Managing housework and homeschooling. It’s one of the most common topics I hear homeschoolers asking about. “How do you manage everything else in your day while you’re homeschooling? My house is a mess!”
Because the question is so frequently asked, I’d venture to say this is a pretty common problem for most homeschoolers. I’m definitely no exception.
I can do great one week, and terrible the next. But usually it’s the laundry that piles up at my house.
So while I can’t promise you will never struggle with managing housework again after reading this article (I wish!), I hope it will at least give you a few good tips to get started.
How do homeschoolers keep a house clean?
Maybe the real question should be, “DO THEY keep their house clean?” You’d probably be surprised at what many people’s homes look like. I know a few people who are able to keep things nice and clean, while others are not.
Don’t forget it’s your home. It’s not a museum. It’s a place you and your family should be comfortable to live in. Instagram is not reality all of the time.
How do you balance homeschool and housework?
Sometimes a balance doesn’t look balanced every day. One day it may be perfect, and another day the scales are tipped. I think balance in life is a myth. Do what you can, when you can, and reach out for help.
I feel like at my house, the scales are always going back and forth. We work real hard one day and the house looks great. Then after a while simple upkeep isn’t working anymore, so it takes a little more effort to get it back in balance.
I know we all function better in a cleaner, less cluttered environment. But it ebbs and flows. So while I can’t keep up with everything all the time, if I take a step back and look, there is a general balance over time. You will have to find yours – but it won’t look like mine.
How do you juggle homeschool and housework?
If you think about juggling, you may realize that two balls are somewhat in control and the other is flying through the air…. So while you may be able to handle two things generally ok, three may be pushing it.
Juggling ultimately looks like control, but it can sure seem wild at times!
So if you have a little baby, big projects like a farm or garden, you’re doing home renovation, or you’re working in addition to homeschooling, you may have to deal with one of those things feeling like it’s in a free fall at times.
I’ve heard many homeschoolers say you can homeschool, have a clean house, and work. But only two will be done well at any time. Pick your two and be ok with that. And which two you choose can change over time.
11 Tips for Managing Housework and Homeschooling
If you look back at the mess but forget the kids, your expectation isn’t reality. You won’t be grateful, and gratefulness changes our perspective.
1. Deal with your expectations
The first thing you need to do when it comes to having a clean house is to deal with your expectations. If you have little kids at home, your house won’t look the same as someone’s who doesn’t have kids. So you can’t expect it to.
Your house won’t even look like the house of someone with kids that go to school. If you homeschool, your house is lived in all day every day. That’s a lot to keep up with!
Stop looking at the beautiful pictures of perfectly cleaned houses on social media. You know it’s not real so remember that when you think it is.
It’s good for a house to look lived in and messy. You have kids and they are learning and doing fun things! A mess happens where fun happens. So have some fun and make a mess along the way! Then look back at the mess and be grateful God has given you these wonderful children to enjoy life with.
If you look back at the mess but forget the kids, your expectation isn’t reality. You won’t be grateful, and gratefulness changes our perspective.
I can’t go any further without sharing one of my favorite blogs I’ve ever read. It’s the perfect reset to any perspective when it comes to having a clean house. Check out Give me Gratitude or Give Me Debt.
Now don’t hear me saying you don’t need to clean your house or that there’s no hope because it’s impossible to have a clean house while you homeschool. That’s just not true.
I am just saying to have realistic expectations. Managing housework, especially while homeschooling, especially with littles, will be difficult.
2. Have less stuff
This may sound simple, but the less stuff you have, the less there is make a mess. So if you have the ability, one way to keep your house cleaner is to start with less stuff and to keep from bringing more in.
You could do a big cleanout of all your stuff for a reset. A good friend of mine runs a great blog helping you work to declutter your house. Check out HappySimpleMom.com for some great tips on decluttering.
The trick with minimalism is not just having less stuff, but to also keep from bringing more in.
You could set rules like getting rid of a toy each time a new one comes to your house. Or refusing to shop in the dollar section at Target so you aren’t tempted to buy things because they are cheap. I know, I know, it’ll be ok.
Some other struggles around our house: not getting rid of broken things so we can fix them (but we don’t), keeping all the boxes and random scraps of paper for future art projects, and keeping clothes we never wear.
I know money is an issue for many, especially us homeschoolers. So it can be hard to get rid of things you may use in the future. So you have to find the balance that works for your family of keeping things that will save you money in the future or getting rid of things to have less stuff.
3. Have a place for everything
An important part of keeping things organized is to have a place for everything. Shelves for the books, cubbies for the toys, bins for storage.
If you don’t know where something goes, find a place. And tell your kids. If there’s no room, maybe get rid of something else to make room for it.
A pile of loose things in the closet will never look nice. But if you have a couple shelves with maybe some small baskets to keep things organized, it will look great.
This doesn’t have to break the bank.
I have always been able to find shoebox size plastic bins at Walmart or target for around a dollar. So I get a few of those, put a piece of tape on the end and write on it what goes in it.
You don’t have to buy beautiful baskets and a label maker y’all. Though those do make a great teacher appreciation day present for yourself. 😉
The upfront time it takes to organize everything can be overwhelming, but just like any project, it helps to break it down into bite size pieces. And once it’s done will save you so much more time and sanity in the future!
You, homeschool mama, are not the only one living in your house. You should not have to be the only one cleaning it. So make it a part of your homeschool day.
4. Make chores part of your homeschool
You, homeschool mama, are not the only one living in your house. You should not have to be the only one cleaning it. So make it a part of your homeschool day.
I understand that teaching your kids to clean is not an easy task. It always makes things take so much longer. But you won’t regret teaching them. Do it for your future self. And the future of your kids.
Teaching your kids to take responsibility for their own things is an incredible gift you can give them, their future families, and the world. It’s a big deal.
But you shouldn’t just tell your child to go clean their room. This may overwhelm them if they don’t know what that means. Give practical steps and expectations.
I have found it helps a lot to give my kids a list. Like each step for cleaning the bathroom. They can check it off as they go. And I demonstrate each step to them and check back on their work when they think they have finished. This is all a part of building independence and responsibility into your children.
For little kids, I may ask them to clean their rooms, then go help them pull all the random stuff from around the room into one pile and ask them to put it all away. This gives them enough direction without requiring me to stay with them while they do it.
Of course, they always get off track and distracted so I try to check back every few minutes to keep them working.
5. Break housework down by days
I get overwhelmed when I look at a completely messy house so breaking the huge project into smaller steps works well for me. I choose to do it by days. You could also rotate larger projects by week or month.
For instance, at my house, we have one type of cleaning we do each day in addition to the daily chores. This works really well around here most days.
Sunday – Wash laundry
Monday – fold laundry
Tuesday – Dust
Wednesday – Clean windows
Thursday – Clean room
Friday – Clean a bathroom
Saturday – Change sheets
If it works better for you, you could also do all the cleaning in one room each day. Like this:
Sunday – Rest
Monday – Kitchen
Tuesday – Dining Room
Wednesday – Bathrooms
Thursday – Clean your room
Friday – Do the laundry
Saturday – Clean the living room
Teaching your kids to take responsibility for their own things is an incredible gift you can give them, their future families, and the world. It’s a big deal.
6. Clean all at once
It is always nice to have your whole house clean all at once. So you could choose to make this a priority. Just do basic cleanup throughout the week, then have one afternoon where everyone joins in and cleans the house together.
This would work really well if you only did school four days a week. Or it could be done on the weekend. Or on a shorter school day.
No matter how often, though, I suggest you include your children in the housework too!
7. Clean on your off days
Do you struggle with splitting your focus on your school days? Or maybe you are good about the basic upkeep on the regular, but have trouble getting the deeper cleaning into your routine. So cleaning on the days off school may work best for you.
If you only school 4 days a week, the other day would be a great cleaning day. Or Saturday or Sunday could work. Or if you do a schedule with 6 weeks on, 1 week off, you could do a good deep clean that off week. Put it on your schedule or else you may not do it.
You could also create an off day just for cleaning every couple weeks. Arrange with Grandma to take the kids for a few hours and get to work!
8. 15 Minutes a day
Especially if you have little kids, sometimes the biggest help is to clean up all the clutter and toys laying everywhere! So turn on some music, set a timer for 15 minutes, and get everyone involved.
You don’t have to get everything cleaned really well, just focus first on the mess. Sometimes this little quick pick up will give you the boost you need and you won’t want to stop when the timer goes off.
One thing I find helpful when picking up clutter is to first move it all into one pile, then put it away piece by piece. You could even start with this then finish off with a quick vacuum or sweep of the floor. Amazing how much of a difference it makes in a room just to have a clean floor.
You could do a 15 minute clean only in one room, or divide and conquer. Each person could pick a room and see what they can get done in 15 minutes. Though I have found the younger kids do best working alongside others. They don’t get as easily distracted when they aren’t the only one working.
The responsibility may generally fall on you, but no one says you can’t delegate!
9. Make it a game
Most people do work easier when it’s fun, so make house cleaning a game! You could add in a little competition between siblings to see who can pick up the most toys first. Or turn on some music and see if the room can get picked up before the song ends!
Another fun idea I’ve heard is to have a standing rule that when you play a game together, whoever wins the game has to clean it up and put it away. That person will already be happy about their win and might not complain too much about cleaning.
Whatever you can think up to make it fun can take so much of the stress and struggle away from cleaning!
10. You can’t do it all
The truth about life is we aren’t meant to live it alone. We also aren’t supposed to be tasked with all the cleaning all the time for all the people. Ask for help!
The responsibility may generally fall on you, but no one says you can’t delegate!
I know we try to be super woman and do all the homeschooling, all the cooking, all the cleaning, all the driving around town, all the activities, and all the other million things moms do, but you just can’t do it all.
If there’s something in particular you always have trouble getting to (it’s laundry for me), maybe another family member can help you out with it. And when they do, don’t feel guilty for not being able to do it all.
Like I said, this life is not meant to be lived alone.
I know several homeschool moms who have help occasionally from their mother, or from a friend. My husband is great about helping out around the house when he’s home. And don’t forget about those little ones you have running around making the messes! They can help too!
For more ideas on delegating household chores, check out my post called Household Chores Made Easy.
11. Hire it out
There comes a point where we realize some things are worth paying for and we just need to hire some things out. So don’t feel guilty if you are able to do it. Take advantage of that blessing!
You may not be able to hire out cleaning every week, but maybe just having someone come clean once a month is incredibly helpful.
If you can’t afford to pay someone, maybe you could arrange to trade with a friend. Take her kids for a few hours so she can get things done, then have her take yours so you can clean.
Or hire a young teen or tween from your homeschool group or church as a mother’s helper to come be with your kids while you clean. This is often cheaper than a regular babysitter as you aren’t leaving them home alone.
You might even be able to find a young teen that likes to clean and wants some spending money to come clean for you. Even if it’s just a few of the more difficult tasks, like the bathrooms, this may be worth the small expense.
Just remember that everything has a cost. So if you are paying someone else to do something for you, you are paying them money in exchange for their time and energy. Because of this you get to keep your own time and energy you aren’t spending on cleaning so you can use it elsewhere.
It’s basic economics.
So anytime you feel guilty for hiring something out, just remember that it’s not that you aren’t willing to do it yourself. You would just rather spend your money than your time. And hopefully you can help someone else along the way!
Homeschool mom cleaning schedule
If you’re struggling with getting your house clean, I suggest making yourself a basic cleaning schedule. This doesn’t have to be detailed and it doesn’t have to be difficult. Assign a daily chore to yourself and each child that is able.
You could rotate chores or have them be the same each day, it’s really up to you.
I have created a basic chore chart that I use with my own family. If you would like a copy, keep scrolling and feel free to download! I love to share.
Closing
Homeschooling is a wonderful path we have chosen for our lives. And along that path are some big challenges, including feeling like we need to have our life completely put together and instagram worthy.
But if you start out with realistic expectations, ask for help, and implement a few simple strategies into your days, even managing housework and homeschooling can be conquered over time.
Additional resources
11 Household Chores Moms can Delegate
Simplify your Homeschool Day
Are you a Homeschool Failure?
Create a Homeschool Plan that Works for You
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