A simple technique to end the schedule struggles!

"How can I keep up with the schedule?"

"How do I manage my day and stay on top of my plans for the day?"

"I can never manage my time well. Homeschooling takes all day and the lessons drag on forever."

I cannot tell you how many times I get this question or some similar variation in the homeschool community. It shows up frequently in the surveys, meetings, coaching sessions - you name it. This seems to be a common area of struggle for not just mothers who are new to homeschooling but also the ones who have been doing it for sometime. 

This struggle throws us off schedule frequently and makes it harder for us to manage our home schedule efficiently. In the everyday chaos of managing a homeschool, one thing we all desperately seek is stability and some sort of predictability but not being able to manage a daily consistent schedule adds to our frustration and stress. All the other pending work eventually overwhelms us and it creates friction between the family members. 

I had a similar struggle. I would often lose track of time during our lessons and this would contribute to secondary problems. Over time my  children would lose motivation in maintaining focus during the lessons. They did not recognize my need to stay on time with the lessons. For me this was very important, at least for the core lessons which I prefer to stay consistent with in a timely manner. 

I couldn't point out where exactly was the issue, until I came across this idea and upon application the struggles resolved significantly. This really helped me plan my day better and set a clear expectation even for my children. Though our days are not as regimented and we do have huge open blocks of time for the children to pursue their interests, we did  need some order and discipline for our structured core lessons. This technique helped us manage that without letting it bleed into the entire day which allows us to balance our priorities really well. Alhamdulilah

Children thrive and experience higher levels of motivation when things are predictable because they see an incentive in staying focused to complete the task at hand. They are less likely to put up a fight and resist the lessons if they know that the lesson is going to end and they can clearly see when that is expected to happen. 

Watch the video above where I shared this idea in detail. I begin the session with a lot of interactions, so skip over to the 12 minute mark in the video to get to the main ideas shared.

Your questions and comments are welcome. Please share this post if you benefit from it. 

-Noor