Are you overwhelmed with your homeschool schedules, curriculum, and responsibilities? It’s a new year and you can take easy steps to simplify homeschooling right now. Here are a dozen ways that you can simplify your homeschooling and finally be able to enjoy a more peaceful and productive journey with your kids.
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The best thing about each of these 12 ideas is that you can find more detailed information on each one with its corresponding Homeschool with Moxie Podcast episode. That’s right! Just download this clickable PDF and you’ll have all the steps in one place and be able to find just the right podcast episode to explain each idea further.
What Does It Mean to Simplify Homeschooling?
One main way you know you need to simplify is if mom is working harder than the kids. This is a surefire way to know that things need to change.
But simplifying (in my mind) doesn’t mean to throw out all expectations, structured academics or routines. It just means that the kids should be loving learning, mom shouldn’t be overwhelmed on a daily basis, and your homeschool can be peaceful and productive. Yes, really!
Listen to the Podcast
On episode 246, I walk you through these 12 steps to simplify your homeschooling. Be sure to subscribe to the Homeschool with Moxie Podcast so you always know when a new episode goes live.
How to Simplify Homeschooling
So if this sounds great to you, let’s jump into the 12 ways you can simplify your homeschooling in the coming new year, fresh school year, or even random month on the calendar! It doesn’t really matter when you take action, just remember to take action to see progress.
And remember, each of these steps is discussed in detail on a corresponding episode of the Homeschool with Moxie Podcast. I’ll link to those episodes below, but for easy access, don’t forget to download the hyperlinked PDF in this post.
Use Routines Instead of Schedules
Some of you are feeling crazy in your homeschooling because you’ve created rigid schedules and charts and then real life kicks in! Yes, sometimes the dog gets sick, sometimes someone is at your front door, sometimes the science experiment took way longer to do. And if you have a rigid schedule, you’ve probably discovered that by 10AM, you’re off scheduled – and stressed!
So why not use routines instead of schedules? They provide a more flexible framework to help you get everything done that you want to without adding an overwhelming burden.
Check out episode 139 of the Podcast where we discuss routines instead of schedules in more detail.
Ditch the Boxed Curriculum
Okay, this is a big one. If your curriculum (and the bulky teacher’s manuals) are driving you insane, then it’s time to ditch the boxed curriculum. We’ve seen much more success in our homeschool (plus other homeschool moms I’ve consulted with about this topic) in a more eclectic approach. That is, don’t feel like you have to buy “5th grade in a box” to be successful. You can actually pick and choose a 5th grade curriculum from multiple companies and resources to craft a more homeschool-friendly curriculum line-up.
Episode 236 of the Podcast dives into why you should ditch the boxed curriculum.
Ditch the Lesson Planning
If you’ve been spending weeks in the summer (or countless hours every weekend) filling out a big lesson planning book (and if it’s driving you crazy!), then you should stop. I’m a former classroom teacher and I’ve never mapped out specific lesson plans for any of my five kids in all our years of homeschooling since 2008.
What’s the solution then? Plan once in the summer and set your plan on automatic. Find homeschooling-friendly resources that are open and go.
Listen to episode 206 of the Podcast for more ideas on how to ditch the lesson planning and what to do instead.
Ditch the Worksheets
This goes along with some of the other points that we’ve made and will make down below. But many children just become passive robots instead of active learners when the homeschooling is filled with completing reams upon reams of pointless worksheets.
I know, I know. The homeschool world (and homeschool bloggers) really try to market hundreds of worksheets and printables to you. But you don’t have to use them! If they’re becoming busy work that bores your kids to tears and doesn’t contribute to their learning growth, then ditch them.
On episode 53 of the Podcast, we talk about strategies that work far better than worksheets.
Teach Multiple Ages Together
Many subjects can be taught with multiple ages together and this will definitely save your sanity! When my kids were younger, we did absolutely everything together except level-specific math and phonics or language arts instruction. I highly recommend you do this. But in order to make this work, you’ll have to toss the boxed curriculum! That’s usually made for one specific grade-level. Instead, find homeschool-friendly resources, use living books – and keep reading for more ideas that will make this possible.
Episode 51 of the Podcast talks about how to teach multiple ages together successfully.
Create Independent, Responsible Learners
Remember – mom shouldn’t be working harder than the kids! And as your kids get older, they should be taking more and more responsibility for their own education. By the time they’re in high school, your teens should be highly independent and doing great work with your coaching as needed.
On episode 232 of the Podcast, we enjoyed chatting with Dennis DiNoia of Mr. D Math about creating independent, responsible learners. Additionally, on episode 197 of the Podcast we talked about helping your kids gain academic independence.
Notebooking
So if you agree that your children should be working harder than you and that you’d love for them to be active learners, then notebooking is the way to go! With notebooking, you can use any book as your “textbook” – including living books from the library. Plus, with notebooking, you can also seamlessly teach multiple ages together.
Learn more about Notebooking in episode 156 of the Podcast.
Narration
Narration is another strategy that works well for a less-worksheets and more natural learning experience. The beauty of narration is that it also works well for your kids with dyslexia or other writing struggles. Plus, narration can grow with your children, slowly building up their ability to speak and write on a topic.
We’ve talked about narration on the Podcast through the years on various episodes – and you can learn more in episodes 211, 179 & 30.
Unit Studies
Another great strategy for teaching multiple ages together – and learning about topics that interest your kids – is unit studies. You can create your own or purchase ready-made unit studies.
You can learn all about how to use unit studies to simplify your homeschool in episode 174.
Create a Homeschool Supply Store
Maybe your homeschooling needs simplified by better organizing your physical supplies. One way to do this is to create a homeschool supply store for your pens, notebooks, craft supplies, tape – you get the idea!
Listen in on episode 169 to learn how to create a homeschool supply store. This episode is a tiny part of the larger interview we did with Lisa Woodruff of Organize365. You can hear our whole conversation with Lisa on organizing your homeschool on episode 72.
Keep Homeschool paperwork to a Mimimum
One of the easiest ways to simplify homeschooling is to just keep homeschool paperwork to a minimum. Want to know how to do that? Check out the eight strategies for dealing with homeschool paperwork clutter in episode 153.
Dual Enroll Your High Schoolers
And finally, if you have high schoolers, you can simplify homeschooling by outsourcing the education through dual enrollment. Not only will these classes count on the high school transcript toward high school graduation, but your teen will also be earning college credit at the same time!
It’s a simple way to give your teens more responsibility and independence in their studies, while taking something off your plate as the homeschool parent. Learn more about dual enrollment in episode 231 of the podcast.
Final Thoughts on How to Simplify Homeschooling
Don’t forget to grab the linked PDF at the top of this post so you can work through these strategies and simplify homeschooling. You really can have a peaceful, productive, and organized homeschool experience with your kids! Happy Homeschooling!
