Homeschool Weekend Prep: Strategies to Stay Ahead and Avoid Overwhelm

If you’ve been in the homeschooling scene for a while, you’ve likely wondered if the idea of “staying on top of things” is just a fantasy.

While life will always be full of unexpected things, the truth is that you can stay ahead of the game with some good systems and strategies. Here are a few simple homeschool weekend prep strategies you can implement every weekend to help you stay ahead and avoid overwhelm.

Homeschool Weekend Prep Strategies

Clearly identify what you need to do

They say a mother’s work never ends. I say it has to, for mental health purposes.

Part of staying on top of things in a realistic way is clearly identifying what you need to do. You will do yourself a tremendous service if you do this!

I like to approach this in a categorical way. For instance, I have the “Home” category, which encompasses having a plan for meals, for keeping the home clean and organized, for regular home maintenance/repairs, laundry, the family calendar, and even keeping up with the cars.

My other categories include “Homeschooling,” “Personal Care”, and “Work.” Under these categories, I have identified what I’m responsible for overseeing and have created strategies for keeping up these responsibilities. This also allows me to both delegate and outsource much more easily, keeps things from being neglected, keeps my brain clear, and puts a limit on my responsibilities.

If you’re interested in creating strategies for your home, check out my Quick SPIN Home Management Plan. It will help you manage your home with simplicity and ease.

Plan your meals and stock your fridge

Every Friday, I plan meals for the next week and create a shopping list. Every Sunday, I go shopping, clean out my fridge and pantry, and restock. This is the strategy that works best for me.

This allows me to breeze into Monday morning, knowing exactly what’s on the menu and having the food on hand to prepare it. This helps me avoid overwhelm and makes meal prep seamless.

It also saves us money because we can avoid unnecessary trips to the store and/or fast-food restaurants. If this strategy works for you, steal it, adjust it, and make it work for you!

Make sure you have all homeschooling needs for the week

Another thing you can do as a homeschool mom to prepare for the week is to make sure you have all homeschooling items on hand.

I don’t know about you, but I find it frustrating when I’m trying to do lessons with my children, only to find out that the glue sticks are dry, the pencils have no erasers, and the dry erase markers are all dried out. I used to find myself in this situation so often that I finally did something about it.

Since we don’t homeschool on Fridays, I take the time to write my youngest children’s assignments in their planners, check to see if I need to order more curriculum, and see what supplies need to be restocked. On Sunday, we take the time to reset the whole house (aka give it a good cleaning) so that on Monday, all I have to do is show up.

You may have a different approach to homeschooling altogether. Regardless of your approach, having what you need on hand will always make things easier.

Attend to your personal self-care

If you don’t already have a strategy in place for taking care of yourself, you need one! It can be easy to forget to take care of yourself because you’re so used to taking care of everyone else, but we all know that taking care of our families and homes doesn’t mean we have to neglect taking care of ourselves.

When I say “self-care,” I’m not talking about excessive pampering or all-day spa days (not that there’s anything wrong with those things). I’m talking about making sure you’re properly caring for yourself so that your body can handle the demands of what you do every day.

Here are some areas of self-care that you can create strategies and habits for:

Health-rest, diet, supplements
Fitness-regular workouts
Hygiene-facial routines, dental routines, yearly physicals, regular dentist visits, well-women’s appointments, etc.
Appearance-haircuts, threading eyebrows, nails, etc.

Your self-care may include different things, but the goal is still to identify the different ways you want to take care of yourself and create the necessary routines to make these things a regular part of your life.

Consider doing a Sunday reset

A Sunday reset, in this context, basically involves tidying up the home, making the sure the kitchen is clean, and vacuuming/mopping floors.

We have made it a habit to do Sunday resets as a family, and it’s a blessing for all of us! I love coming downstairs Monday morning to a clean home. It makes me feel like I’m starting off the week ahead instead of behind.

The first thing I do in the morning is open the blinds. Then I make my rounds to light the candle, fill up my water bottle, and start the Keurig. Even after my full homeschool mom morning routine, I still have a few moments of peace and preparation in the mornings, and it’s so nice to have everything already cleaned.

I remember the days before Sunday resets. I was already all over the place because I didn’t have good strategies in place, but waking up and seeing a dirty kitchen, unswept floors, and mountains of laundry just made me want to go back to bed. It negatively affected my mental health.

Go to bed early

There’s nothing like starting a Monday morning bright and early, having had plenty of rest the night before. You don’t want to head into your week barely rested, gulping down coffee, and battling impatience all day.

I know that this is sometimes easier said than done. When my kids were younger, it felt like I was stuck in a never-ending vortex of constantly being needed, and I wouldn’t be able to go to bed early even if I wanted to.

One thing you may consider, if it works for your situation, is intentionally keeping your schedule clear Sunday evenings. Consider not putting anything on your to-do list (unless you think you can handle it)-just make it a restful evening. That way, if you’re not able to get to bed early because you’re just in a season of being needed, you can at least get some mental rest.

Take a full day off

In our home, we take Saturdays off and use Fridays as a reset day. We also do our best to keep Sunday evenings free to be able to mentally unwind before the week starts.

Because of the nature of our work as busy homeschool mamas, it can be easy to forget the need for not just a physical break, but a mental break as well.

What are some strategies you use to stay ahead? Drop your strategies in the comments-I’d love to hear them!