A Heart for Homeschooling

Over the last few weeks I have been thinking and planning for the next term. We have been down with the flu, but also taking time during these cold winter weeks to rest and recover our energy for the rest of the year. We don’t usually take a large summer break, but we tend to take a number of weeks off mid-winter each year – this works well for us and it’s nice breaking the year up with a good pause in the middle.

Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 were pretty consistent for lessons and other homeschool activities. We enjoyed learning about the Middle Ages, Antarctica, and following some rabbit trails of interest. We have loved our weekly homeschool sports group, as well as new friends made there. The children completed some great independent reads, and after switching curriculums earlier on in the term, they have done really well working through The Good and the Beautiful Math and Language Arts. And we enjoyed a trip to the local classical museum about the Ancient Olympics at the end of the term.

We wound down towards the end of the quarter with only doing basics. Then, when public school holidays started, we took a break too – though only to come down with this flu, which we have had the entire time. Thankfully, we have still been able to get away to my Dad’s for a week. We head home tomorrow, and though we will have just over a week of lessons, we are then away for a family trip. The beauty of homeschooling! – we can fit to my husband’s pastoral schedule and take what time off we can when it works with him.

When we come back mid-August, here are the plans I have prayerfully considered to last us through two six week blocks into October (Sabbath-schooling).

Family Subjects

I have at times wondered whether we needed to give our traditional Together Time a break as our eldest is struggling at times with it. But, as I was working through this amazing planning resource and considering what really is the Big Picture for our homeschool, family togetherness is the foundational reason we are living out this journey (other than God calling us to it!). So I have considered the best way forward with our Together Time, and tried to keep the most meaningful parts of it, doing away with any that do not work for us right now.

Independent Studies

Once we have completed our Together Time, we will break for morning tea, and then the children will (mostly) work on their independent work. As the children are getting older, it is good for them to have subjects that they pursue on their own. I am around and available for help, but for the most part, they need to work through the lessons on their own to gain that independent learning strength.

The only subject that the children do daily (x4 a week) is Math – all other subjects are either twice, or once. This is to keep our intentional learning time within the 2/2.5 hour block in the morning and so we are finished by lunch time. I firmly hold that the children do not need to be going after lunch until they are in high school. To me, there seems no reason why a 15-year-old is doing the same hours of schoolwork as a 10-year-old – something doesn’t fit in that scenario. One of the greatest blessings of homeschooling is the time factor – more learning in less time, more time for the freedom of childhood and family life.

With these plans, I hold them loosely, knowing full well that homeschool life never goes to plan! But, creating and keeping a plan as faithfully as possible moves us forward, and I know that I am intentionally filling the children’s hearts and minds with truth, goodness, and beauty, whilst training them to do the work that God has called them to in this time of their lives – that is, becoming prepared for His calling.

Here’s to another quarter of our home education life!