The life-changing magic of a homeschool To Do list

What our list looks like, every day

A brief introduction for new readers:

A few weeks ago I shared that I was introducing a daily list for the children. I was inspired by Rachael Ringenberg, and Rachael was inspired by Read Aloud Revival (who, by the way, has just released a podcast on this very topic.)

So this is very much not my own idea, but it is a brilliant idea and it’s working really well for us. Like all the best ideas it’s incredibly simple, easy to implement, and easy to keep up. As we approach a new school year I would really recommend giving it a try and seeing if it works for you too.

I keep the lists very short and easily achievable. At this point I’m aiming for minimum resistance. Until recently we were completely unschooling, and as we introduce some more formal elements to our days my priority is to not turn the children against learning. They actually really like all the things that appear on their lists, so I just want to ensure they don’t feel defeated by the quantity. We’ll build up slowly over time.

I like that even on the days when we go out for the entire day, the list gives us some priorities to get through before we leave the house, which definitely means we achieve more than we would have done otherwise. And on the days we stay at home, it gives us just a bit of structure to stop the day floating away from us without us even noticing.

I can’t say we get through the whole list every day, but the lists significantly increase the likelihood that we will do most of the work I’m aiming for. I write the lists at the end of the evening for the next day, so the children get up and head to the table to see what’s awaiting them. I like that this means I don’t have to interrupt a game or try to use a positive voice to say “let’s sit down with our handwriting books!”—the list makes these things completely neutral, even though it’s still me asking, but in written form.

Photo: Eden Constantino via Unsplash

When they tick off every item we call it a ‘clean sweep’ and they love getting a clean sweep. Who doesn’t love ticking off every item on their to do list?! It’s very motivating for them. Like most children, my two love a plan and a routine—not a timetable, but a degree of predictability. It’s a great way to build good habits, and we are already seeing the benefit of some daily handwriting work even if the work only takes five minutes. The children can see the progress they’re making and they want to keep it up.

So here’s what a typical list looks like. The children are five and seven. If you think five is too young for a to do list, bear in mind that my son spends barely five minutes sitting at the table working—everything else can take place on the sofa, in bed, on the bus etc.

Friday 4 August (because writing the date at the top every day is a great way to familiarise them with days and months)

• Brush teeth

• Brush hair

Why do we begin with something so basic? Do we really need a list to tell us to brush our teeth? Well, yes. On the days we stay at home, there is very little structure and so no obvious anchor for when the children brush their teeth. If you’re thinking this makes me a bad mother, don’t worry, I came to the same conclusion long ago. So this serves two purposes. One: the children brush their teeth! And two, it’s a really easy way to tick off an item at the very beginning of the day, which encourages them to keep going.

• Jolly Phonics book

They each do a page of their handwriting/spelling/phonics book. My son, who’s five, sometimes does less. As I said, I’m trying to avoid resistance so if he does a few careful and beautiful letters, that’s enough. (If you like the look of the book, it’s available in both print and cursive, levels 1-3, and after that there is 1-6 of a grammar series.)

• Multiplication by Heart or choose a maths activity

I alternate these each day. For maths activities, they can choose from Khan Academy, a maths game (like those in Family Math, or Tiny Polka Dot), or a maths workbook like these ones. They rarely choose a workbook but occasionally they have a sudden desire to. Multiplication by Heart usually takes less than five minutes, but a maths game can go on for ages when they get really into it.

• One, or sometimes two, subject activities.

Each week we cycle through Ancient Greek, French, history, science. Friday is often a day for doing something we didn’t check off earlier in the week. For Greek, we might revise a few words, or read the next chapter in our text book. For French I usually ask them each to choose an English/French story for me to read aloud. History might be reading a page from the Encyclopedia or The Humans, and then adding a page to their history folders or a date to the timeline. For science we often do an experiment from my daughter’s Curiosity Box subscription. Occasionally I’ll add something art- or music-related, but not every week.

• 3-5 minutes tidying up

I am not a domestic goddess. I aim very, very far from perfection: mostly if there’s space to walk across a room without injuring your foot I count that as a win. I try to follow a housework schedule so that most weeks, most rooms get a tidy and a hoover. I try to get the children to help but it is usually a bit haphazard.

No longer.

The last item on the list is 3 to 5 minutes tidying whatever room I’m focusing on that day. That’s not a typo, it really is between 3 and 5 minutes. I find this is what the children can do willingly and good-naturedly, and in fact it’s usually enough to repatriate their stuff to wherever it belongs and get the room back under control. I feel better because I’m not doing it all myself, and they really like contributing to making the flat a nicer place to be. Of course we also try to do general putting away as we go, but that’s not on the list. I was clear from the beginning that the list isn’t everything that needs to happen each day, but just a few highlights. They still have to eat, and have a bath, and clear their plates away etc.

And that’s it! Some days that’s barely 15 minutes in total. Other days if they get really engrossed in the activities it could be an hour or more, which still leaves acres of time for playing, visiting museums, seeing friends, reading books together or independently, and everything else.

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