4 Ways to Keep Your Cool While Homeschooling

Whether you are a school-at-home family or an unschooling family, having your kids at home with you ALL THE TIME can get to be a bit overwhelming. Here are some tips I've found to be helpful and keep us going, even when we lack motivation.

1. HAVE a schedule. We have a hybrid schooling, where we attend a "homeschool connect" that is part of the public school system. The classes have set times and days and those are a part of our schedule. Your schedule could be as simple as, we all come together around lunch time and eat together and then read or draw for 45 minutes after lunch. It could be as complex as including wake-up times, breakfast, chores, school time, and so on.

2. AVOID over scheduling. We have a packed schedule this year, and unfortunately that has meant that Marley has had to learn that we can't do everything and choose what is most important to her. She has had to let go of a few of her other extracurricular activities in order to focus on music, which is her passion right now.

3. KEEP a family calendar. Whether you keep a physical calendar, or a digital one (we keep a family iCalendar via phone and iPad), it's important to see your commitments laid out and NOT rely on your memory. I particularly like the iCalendar because we can have a shared family calendar for activities I need to take her to, we can invite extended family members to certain events, and we can have our own personal calendars that all mesh together for our viewing and organizing pleasure.

4. BE flexible. Sometimes, there is a really awesome event happening, but attending would make you miss a lesson or other regular commitment. Sometimes, the whole family is having an off day and really needs to sit around eating popcorn and binging on Netflix. Both of these things are okay. One of the reasons we homeschool is to have the freedom to do what you want to do when you want to do it!

Do you have any tips that help you keep on keepin' on as a homeschool family? Share them in the comments!