With so much going on these past weeks with the current COVID-19 outbreak, there is a lot on everyone’s mind. While some of us have the privilege to work from home at this time, finding a balance with working from home with kids and homeschooling can be tough. That leaves me asking, how do you plan a daily schedule with kids around? For some people including myself, the new normal of working from home and homeschooling has me struggling to find a balance. Whether you are new to homeschooling like myself or you want to set up a routine for yourself and kids, being consistent is important. Just like in anything with life, consistency yields better results.
This new normal might not be the easiest, but when things are thrown at you, you are forced to find ways to make it work. After two weeks working from home with the kids while homeschooling Nolan, I have struggled on how to plan my daily schedule with them around. Now that we are in week three of self quarantine, I have created a daily schedule and kids meal schedule to make this new normal a little bit easier and to help me navigate this uncertain situation. So, if you are still struggling, here are tips on how to plan your daily schedule with kids and a sample of our daily schedule.
5 Tips On How To Plan Daily Schedule For Kids
- Create a routine: Start by establishing a routine for the kids. Make a visual schedule to guide you daily on what to do with the kids; but don’t be too strict on yourself. There will be days when things are not in sync; but the key is bounce back.
- Be Consistent: This is easier said than done especially with everything going on right now; but you have to remember, a lot of kids strive for routines and consistency. Prior to this homeschool situation, Nolan and Nova have always been on a consistent schedule from wake up time, lunch time to bedtime routines.
- Establish boundaries: Depending on the age of your child, communicating and setting boundaries on what is required is important because this will allow you to get your work done timely. You can also have a “Do Not Disturb” door hanger to help when you are in a meeting or have an important task to complete.
- Plan activities that do not require supervision. Something that I have learnt this past weeks while homeschooling Nolan is planning some activities for him that do not require my supervision. In that way, I am able to accomplish some task while he is keeping himself occupied. For Nova who is one, this includes watching or listening to Baby Einstein videos or musical songs which she loves. For Nolan who is 6 years in first grade, this includes Reading aloud time, Minecraft, Educational Apps, puzzles, games, word search and coloring.
- Be creative: Be creative with creating schedules for yourself and kids. Wake up early and start work and tasks. As you can see in my daily schedule, I wake up before the kids to get a lot of work done and prep something before they wake up around 7:30/8am. Use nap time for important meetings.
Here is a sample of Our Daily Schedule
Below is Monday to Friday Meal Schedule mainly focused for Nolan
