Daily Structure, by Tanya Higgins

From Tanya Higgins . . .

I have been homeschooling my kids since my oldest was 18 months old (he is now almost 17), and so I have spent a lot of time together with my kids. It can be difficult, joyful, stressful, relaxing, and so rewarding. I have chosen to spend most of my time with my kids, educating them and being their mom, but with coronavirus many of you are now in a “novel” situation. No worries! But how can you make the best of this abundance of time with your family? I am going to give some ideas on how to have a basic structure to your day so that there is a better chance of succeeding every day!

Structure is important. Some of us are good at it, some of us are not. That’s okay. I am not that great at it – we have just done it for so long that we have a basic rhythm to our day. You just do what you are capable of and work with the gifts God gave you. There are many, different ways to have structure and you probably need to sit down and think about how you and your kids function best and move with those prompts. Here are is a basic schedule for the day with a scattering of ideas:

Morning:

1. After waking up and having breakfast (encouraging the kids to make their own), have the kids get dressed, make their beds, and brush their teeth. (an hour?)

2. If the kids have schoolwork assigned to them, the morning is a great time to get this accomplished. They are alert and more focused than later in the day. Don’t spend too much time on this. 1-2 hours in this morning time, depending on age, is good. If there in no schoolwork assigned, make it up yourself.

3. Outside time or indoor exercise – a good time to just walk around the block, look at birds, look at the spring buds on bushes and trees, look for slugs…. (15-60 minutes?)

4. Lunch time – have the kids help with lunch making. Or have them clean while you make the meal (1 hour?)

5. Read together or play a game (1 hour)

6. Quiet time (this a great tool) – ½ hour to 1 hour of kids in separate spaces with no talking. They can draw, read, etc…, but NO disturbing mom, dad, or each other!

7. 3pm divine mercy chaplet (20 minutes)

8. Kids play without you – this is a great time to support creative boredom. You can give them ideas, but really let them stew in their boredom. It might take days for them to figure out how to spend this time without leaning on technology. This is important for the development of self and for promoting creativity and innovation. (2-3 hours)

9. Have the kids help with dinner prep, setting table, cleaning up from playing, sweeping, vacuuming, etc. Have a list of chores to do at this time of the day. Idea: Put that list on cards so the kids can pick a chore to do each day (30 minutes)

10. Read together before going to bed (30 minutes)

11. Pray together as a family (15 minutes)

12. Parents relax/collapse/snuggle…. (all night long!)

I haven’t put times here just to make this more flexible. And you are you and you know you. So, amend this/ fix this/ scrap this. Figure out your family personality and put a little structure in your life. You only need a little and that little goes a long way.

Peace!