I wanted to share our summer homeschool schedule, what that looks like, how we manage having five kids, running our own businesses, and eating healthy meals at home. Every family is different, and these are just some things that work for us. If I’ve learned anything as a parent of five kids, it is learning to be flexible and willing to change up a routine that no longer works for us. If you are struggling to establish a routine with your family or if you need ideas on how to manage everything without losing your mind, I hope this will help you come up with some ideas.
Daily Routine Checklist
I find that checklists help to keep all of us on schedule and allows the kids to see what they need to do each day to earn their privileges. I just went on Etsy and bought a digital printable file that I then printed out and laminated. Each kid has their own checklist with all their responsibilities and schoolwork.
We don’t normally do a ton of schoolwork during the summer, but this summer is a little different. In August we are leaving to do a six-week road trip and then we are traveling to another country for a year. I explained to the kids that during this summer we would be doing a little more schoolwork in May, June, and July when we are off of our homeschool group, so that while we are traveling, we can really enjoy the experience and explore our surroundings.
My kid’s checklists are similar, but I will go through what each of them are responsible for in case you are needing help with age-appropriate responsibilities.
I am trying to get my kids to do oil pulling every morning, because it is good for their teeth, and it helps detox the gums. I will usually let them have 15 minutes of screen time while they are doing their oil pulling. Once they have completed that the next thing on their checklists is to take their vitamins and supplements – I lay these out for the younger ones.
My 7-year-old’s chore is to vacuum or sweep the entryway and kitchen area and tidy all the shoes in the entryway. We have a family of 7, so each person is allowed one pair of shoes by the door, but those can get messy as people go in and out, so he keeps them tidy.
My 10-year-old is in charge of the bathrooms. She deep cleans the bathrooms once a week over the weekend and then throughout the week she wipes everything down, cleans out the sinks if they are looking dirty, wipes down the mirrors, and does a quick clean on the toilet. We have recently tried to implement zones and her zone is the bathrooms. Each day before the kids get to have their privileges, I will ask them to go check their zones.
My 12-year-old is in charge of all animal related chores. She collects the eggs from our chickens, makes sure all the animals are fed and have water, cleans out the litter box, sweeps out the cat shed and makes sure all their beds are good, and then she makes sure all the animals are in their proper places for the night. She also periodically gives the dogs a bath.
My 14-year-old is in charge of the kitchen. He does all the dishes, keeps the counters wiped down, and makes sure everything is put away. With a family our size this is a big job that must be done multiple times a day.
My 17-year-old takes out the trash, keeps the couches and cushions tidy, and sorts the laundry. I do the laundry and then she sorts all of it and puts each person’s laundry in their respective rooms. Each kid is in charge of folding and putting away their own laundry once it has been put in their room. She does fold and put away laundry the whole family uses like towels and blankets. Her chores are a bit different because she has a job outside the home and isn’t home as often as the younger kids. Each weekend though she will help with a chore that we don’t do daily like mopping the whole house, wiping down baseboards, cleaning spots on the walls and cabinets, or dusting.
The kids are also responsible for keeping their rooms tidy and putting away their belongings or anything they take out.
Other daily tasks include working on their weekly Bible verse, completing their lessons, 15 minutes of exercise, and making sure they eat at least 3 serving of veggies. For their weekly Bible verse, they have a little book they use to keep up with what they are working on. Exercise can be anything of their choosing that involves moving their bodies. They can jump on the trampoline, swim in the pond, go on a walk, or do a bike ride. At 38, I have finally gotten into the habit of daily exercise, so I want to ingrain that into them now, so they don’t struggle with adding it to their routine as they get older. I know that three servings of veggies don’t sound like a lot, but it can be quite a challenge some days.
Schoolwork
Normally during the school year, the kids do Classical Conversations, but since we will be traveling the kids are working on projects that they would have completed next school year. My 12-year-old is working on Beginnings of Latin and my girls are working through some essentials work this summer with a tutor. The tutor is working with my son that is going into challenge one high school level. He is working on writing his research paper for science and doing his literature papers.
I like to sit and read with the younger three kids every day. One of my favorite Bible to read with the kids is The Child’s Story Bible by Catherine F. Vos, this Bible reads like a story and is great for younger kids. We are also reading The Green Ember by S. D. Smith, we are still in the beginning of this book, but I have heard it is one of the best read aloud books and it is also part of a trilogy.
We are also still working through the YWAM books on Christian heroes, and we have loved every single one of them that we’ve read so far. An awesome homeschool mom created study guides that go with each of these books. I have bought the next 10 book in the series, and we will be taking these books with us on our travels. I am buying the kids Paperwhite Kindles for all their other books, but since I have already bought the physical copies of the YWAM books we will be taking those with us. The great thing about the Kindles is that the kid’s versions come with access to Kids Unlimited which will allow the kids to have a large library of books to choose from. If you are already a homeschooling family you know how hard it can be to narrow down books for trips, so I am excited about getting the kids Kindles.
Other Things That Help Keep Me Sane
My husband bought me a large magnetic, dry erase calendar to keep on the fridge. I use this to keep up with activities, events, and to meal plan. I can look in the fridge to see what ingredients we have and plan out meals from there. Since we are planning to leave our home for a year, I’ve been trying to make sure we eat up everything in our freezer before I buy more food.
I wrote out some outside activities for the kids to have ideas of things to do outdoors when they are claiming to be bored. Then on the bottom I have a reminder that asks them, “Do you want something? Play date with a friend? Screen time? An outing? Movie night? Video game time? Ask yourself these questions first: how was your attitude towards your sibling and parents today? Are your chores done and your zone tidy? Is your schoolwork finished for the day? Any other responsibilities you’re supposed to be doing? Have you asked Mommy and Daddy?” This is a good way to keep the kids accountable for their responsibilities and gives them an opportunity to complete all their tasks before asking to do something.
Other things I like to do at the beginning of the week is look through what is already on my schedule and then plan a date with one of my kids and one with my husband each week. Weekly dates with my husband can be a challenge because our schedules do not match up, but we try to at least squeeze in going to get coffee together. Recently we had each of the kids spend the night at a friend’s house and we had an at home date overnight. It was so much fun and much cheaper than when we normally do overnight dates. Normally we would have someone stay at the house with the kids and then we would pay for a hotel. We got takeout and I watched Top Gun for the first time ever.
Tips
I will say that with chores you want to meet each kid where they are developmentally, but you are probably underestimating what your kids can help with. Our oldest two used to switch off doing the dishes, but when our oldest started working outside the home, it just didn’t make sense to have her doing the dishes because they were piling up while she was gone, so dish duty will probably continue to rotate as our kids get older and busier. Our youngest is now interested in learning to clean baseboards and while I am sure it will be different than having our 17-year-old do it, I am going to let him try.
When creating your weekly schedule, put the big rocks in first because the little rocks will fill themselves in. Be intentional about where and how you want to spend the bigger portions of your time. My big rocks are spending time with my kids and husband.
Get in the habit of a daily routine. I have been intentional about getting up early to do my quiet time with my Bible and getting my workout in for the day. I make sure that I schedule in time to spend with my family and time to work. From there all the other little things fill up the rest of my time and I am never sitting around feeling like I don’t have anything to do.
I hope that helps you with creating some routines in your life or at the very least making your daily life a little less hectic.
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