Mom Is Teaching

This week I want to focus on planning out homeschooling. I am a planner at heart, I love to make lists and goals and schedules. Luckily I have just enough of a lazy streak that it does not bother me if not everything falls into order. Just having the plans to look back on is enough for me. Some people need to have detailed plans that they can work off of, some are better suited when they are spontanious. Most fall somwhere in the middle. Having a plan, even if it is just to have a second cup of coffee before getting the kids up, can be beneficial to almost everyone.

One thing that is emphasised in Enki is not to try to fit your life around homeschooling, but to fit homeschooling into your life. One of the first steps they suggest in planning is to make a schedule of the natural flow of your day and see where you can go from there. Are your kids grumpy in the mornings and need more time to wake up? Or do they jump out of bed bursting with energy and need something physical to help release it? How does the energy around the house fluxuate during the day? Making a note of the natural rhythm in the home and using that as a guideline for working in homeschooling can make for a smoother day.

Part of planning around the natural rhythms in the home also means taking into account your normal activities. More than one homeschooling mom has suggested buying a big calender and filling it in first with any important holidays, trips, and activities. if every second Tuesday you have a church function or if Fridays have always been fun days make notes of those. Jot down birthdays, anniversaries, special holidays, anything that the kids and yourself look forward to and expect. Suddenly cutting those things out or rescheduling them can cause frustration and resentment. See how you can work around these important events without losing educational time. An added benefit is that you will be able to see if you are planning too many activities or if your kids have room to add another if they are interested.

Here is some typical plans for us. First I would make notes on the how we flow during the day. For instance I know that both of my sons wake up grumpy and need time to come around. I don’t wake up the happiest either for that matter, so we all enjoy quiet calm mornings. I note that my youngest still naps in the middle of the day, leaving prime time for lots of one-on-one with my oldest. And I know that by 4 PM they are both overflowing with energy and need some physical activities to release it before they destroy my house.

I also keep track that my oldest has a library group that meets every Tuesday afternoon, and that he may be starting gymnastics this year that would be on Thursday mornings. Since their father works evenings and nights I keep track of his schedule as it affects what we can do and what the boys want to do. On his days off I know to plan nothing as they usually just want to spend the evening in the rocking chair with him. I also highlight important holidays that I want to do things for before hand.

Once I have all of that worked out, then I get into the real planning. It seems like a lot, but it really isn’t. It is just make notes of the normal patterns you see in your kids. Most parents already have those memorized, but putting them down on paper helps to see it and work with it.

homeschool, homeschooling, planning, plans