How One Shift Changed My Homeschool

Hello homeschool friends!

I wanted to share how I created my homeschool schedule for the 2022-2023 school year. As my daughter was entering her 8th grade year I found that past schedules that used to work for us for years were just not working for our family anymore. Let me explain...

Last year, toward the end of our homeschool year, we found ourselves burnt out and overwhelemd. So many subjects to cover in so little time. I wanted to squeeze in all of the main core subjects PLUS add in others such as handwiting, grammar, reading, vocabulary, spelling , Spanish and more. Doing each subject one after the other with no end in sight made us anxious and on many days just not doing certain subjects.

Fast foward to a whole summer scouring the internet and youtube for seasoned homeschooling advice....ENTER the Flow Schedule and the Block Scedule!

Sigh of relief! Can this really work for us? YES, Yes it did!

Here's what you need to know: Instead of a rigid schedule of "Wake up at 8:00am- Eat Breakfast at 8:30- Grammar from 9-9:30 etc, I now have an easy "flow' to our routine,

I let my ever-growing 13 year old sleep in! (GASP for the traditional schoolers, I know) We eat breakfast and after that she meets me at the table where we begin our day. No arguments, no debates. That's just what feels good to us so we go with it.

Next is a visual 4 part system that keeps us anxiety free!

• Step One: Morning Time (as we call it because she hated the term "MORNING BASKET") Which simply is a basket full of small quick lessons we enjoy together. This includes Attendance taking, Logic, Latin, Spanish and a few other subjects we loop weekly. (I'll dive into morning basket in detail in a future post)

• Step Two: BLOCK SCHEDULE: The way we block this out is this:

1. Block 1: Handwriting, Vocabulary, Grammar.

2. Block 2: Writing, Literature and Math. (After this block is a 30 or 1 hour lunch break/Brain Brea).

3. Block 3: Science and History

TIP: The way I keep our anxiety down is to literally clear the table! I put all workbooks for that block into MAGAZINE HOLDERS so that the only thing on the table is what is in that block time and nothing else. Makes it seem doable and not overwhelming at all.

I hope this system sparks new ideas that might work for you and your family. If you have any questions or would like more information please leave a comment or email me. I will gladly help answer any questions.

Happy Homeschooling!