Discipline

Part of our job as parents is to teach our children discipline. In reality, this is something most of us struggle with ourselves! But I have always admired this trait in my husband (whose birthday it happens to be today!) He is probably one of the most disciplined people I know.

So when it comes to the homeschooling life (or life in general!), what are some areas of discipline to consider?

1. Bedtime and Wake Up / Get Up times

Having a regular, and preferably early, wake up time sets the tone for the whole day. I know this because every time we have a new baby, and sleep times get messed up, it seems to take hours longer to begin the homeschooling. Once the baby settles into a reliable sleeping routine and I consistently get out of bed early-ish, the whole day seems to pan out well. Which means we actually get through all our homeschooling work for the day.

Likewise going to bed at a regular time makes those consistent early wake ups ten times easier! Furthermore, research shows that having a regular and decent sleep time makes a huge difference to our mental capacity and long term health outcomes. (Read Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker)

2. Chores

A household runs smoothly when everyone knows what chores they need to do, and when and how to do them. This includes the adults! I personally still struggle to do things like ironing on a regular basis, and it can be really hard trying to fit things like washing into the day. Obviously it needs to be done, but is it worth taking time out of the precious morning hours to do it? This term I’m attempting to be disciplined in reserving my mornings solely for homeschooling, so that I can give my full attention to the kids. Interruptions inevitably happen, and babies and toddlers need attending to fairly regularly. But limiting the extra things like washing, making appointments, and cleaning to the afternoons should streamline things somewhat.

Keeping track of kids and their chores is important too. This requires discipline on the part of both adults and children! They need to know exactly what chore to do and how to do it – which means some training initially. Ideally they shouldn’t always need reminding to do them, but I’m still waiting for that day! We have recently designed a new chores list where our older kids change once a week to a different set of chores. Hopefully this means they don’t get too bored, and it also trains them to be competent in multiple jobs.

3. Food

Regular meal and snack times are, of course, important for everyone. Not only does it help with healthy eating, it also provides a way of breaking up the day. We can often get quite a lot of work done before our 10.30am morning tea break, and it’s always nice to enjoy a cup of tea and snack – plus a run around for the kids – before plunging back into it.

We tend to eat dinner around the same time each night, but despite my best efforts we have not managed to make it consistently earlier or stick to a meal plan. Both of these areas require more discipline than I currently possess! Every so often I try meal planning, but it seldom lasts more than a month or two. And whenever I attempt to shift dinner time earlier, it seems to shift right back again!

4. Fitness

This is another area that goes by the wayside every time we have another baby. Now that our youngest is 10 months, we are once again slowly improving our exercise routines. For the past couple of months we have been joining others to run on a Saturday morning. (Check out ParkRun to find people to run with near you!) This has been great for us, because it helps us to start our Saturday mornings fairly early (the run starts at 8am). Also, the kids (and we) enjoy the social aspect, and the encouragement / competition with others provides inspiration to improve and try harder. It’s amazing to see the improvement week by week, and having this to look forward to on the weekend also inspires in me the discipline to run at other times during the week. A friend recommended an app to me which provides you with a plan to improve running fitness (Hal Higdon’s), so I’m trying that out now.

5. (School) Work

I find it helpful to have a somewhat disciplined order to the homeschooling day, although it definitely pays to be flexible. I have a timetable that I use as a guide, not a strict schedule. So we start each day in a similar way before the kids move on to their other work. Our order is Devotions -> History or Science (together) -> Read Aloud. These are the activities where the kids are all doing the same thing, so it is more likely to happen if it’s at the beginning of the day. Of course the kids are welcome to start their other work earlier than this to speed things up! Following this is Maths, Writing, Spelling and Grammar etc – in varied order.

Our afternoons tend to be either taken up in social or homeschooling activities and classes, or we may do art or craft or baking.

Music is a part of our homeschooling, and we are working on helping the kids to be more disciplined in practicing the piano each day. Some kids are naturally better at this than others, so I’m thinking of having a set time when the less regular ones do it so they don’t forget. My husband teaches them once a week (theoretically), but this can also be tricky to maintain consistency with, especially if they haven’t been practising.

6. Devotions

Finally, and most importantly for the Christian, is the area of Bible-reading and devotional time. This is yet another area where my discipline has been patchy. In the past I have sometimes gotten into good routines, only to fall back into poor habits when the next baby comes along. In these times it has been encouraging to be reminded that even reading one Bible verse is better than nothing! Allowing ourselves grace – especially in busier periods like having a newborn – is important. But I find that this can easily turn into apathy or excuse-making if it drags on too long. I’m trying out a Bible reading plan called To the Word on the YouVersion Bible app, which was recommended to me by a friend.

Helping the kids develop in their own Bible-reading is really important. The best time tends to be early morning, and giving them a plan or devotional to work through is useful.

To conclude…

Discipline is an essential part of life for anyone, but it doesn’t always come easily. It is something I for one need to keep working at and growing in. Talking to others for recommendations and inspiration is helpful for forming new habits, but in the end it requires you to set your own goals and discipline yourself. As an adult no one is going to do it for you! And remember what we as parents model to our children is as important as, or perhaps more important, than what we tell them.