How To Ditch the Strict Schedule and Embrace Learning as a Lifestyle

If you’re tired of rigid homeschool schedules that promise a feast of learning and leave you feeling overwhelmed, maybe it’s time to ditch the strict schedule and embrace learning as a lifestyle. A learning lifestyle will give you the freedom to explore the world together, embrace your child’s natural curiosity, and fall in love with learning as a family.

Creating a relaxed homeschooling environment isn’t all about picture-perfect homeschool rooms and farmhouse-cute planners. It’s about adopting a flexible learning style that works for your family. Ready to get off the homeschool schedule merry-go-round and adopt a lifestyle of learning?

Keep reading to discover tips for encouraging curiosity, self-directed learning, and real-world experiences in your homeschool. Plus, get encouragement to help you practice learning through daily life that’s practical and fun.

Homeschooling Without a Strict Schedule

A quick Google search will reveal beautiful homeschool schedule templates with colorful themes and detailed hour-by-hour planning spaces. However, it won’t take long to discover that these detailed schedules aren’t practical and often don’t work in real life. If you’re a recovering type-A homeschool mom like me, these pretty themed down-to-the-minute plans can be alluring.

It’s easy to get sucked in by the strict schedules that promise you can do everything every day in your homeschool. But the truth is that these timed schedules are unrealistic for most of us. Even when we successfully check all the boxes, it can leave us feeling burnt out and overwhelmed.

Strict schedules like this are difficult to keep. When they fail, it can leave us feeling like we’ve failed as homeschool parents. Ultimately, ditching the strict schedule and opting for a more flexible approach can make homeschooling much more successful for you and your kids.

Every family is different, so no “one size fits all” approach works for homeschooling. Fortunately, you don’t need a homeschool schedule. We can abandon the strict schedule that leaves us frustrated, and adopt a flexible learning lifestyle focused on interest-led lessons and activities that truly works for our families.

How to Embrace Learning as a Lifestyle

Embracing learning as a lifestyle isn’t as challenging as it might seem at first. We know our kids need more time to play, explore, and enjoy great books. We know we want to teach them in a way that allows them to develop a lifelong love of learning.

Kids don’t need mom sitting behind a desk in a Pinterest-worthy schoolroom, watching them complete workbooks. When we embrace learning as a lifestyle and break free from the “school at home” mentality, we unlock the door to natural learning together as a family.

Adopting learning as a lifestyle is about shifting away from strict schedules and embracing an ongoing approach to education. Instead of compartmentalizing learning into set hours or days, you mix lessons into everyday life, encouraging kids to explore their passions and natural curiosity throughout the day. Embracing learning as a lifestyle begins with the realization that learning is something that happens naturally during our daily lives, whether we’re sorting socks, baking cookies, or watching birds in the front yard.

Adopting a flexible learning style is the key to making a learning lifestyle successful. Giving our kids the freedom to dive deep into subjects they’re curious about without time restraints can lead to fascination and a passion for education. If we break in with phrases like “It’s time for math,” we’re missing an opportunity to follow a rabbit trail that could lead to weeks of learning and engagement.

Learning as a lifestyle encourages spontaneous adventures where a trip to the grocery store becomes a lesson in budgeting and meal planning, or learning physics with roller coasters on a family vacation. Over time, our kids will see that learning isn’t something that only happens during school hours, it’s something we do all day, everywhere.

Creating a Relaxed Homeschooling Environment

As homeschool parents, we can facilitate this lifestyle of learning by creating environments filled with great books, games, art supplies, and access to technology. Creating a relaxed homeschooling environment begins when we acknowledge that learning happens 365 days a year, everywhere we go. That’s when we realize we don’t have to sit at desks, dedicate a room in our house to “school,” or purchase elaborate (and expensive) curriculum packages.

Creating a relaxed homeschooling environment isn’t “one size fits all” either. If you can’t relax with cluttered counters and tables, it’s okay to clear away the clutter before you begin working at the table. If you need some extra time snuggled up with a blanket on the couch, embracing a relaxed homeschool environment that’s focused on reading books together and watching educational videos might be exactly what’s needed.

It’s important to remember that you can homeschool anywhere. Whether you’re carschooling, learning on the go, or homeschooling in the pool on a hot summer day, give yourself permission to do what works and be as flexible as you need to be.

Another tip for creating a relaxed environment for lifestyle learning is to follow a flexible routine that leaves space for spontaneous adventures and child-led learning experiences. In a flexible environment like this, kids can follow their curiosity and dive into topics they want to learn more about rather than sticking to a rigid lesson plan. In this way, the whole family can learn naturally through real-world experiences instead of workbooks and lectures.

Learning Through Daily Life

Adopting a learning lifestyle is all about learning organically through everyday experiences. Learning together through daily life is an excellent way to show kids the practical applications of the skills they’re learning. Some of our favorite ways to explore and practice math concepts and writing skills are through everyday experiences.

Math is everywhere, so it’s an easy subject to practice in daily life. Practical real-world math practice gives us an opportunity to take a hands-on interest-led approach with practical activities, projects, and resources. Together, we explore math concepts and how they function in the real world.

Check out my practical guide to Mathematics for Everyday Learning to get some great ideas on how you can practice math from preschool through high school with an interest-led approach as you practice a lifestyle of learning.

Then, discover how we’re using family newsletters and letter writing to learn about grammar, spelling, and practice writing skills with our Mail Time Monday Routine. We love how this flexible learning approach works for a variety of ages and abilities.

Encouraging Curiosity in Your Homeschool

Adopting a lifestyle of learning naturally encourages curiosity in homeschool families by integrating education into daily life in an ongoing way that isn’t relegated to a set schedule. When we don’t confine learning to a set number of hours and isolated subjects, kids can explore at their own pace. Embracing a child-led approach to learning like this fosters an environment where kids feel safe and even encouraged to ask questions and explore.

Questions and curiosity are celebrated in a learning lifestyle approach and kids learn that the world around them is filled with possibility. Soon your homeschoolers will find opportunities for discovery and connection around every corner!

Encouraging our kids to ask “why” and “how” each day is an excellent way to encourage curiosity and embrace a lifestyle of learning. From questions about how yeast works during baking to why there are buzzards on the side of the road, every encounter becomes an opportunity to learn more. When we don’t know the answer immediately, we can learn together and teach our kids how to find the answers they seek at the same time.

Need help answering all their questions? Check out my Discovery Decks for Curious Kids. They’re filled with questions kids ask about everything from history to science, sports, and more. It’s an excellent way to learn together as a family that’s budget-friendly too.

By giving our kids this chance to explore their interests and introducing them to ours as we do life together, we’re helping them to fall in love with learning outside of traditional academic subjects. We’re teaching them that real learning can happen anywhere at any time if we are willing to let curiosity lead the way.

Self-Directed Learning for Kids

Another tip for ditching the homeschool schedule and embracing a learning lifestyle is to try a self-directed learning approach. This flexible approach to learning allows kids to be in the driver’s seat, promoting independence and motivating them to take control of their own learning.

Some of my favorite ways to encourage self-directed learning and exploration include subscription boxes, podcasts, strewing, and single-player games. Check out these guides to help you get started with self-directed learning in your homeschool: