Homeschooling children is becoming a more and more popular option as public school continue to fail today’s youth. While homeschooling is a wonderful option, it can also be quite tricky. For example, one of the biggest problems faced is how to separate home and school. As a parent, you want what’s best for your children, but you don’t want them to work themselves to death on assignments. Let’s take a closer look o how to separate school and family life when homeschooling your children.

Create a Workspace for Homeschooling

When homeschooling your children, it is extremely important to have a room devoted to being a classroom. This should be a room that can be shut off in the evenings and on weekends. This allows for all the homeschooling materials to stay in one spot and helps promote the idea that school and family life are two separate things, even though they both happen in the home.

Set a Schedule

It can be tempting to create your schedule as you go, but if you really want to separate family life and school, you need to set a schedule. No one said this had to be an 8AM to 2PM schedule. However, it should be a schedule that is similar to that of a real school. For example, you might start school at 10AM and finish at 4PM.

Keep Your Holidays and Weekends School Free

Just like a real school, you should have weekends and observe holidays. This should be a time when the kids get to be away from school and the school room gets closed off. Again, your exact holidays and weekends are up to you. If your spouse is off on Sunday and Monday and wants to spend time with the children, make the weekends Sunday and Monday. If your family doesn’t celebrate Christmas, set aside time for another holiday.

Do Homeschooling Activities During School Hours

Another tip is to do homeschooling activities during school hours. For example, if you want to visit a museum, schedule the trip during school hours. Don’t schedule the event on a weekend.

Have a Couple Hours for Homework and the Rest of the Evening for Play

Obviously, your children will still need time to work on their assignments, just like any other child. Allot two hours each evening for children to work on homework and let them spend the rest of the evening relaxing.

It’s important to separate school from family life when homeschooling because it helps prepare children so that they can separate work from family life in the future. Thankfully, this is easy to do with the tips listed above.

About the Author: Kendrick Sentinella works with a group of math tutors in the NYC area. He enjoys working with children of all age levels, both as part of the public school system or as part of homeschooling groups.