Creating Healthy Habits for Home Education

Creating healthy habits for home education takes a lot of dedication, but it’s worth the persistence—trust me! And when it comes to educating your children, the healthier your habits, the more your children will benefit from them!

Think about it—if you model healthy habits, your children will soon follow suit. After all, they learn from watching us. 

So, what are some examples of healthy habits that will benefit your children when home educating?

11 Healthy Habits for Home Education

A routine which works for everyone

Having a routine doesn’t necessarily mean that everything needs to be structured and regimented. In fact, your routine can be quite flexible! The key is discovering a routine which will work for the whole family. 

Your children might thrive on structure and get more learning done, or they might thrive on having more flexibility and doing spontaneous learning. A healthy habit and a healthy routine is one which benefits all of you!

Reflect on how your day normally looks. What would you like to change? Put your priorities first so that you know they’ll get done. Remember, a routine looks different for every family and what might work for one, might not work for yours. 

If you need a bit of guidance for creating the right schedule for your home educating family, check out this post!

Starting the day off with a grounding activity

A grounding activity first thing in the morning can help to alleviate tiredness or stress because it puts the focus on something which is enjoyable and calming. It really helps to set you and your children up for the day and it’s something that you can all do together. 

We love these grounding activities:

• Using our five senses: Naming what you can see, feel, hear, smell and taste. 
• Going for a walk
• Trying to make each other laugh
• Writing down our goals for the day
• Saying positive affirmations
• Stretching and meditating
• Listening to music

Finding the right balance between learning and relaxing

One of the healthiest habits to have when you’re home educating is balancing learning and down-time. Too much of one can lead to burn out and too much of the other can lead to a lack of motivation. 

But remember, the perfect balance isn’t necessarily 50/50. One day it could be 60/40 and the next day 30/70. The balance is in knowing what you need more of and it will likely be different from one day to the next. The habit is in recognising this and doing what you and your children need. 

Being active throughout the day

We all know the importance of exercise, but it’s often a habit we forget to create for ourselves and our children. But if you aim for 30 minutes a day, doing something active which you all enjoy and want to do, you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes and how much more motivated and happier your children will be. 

We love these activities:

• Swimming
• Hiking or walking
• Rock climbing
• Dancing 

Encouraging independent or spontaneous learning

A great habit for your children to get into is independent or spontaneous learning. It motivates your children to learn for themselves without you having to constantly provide learning materials or things to do. Let them be curious and get them in the habit of finding out things for themselves.

Having goals and time for reflection

If there’s one habit you definitely want to get into for home education it’s having goals and time to reflect on what’s working and what’s not. We find it’s easier to set goals that are realistic but we also like setting goals that we really have to strive for. A goal like this is set every month but the more realistic and achievable goals are set weekly. 

Once you start setting daily, weekly or monthly goals and dedicating time to reflect with your children, it will become a habit that you won’t even realise you’ve got.

Practising mindfulness and being emotionally aware

This habit is especially important for children because they get to know themselves—who they are and what they need. Life can be hectic and so can home education, even if your family is quite laid back and flexible. That’s why being aware of each other’s emotions and being present is such a positive habit to create. 

Eating healthy food

Like exercise, eating healthy is essential to a child’s health and mentality. By getting in the habit of eating healthy food when home educating, you’ll see the benefits as well as feel them.

A great way to make eating healthy a habit is to have a healthy snack on hand whenever your children are feeling peckish. What works for us is allowing my daughter to choose some healthy food options and involving her in making healthy meals too. 

Reducing screen time and having technology-free spaces

We can probably all admit to having too much screen time from time to time, and that’s perfectly fine. We’re human. But if you feel like it sometimes gets too much and the technology is taking over, the best thing you can do is get in the habit of reducing screen time or having spaces in your home which are technology free. 

Socialising regularly

Even if you or your children are introverted (which we are!), getting enough socialisation is a habit which will have huge benefits! You don’t have to force it either. Let socialising happen naturally, but make a habit of putting yourself out there and encouraging your children to do the same. 

You could:

• Join a regular home education group
• Attend weekly clubs and activities
• Meet up with other home educating families

Winding down and getting enough sleep

With so much going on during the day, the most important part is actually winding down from it all. Get your children into the habit of doing activities in the evening which will help them to wind down and relax. A stress-relieving activity is the way to go, even if everyone’s stress levels are okay. 

You’ll likely find that by doing these activities or having some quiet time (meaning no screens and less noise!) you’ll all feel like you’re able to get a better night’s sleep.

Now that we know the healthy habits we want to encourage, what can we do to ensure we actually practise them when home educating?

Here are some tips which might help you!

How to Create Healthy Habits for Home Education

Think about the habits you already have

When creating healthy habits for home education, the first thing you’ll want to think about is the habits you already have. How easy have they been for you to create? Do you just do them naturally and without thinking? Or is more thought put into them? A good thing to do is make a list of all the habits you already have. 

Decide which habits you’d like to implement

Now that you’ve listed all the habits you already have, it’s time to start thinking about which habits you’d like to start doing. Habits aren’t confined to just one box—there are many types: mental, spiritual, educational, physical, even housework habits.

Think about what you’d like to improve when home educating. Is there anything you could do which would benefit your children or make your life easier? Make a list of all the habits you’d like to implement and which you think will make a difference to your home education journey. 

Start with small habits

Starting small means things will be less overwhelming. You’ll only have a couple of habits to focus on. Pick ones which are going to be more manageable and easier for your children to adapt to.

Try habit stacking 

If you’re unsure about what habit stacking is, you’re not alone. It’s something that I had no idea about either. But it makes so much sense once you know. It’s simply about stacking new habits on top of old ones! 

Create reminders for new habits

It’s easy to forget things, especially creating new habits and actually implementing them into our daily lives. With life being busy, sometimes all that’s needed is a reminder. If you’re the type of person that gets carried away with the day and forgets what they wanted to get done, set reminders for yourself. With each reminder, the habit will soon become engraved into your mind and eventually you won’t need the reminders anymore. 

Let the small wins be encouragement

Be proud of yourself and your children for the small wins. Creating and maintaining healthy habits is no easy task, but take what you accomplish as motivation to keep going. Your family will soon be mastering new habits in no time!