!

But the problem with life is that you tend to favor the good things at hand. You don’t put them away to sit down and get to work on the tasks that further your goals. You don’t interrupt the kids and call them in to complete their studies.

And the result? As I mentioned before, the good has drowned the best.

The trick to keeping the good from drowning the best is to have a specific time to focus on the best. Around here, I know if it’s after 9 am in the morning, we’re supposed to be homeschooling. You don’t need to use 9 am, but do find a time that works for your family.

A homeschool start time so you know when to put away the good and focus on the best!

2. You know when NOT to schedule appointments

I can’t tell you how many appointments I’m asked to make months in advance. The dentist schedules our next cleaning before we leave the office. The family plans to come by for a few hours. I need to sign the kids up for an activity.

Having a set time for homeschooling means I know when I can and can’t schedule appointments.

The same principle works for field trips and outings with the kids. Field trips are a wonderful opportunity for your children. But not when they constantly interrupt your homeschool. They’re part of the good, not the best, that homeschooling has to offer.

As I mentioned before, it’s a way of protecting the best part of your day. Protecting your homeschool from repeated intrusions.

And let me mention, it’s not that interrupting your homeschool once or twice is bad. It’s rather that one interruption leads to two interruptions which leads to three. and the next thing you know, you’re running behind in your homeschool!

Again, I urge you to set a time for your homeschool. So you know when you can and can’t schedule appointments, activities, and field trips!

3. Provides structure for the day

And the third reason I recommend you set a time for homeschooling is that it provides the needed structure for your day. A routine, if you wish.

I love the structure it provides. It’s enough to keep us on track without turning into a straight-jacket!

And kids love knowing what the day brings. So in my house often the day runs like this:

Rise
Breakfast
Chores
Relax
Homeschool

We have enough time to complete all our tasks and have a few free minutes for me to enjoy a cup of coffee. And the kids have enough time to dress their dolls for the day or play with their legos.

And they know we start homeschooling at 9 am. It doesn’t come as a surprise. It’s part of our normal routine.

And kids love routines!

Having a homeschool start time gives you a gentle structure for your day and allows your family to build a routine around that structure. It gives you a time frame for scheduling appointments. You know the times you can schedule and can’t schedule without interrupting your homeschool day.

And a starting time prevents the good from drowning the best.

Do you have a homeschool start time?

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