life on a loop

Have you ever been singing and clapping along with others when you get distracted or interrupted and suddenly lose the beat? You’re clapping when everyone else is not and the groove just ends. Yep, me too. And sadly, this sometimes happens in our homeschools too.

Usually, when things stop clicking, we automatically think it’s us, our kids or the curriculum.

We start looking to make big changes and start stressing that we’re not doing it right and we’re going to waste time and screw up our kids.

But, often what really needs to change is the rhythm.

When your child was a baby, its rhythms were different than when he was a toddler and different as a 7-year-old than as a toddler. Their needs change and so then their rhythms do. So why would we think that the same rhythm would work year after year in our homeschools? It simply doesn’t.

One of the rhythms that worked well for us in the past and that I’ve decided to employ again this year is the loop schedule.

Loop scheduling takes the pressure off of “we have to get all this done today and there’s just no time.” It also allows you to “work ahead” on days when things are moving faster than you expected.

To start a loop schedule, first determine what subjects you must hit every day. Keep this list to only the mandatory things. What those are is totally up to you. Ours include Bible, Math, Vision Therapy and a couple other things.

Next, put the other subjects and tasks “on the loop.” I also have a loop schedule for chores and I include an area for weekly commitments that aren’t really on the loop but they also aren’t on the daily schedule.

Each day, complete the daily subjects and tasks. Then, as time and energy allow, start at the top of the loop. Work your way through those tasks and subjects until your day is done. Maybe you’ll get one subject done, maybe you’ll get three. Place a marker where you “left off” that day because tomorrow, when it comes time to “loop” you don’t start at the top of the list, you start where you left off.

The reason why this is working for us this year, along with a later start time, is it gives us more time to complete the hands-on subjects she’s studying like interior design and physical science. Plus, she has a lot of artsy-fartsy subjects like music, art history and composer study. If I’m not careful, her interests can turn into a taskmaster to-do list that robs both of us of our joy.

Head over to our printables page to get your FREE copy of my printable loop schedule worksheet called “Loop Life.”