How to Wisely Anchor Your Homeschool Day

This is a guest post from Leah Hudson! It has amazing encouragement and wisdom. Find out how to hear more from Leah at the bottom of the post.

When I started homeschooling my oldest, I compared the anticipation to jumping off a cliff into a vast ocean. From my pre-homeschool vantage point, I could see countless other women bobbing up and down in the waves - obviously keeping afloat. Some had even fashioned together trim little boats for their crews. Their success gave me encouragement to take the plunge.

I dived in.

Who knew kindergarten could be so overwhelming? Who knew adjusting to new routines would prove so difficult? I needed to get my sea legs FAST!

That first year was hard. I problem-solved my way through it. And I hoped that someday I could be one of those other homeschool moms who had “figured it out.”

I would say it took about 2 and a half years to fashion my little boat for the vast homeschooling ocean. It took that long to find our rhythms, to welcome more students aboard, and generally feel like we were sailing instead of floundering.

As we are now in our 4th year of homeschooling, we are still working as a crew to keep this thing afloat. We have a few things that anchor our homeschool and our days - that I think keep us from drifting in the vast ocean.

Planning Meticulously and Adjusting

I am a planner by nature. I was that kid who wanted a new student planner each year - overjoyed with writing each class assignment. And, of course, each year I purchase a beautiful homeschool planner. Literal weeks are spent meticulously laying out the scheduled readings and activities of our homeschool year. All this LONG before the year ever starts. It is a thing of artistry!

BUT (don’t run away in horror just yet!)...

I adjust for life as we go through the year. I created a simple schedule for weekly assignments for my kids which I only pull together on Sundays before each new week begins. If there are assignments from the previous week we did not have the opportunity to get to, I add them into (and push back, if necessary) this week’s assignments. And I leave a LOT of margin.

I think this anchor is what has grounded my lofty goals and plans for our year into the bedrock of life in reality.

Let the Students Lead

That simple schedule for weekly assignments I mentioned in our first anchor is closely connected with our second anchor. I am not by any means a “child-led learning” advocate or adherent. However, I have found my kids like two things best in our homeschooling routine: a roadmap and a voice.

My kids still get excited every week when I post the new schedule. They get to see favorite books pop up on the agenda and they immediately get excited about the week ahead.

But what makes them the happiest is that they get to decide when each subject is taught and when each session is scheduled throughout the day.

It works like this: my oldest will go first and choose an item on her schedule for the day. We will work through it together and I will send her off on an independent assignment, if necessary. Then my second will choose an item on her schedule for the day. We will work through it together, and I will send her off on an independent assignment (again, if necessary). The first student will come back for her next chosen assignment. We will repeat this process throughout the day until we have checked everything off.

There are a few exceptions to this rotation system (one-room schoolhouse type things). But for most of the day, my students are the decision-makers for how our day goes. And they love it!

I think this anchor is what has grounded my kids with power over their days. They no longer have a tantrum to be heard because they have a voice.

Our Gathering

Years ago, in those early years of floundering and treading the homeschool waters, I heard about “morning time.” And I LOVED the idea! It seemed like such a wonderful way to create connections and memories with my kids everyday. I knew I wanted it to be a part of our family culture.

BUT...I simply could not figure it out. We did it in fits and starts. I printed out countless morning time plans, countless art pieces, countless poems. And we never got past Bible time.

Then I got an idea to create a playlist for my kids to listen to as our Gathering (our morning time). I started creating them each month with a hymn, some fun Scripture songs, and some classical music. It was a solution, of sorts, but it still wasn’t what I had pictured for our Gathering.

Eventually, I decided to expand on our playlist Gathering by creating placemats for my kids. I knew I had their full attention at meals, so I moved our Gathering to a breakfast-time feast of art, poetry, hymns, and memory work. And I included some silly stuff in there, too!

I think our Gathering became the third anchor of our homeschool day because it pulled us all together in one place focused on goodness, truth, and beauty. Gathering became the best part of our family culture.

A Reminder about Anchoring your Homeschool Days

As I mentioned before, I saw a bunch of homeschool moms who were already in that vast homeschool ocean, some bobbing up and down, some with those trim boats. But from my vantage point, I couldn’t see into their homes, into their daily lives.

I could only surmise they had gotten it figured out; that they were happy in their homeschools. This is not always the case. A lot of us are floundering around, trying to get our sea legs. And it takes a LONG time!

I challenge you to pick a few things that can anchor your homeschool and build your homeschool around those things.

Take heart, dear homeschool mama, if you haven’t attained all the homeschool goals you have laid out before you. Grab onto your anchors and hold on for dear life. The seas will calm (or they won’t) but with your anchors, you will not drift away.

Hi, I am Leah, the wife, homemaker, and homeschooling mom behind Simple.Home.Blessings. I like to think of myself as a problem-solver and joy-seeker. Instead of getting bogged down in the problems of life, I try to find a solution and then glory in it. I would like to share one of all-time favorite solutions with you - head over to my site to get a FREE set of our Gathering placemats! Find me on Instagram as well!