After 6 weeks of unschooling , and the girls telling me they wanted more structure back to their days I decided to hop back on the Waldorf waggon so to speak.
Over the past week or so iv been asked on a few occasions what method of homeschooling i use and what our daily rhythm looks like. so i thought id share it with you all.
Right now i would describe my self as a Waldorf inspired unschooler...........
I ask Charlie do u fancy having circle time and he will always stop whatever hes doing to light a candle and we will read together , a story and some finger plays and poems that relate to a certain month or theme. ( this week was tree and earthworms)
Iv managed to have circle time with the two youngest most mornings after breakfast for the past couple of weeks, its cute to watch Eva copy actions for the rhymes from myself and her brother .She loves to hop about the lounge with her fingers on her head pretending to be a spring bunny or stretching up towards the sky pretending to be a tall oak tree.
Of course the older kids could join in if they wish to do so .
I'm still feeling like i could totally embrace an unschooling life , there are no hard and fast rules in our home.There are few limits. But at the same time i need routine in my life and as iv said before the girls have been asking for structure.
I try to get the best of both worlds. You wouldn't think it but it is do-able.
We have routine but flexibility.
I ask my children if they would like to do some journaling? , do they feel like doing some reading?, would you like me to get out the paints? and more often than not the answer is yes.
Iv devised a weekly rhythm. With activity's for each day of the week.
Monday- baking/cooking
Tuesday- painting/ gardening
Wednesday- colouring
Thursday- crafting/ games
Friday- modelling/ house work.
Charlie is always wiling to spend time on the activities and the girls sometimes join in and sometimes not...there choice.The rhythm is set out and in place and its up to them if they want to be involved or not.
Our rhythm really just happened, even when we are unschooling there is always rhythm to our days.
our daily rhythm just sort of evolved.
A typical day would look like this.
*Let out hens
*hang out washing
*prep dinner if its a slow cooker meal
*Breakfast (as and when they kids get up)
*Tidy kitchen/ load dishwasher/ load washing machine
*circle time
*block work
*lunch (12 ish)
*Tidy kitchen/hoover/load dishwasher/ load washing machine
*activity (from the list previously)
Then the rest of the afternoon is free to do as we please......
*prep dinner
*dinner (5.30 ish)
*tidy kitchen/hoover/load dishwasher
*baths
*bed time / story for charlie (9 ish)
The girls are usually in bed by about half nine but watch t.v or read or do some quiet activities until they are tired which can ofter be quite late. But because they don't need to be up at a certain time I'm not worried about that.I trust that if they don't go to sleep until eleven they will get the extra sleep they need and wake later the next morning.
i used to have a timetable for our days with our day set out in blocks at specific times for specific activities ...needless to say that didn't last long. in fact it was ridicules .my children deserve freedom and respect not time tabled lessons i was also a stressed out clock watcher.
Nowadays I'm happier than ever i have resources and lesson plans to hand when they ask for "work" but on days when all they want t do is watch t.v and play Lego that's just fine with me.
I have a great deal of respect for my children, they don't need to be confined to working at the table for a set amount of time , they don't need to ask ...can we have a break now?
Life just happens, every day follows a basic rhythm and they never stop learning whatever day of the week it happens to be.
XXX
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