Homeschooling - When does it all get done?

George hunting for worms.

 We had such a beautiful day for getting outside that it is easy to blog about the joy and flexibility of homeschooling today!  We are fortunate that hanging outside for a couple of hours each morning is the norm for us - so, "How do you get all your schooling done?" I hear you ask.

Right from the start I intuitively knew that we would not need a whole day for the kids to meet the Provincial curriculum. Simply looking at child:teacher ratios makes a solid case for a why a limited amount of one-on-one instruction can accomplish what a classroom teacher requires hours to instruct (given class sizes approaching 30 students.)

So with this principle in mind, I developed our homeschool schedule in September which includes one hour of direct instruction per day, plus one hour of self-directed study, four days per week.  Our direct instruction involves lessons and readings that meet the Provincial Outcomes (language arts, math, social studies, science, French, & personal planning.) The hour of independent work is essentially pulling together a project in each core subject area per month.

Muffin Mouse dog training today.

It feels like we have found a gentle rhythm to our days, although it took some tweaking to get here. Essentially, the kids are given the autonomy to plan their days based on the following guidelines:

1) No electronics from 8am - 4pm (except for school work) M - Th.

2) The kids must be up and ready to come outside by 9:30am. I didn't plan for this to be a rule, but without some structure to starting the day, and mandatory fresh air, I found the kids would be sluggish and argumentative.

3) The kids must schedule their 1 hour of direct instruction with me at a time that is convenient for me (generally during nap time.) Springing a need for lessons with me on a whim is a recipe for disaster :)

Based on the above guidelines, they choose when the following daily tasks are completed:

Banana Bread playing at the park.

• 30 minutes minimum of Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading
• 1 hour of self-directed school work
• Music practice
• 1 hour of direct-instruction school work
• Dance practice (Muffin Mouse); Hockey practice (George.)

They then choose to bake, read, play, write, or use their pocket knife (!) during their free time.

After 4pm we generally hit the road like many families filling our evenings with hockey, swim club, dance classes, music lessons, & creative writing classes. I find without homework stress, and with well-rested kids, these evening activities are more enjoyable than they used to be when we were schooling.

Joyfully yours,
Caz.