What I Do at Night to Rock My Homeschool Day

We’ve been back in school for a month now, and I have to say, things have been going very well. Yes, Mondays are still a little rough. How could they not be with coming off of such a “long” break? The weekend can cause such upheaval, amIright? I hope you’re catching alllll of the sarcasm I’m throwing you, friends. Besides the “drama” that is motherhood + homeschooling, the switch to  all-year-round, seasonal homeschooling has had a wonderful impact on us.

Besides our routine changes, do you wanna know the crowning jewel that’s shifted us from having pretty good days to having the most productive days we’ve ever had? I’m talking most days with little fuss and laser beam focus on tackling our list for the homeschool day. Wanna know what I’m doing at night to ROCK my homeschool day? Introducing, #whiteboardatnight !!!

#whiteboardatnight has revolutionized our homeschool. I’m not even exaggerating, friends. In the past, I’ve tried so many different ways of planning ahead for each day, but nothing stuck. I’d inevitably fall off of whatever system I was using at the time, or the system of the moment wasn’t a good fit. Using my large white board to set us up for success was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but, mamas, has it been a good one.

Here are eight reasons why it’s working:

1. Creates a visual task list for me and the boys
2. Prepares the boys for what’s expected the next day. They love to be “in the know.”
3. Offers the opportunity to start work early (great character building exercise in my book!)
4. Streamlines assigning work by displaying each boy’s assignments for the day. No more printing assignment sheets or writing assignments in separate notebooks or planners that all ends up being thrown away, which brings me to the next point…
5. Saves money and is almost zero-waste. I’m saving paper, printer ink, printer usage, and am not buying student planners. My boys are still young enough that their work load doesn’t require separate planners yet.
6. Keeps us on track during school time because we can see what’s next or whats left to do
7. Works whether you plan a year in advance or the day before.
8. Keeps my brain cells available for thinking about other things. This should be #1.

So, what’s on the white (or dry-erase) board, where did I buy it, and what size is it? Yep, I know you wanted to know. I originally purchased the board from Costco some years ago. I’ve checked a few times since to see if they still carry it, and I have not seen the same one I bought. However, here’s a similar one that’s the same size, 36″ X 24″. I mounted it on the wall with Command strips. Easy peasy. The board itself is kept simple and includes:

• Day and date
• Daily schedule
• Daily subjects
• Group assignments
• Individual assignments
• Any events/holidays happening on that day

And that’s it! You can check out our schedule and daily subjects here.

Every school night, I share a picture of my board, using #whiteboardatnight , to get the word out about this super simple, yet majorly effective way of homeschool planning. If you’re on Instagram and want to join me, use the same hashtag and we’ll do this thing together. Even if you’re not on Instagram, you can still try it, of course!

Here’s to a simplified and organized homeschool day, friends!