We’ve spent all of January finding ourselves again after the holidays, trying out new activities and seeing how it feels best to spend our time. Settling back into life in a new year is always hard for me - I want to do new things, but it’s cold, dark, and nature is mostly still sleeping. We’ve had some big transformations over the dark months, mainly to do with Birdie growing in leaps and bounds - which, of course, affects us all. The beauty of home education is that we can take as long as we need to settle into a new schedule, and shift things around when they’re no longer serving us.
After a lot of reflection and observation, we’ve settled into a late winter rhythm that looks and feels much like it did before, but with less napping and more time outside. I am still homeschooling the boys mainly on Monday-Wednesday; our dear friend who cares for them on Thursdays and Fridays certainly contributes to their learning, but I don’t record the books they read or ask for any topics to be covered. They play, read, do projects, and have lots of love - which is exactly what small people need. On weekends we concentrate on active outdoor play and practical science activities wherever possible.
I love seeing how other people structure their days, so I thought I’d share here, in case you’re like me and are curious about what other families do! Our days at the moment, with a 21 month old and a 4.5 year old, look more or less like this:
Everyone wakes up around 6:30-7am and the boys play in their bedroom while I read stories aloud, until I can’t live any longer without a cup of coffee.
We head downstairs for breakfast about 20 minutes later, where we do table activities while I make breakfast. Birdie usually does some drawing or play dough, and A does some copywork or maths-related colouring. I read a couple of poems, we listen to a French song, and practice some French vocabulary words. Some days we do reading practice instead of copywork, or talk about history instead of French. If we don’t have plans for our day, we talk together about what we’d all like to do, and what needs to get done. As much as possible, I try to incorporate some of everyone’s requests into the day.
After breakfast and morning time, I get the boys settled into a game and leave them to tidy up and make lunches if we’re headed out for the day. When we need to get dressed and ready to leave, I often bring an audio book upstairs to help keep A focused. Without the extra input, he often loses track of what he’s doing and frustration mounts!
By 10am we head out - either on an adventure in town, to meet up with friends, to complete an errand, or sometimes just out to the back garden. If we’re out in the car, we listen to our seasonal songs and French stories while we drive. If we’re on the train, I read aloud - usually something on one of our weekly themes.
If it’s a local day, we’re back in for lunch. around noon. The boys will usually do some play dough or painting at the table while I prep lunch, and we usually listen to one of the composers we’re studying (lots of Beethoven right now!), or short audio books like Beatrix Potter stories. I try to read over lunch since it keeps everyone happy!
Birdie’s dropped his nap, so after lunch is our ‘independent quiet playtime’, which in reality is neither independent or quiet. Usually during this time - which can be anywhere from half an hour to two hours, depending on the children’s energy level and attention, I put on an audio book for A and set him up with handwork (like his knitting fork), drawing or a scratching board, or his hammering tacks board. Often he will leave this activity after a few minutes and choose a new activity, usually making things out of cardboard and staples, or looking through books. During this time, I read to Birdie and set him up with something quiet like his train set or magnetic tiles, and then sit on the floor nearby reading or knitting while he plays. Frequently, A will come in and join in Birdie’s game. If everyone is happy, we carry on like this until the spirit changes.
When the after-lunch lull has ended, we head out to the garden, or to a local park - or some afternoons, a friend comes over to play. We try to do something fairly vigorous until around 3pm, and then come back in for teatime. We have a snack - usually something warm in the cold months, like scrambled egg on toast, or savoury scones - and I read books on our teatime theme. Mondays are about character development, and we often base our reading and discussion on that month’s Growing Towards Justice theme. Tuesdays we talk about the arts: we learn about visual art, poetry, music, and dance. Wednesdays we read only French books!
After teatime the boys play together and I often sit on the floor and play as well. T comes home from work between 4:30 and 5pm most days, and he takes over with the boys while I make supper. We try to eat together around 5;30, and the boys head up for a bath around 6-6:15pm. A usually reads to me while he finishes his supper. Once we head upstairs it’s quiet and dark time: fairy lights and lanterns in the bathroom and bedroom until lights out. After their bath, they sit together and have milk and a snack in their bedroom while I read, then it’s into bed for songs until they fall asleep.
Our weekend rhythm looks fairly similar, with more late-afternoon one on one time with each child, where A and I do a bit more focused maths and science work, plus extra reading.
Creating a family rhythm is a responsive activity - rather than starting from what you want to be doing, start from observing the children’s points of ease and stress. Most recently, mornings were a time of real stress and frustration for us all. Nobody was sleeping well, so everyone was waking up crabby and overexcited. There was shouting rather than quiet listening to stories, and many rounds of breakfast (one child after the other!) so that nothing really ever got done. No amount of me willing things to change was going to make the difference - instead, the disconnect had to shift from the starting point, which was sleep. This is why we shifted the boys into one bedroom. Having a more connected and calm bedtime routine, and waking up in a room with shared playspace, was the change necessary to set off a more positive tone throughout the day. All behaviour is communication, and with a bit of watchful thinking we can usually uncover the core situation that is impacting so many other parts of our day.