How do you find rest amidst the busyness of homeschooling and maintaining a home?
I look forward to our afternoon quiet time, which comes, Lord willing, each day. So do my kids actually. It is a daily scheduled time of rest in our home. Time to cultivate peace in our home, quiet in our souls, and renew our minds and bodies. For some, the 5 and under crowd, this means a nap. For older siblings, this means reading, listening to audiobooks, coloring, painting, legos, and other quiet time activities. They each go to a separate area, outside or inside, on the bed, couch, or table, or in the hammock or blanket in the yard. I’ve even seen them take their quiet time in a tree. For myself, it also means a short nap, personal reading, and/or writing. Napping while listening to an audiobook is my favorite. 
This gives me scheduled time to cultivate my own continued learning.
In our home, our goal is to finish our school subjects by lunchtime, and then we have set aside a two hour period after lunch in our home for this purpose. I guard against the temptation to fill up this time with other demanding obligations, such as cleaning and such, because I know my soul and spirit needs this. I am weary by the time the morning school and chore period is over. Its draining. I’m an introvert. I need some alone time, so I can renew myself to face the rest of the tasks ahead of me after quiet time. There is no guilt or condemnation here. Why? Because it is a little safeguard against getting overtired which can feed frustration and anger. It is a time to fill my cup of grace again, so I can continue to outpour the grace and love of Christ out upon my family for the remaining hours of the day. It gives the children time to rest from one another and give them opportunities to read and enjoy story in their own little worlds. We all come back together more refreshed and happy again. It’s a gift.
In our day and again, it is easy to overbook our schedules, filling them with too many outings and scheduled activities, often leading to grumpy overtired children. This is especially true when your children are young. Even if you have to keep the actual napping portion short, and then allow these little ones to look at books or color, it is still hugely beneficial. I did discover that if my kids nap past a certain time in the afternoon, they would have a harder time going to sleep at night, so we moved naptime up a bit, or I woke them up sooner. It was easy to flex and adjust as needed. It’s worth it!
In addition to our daily quiet time, I try to schedule a 1-2 hour outing once or twice a month for myself to get out of the house and have some quiet time at a local coffee shop. I use this time for planning, journaling, and reading. This might be after my husband comes home from work, or while a family member is over watching my littles. Or maybe you could trade babysitting with another mama to help you cultivate this space. The quiet and getting out of the house is so refreshing and revitalizing. We need it. This is good.
So, yes, you can homeschool and still have quiet breaks. I am a strong proponent of keeping this mama sane and joyful. It may not work for all, and that’s okay. Try to carve in some quiet time in your day wherever you can find it. But starting when your kids are young does make it easier to uphold this practice. We are going nine years strong!
The Lord will fight for you, and you can hold your peace and remain at rest. (Exodus 14:14)
How do you find time to have quiet rest and refreshment as a homeschooling mom?
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I have a 3 year old and a 3 month old and I’m not sure how to make this happen. How did you get started with this when yours were little?
Lizzy, I would start by getting your baby on a nap schedule, if he/she is not on one already. I found that if they took a morning nap, I would often just wake them up a bit early, so they had sufficient time to get tired again before laying baby and your 3 year old down together after lunch time, or whatever time works best. A 3 year old definitely can still take an afternoon nap (mine nap till 5-5.5 yrs)…it just takes a little adjusting with baby’s schedule to get them tired at the same time. My 3 month olds were usually taking 3 naps a day, so the morning nap would run from roughly 9-11am, and then a two hour wake period, before putting them down again around 1pm. You just have to watch your baby’s cues and learn how long of a wake period they are happy for. Maybe it’s longer or maybe its shorter.
I always made an effort to include restful quiet times into our days. Even without napping, they need time to relax and calm their minds. It cultivates a sense of independence for my children. They don’t need ME to occupy them and entertain them.
I read, nap, draw, and listen to encouraging/informational YouTube videos. The kids will nap, color/draw, play with imaginext playsets, Legos, “read” (I don’t have any little readers yet), watch a movie, etc.
Yes! My triplets turn 5 in a few weeks and they still nap 2+ hours every day. And my 1 year old naps somewhere around there. If they don’t nap or I don’t rest, it is so much harder to make it through the rest of the day extending grace and love to my family.
When we were growing up, my mother instituted quiet time / nap time. As the oldest of 5 children, I still remember working on school work or reading during this time – even when I was a senior in high school! So beneficial!
When my kids were little, their naptime and bedtime was sacred. They slept like logs because they were always in their bed at the same time, and slept for long periods. It was a huge gift! Once they gave up their naps I also instituted quiet time (which took some training but I always encourage people-it’s a small portion of intense time spent for a long, fruitful time of reaping the rewards!) and we’re still going strong, as well. I’m a very strong introvert and although we do get out and do LOTS, and homeschool, I’m wiped by the afternoon as well. Now that my kids are 7 and 9, and my husband gets home at 5PM, I have 2.5 hours of quiet time every day, from 1:30-4. Often, if the neighbor kids are outside (we share a backyard), then they can spend their last hour out playing with them (my son is an extrovert!) but often my daughter will just stay in her room–guess what she is?!
I agree, quiet time is SUCH a good idea for homeschoolers. I’d also encourage anyone and everyone (homeschooling or not) to implement it!
Sarah M
I randomly decided to search for your blog tonight, wondering if you were back at it and I was happy to see you are! I was always encouraged by your writing and look forward to see what you’re sharing! I started a little blog a year ago and share a bit about homeschooling and what Gods speaking to me as well. I love this enforcement of quiet time as I’m terrible at making sure it happens. My youngest isn’t the greatest sleeper so naps are never as long as id like!
I read this as my 3- and 2-year-old have their half an hour rest after lunch. Would love for it to be longer, but they’re not ready yet. This was my husband’s insistence too. He was like, “It’s not just good for you, it’s good for them!” And it’s true.
I just love your blog. It blesses my soul.
I am so glad to see your blog again! It was one of my favorites for a long time
This post gave me some relief from guilt. My oldest just turned five and still has 1.5-2 hours of quiet time in her room every afternoon while 2yo brother (and pregnant me) nap. I had been feeling guilty about this, but especially with preschool starting back up, now five mornings a week, she needs the rest. She doesn’t seem to mind it, and uses the time to build and play Legos and use her imagination, but I had been feeling guilty for still implementing this time now that she’s five. But Baby #3 is coming so I had wanted to continue it to give all of us a much-needed break each day – thank you for the relief from guilt!