I realized a year into homeschooling that I was planning our days backwards. I had been making long lists of goals and resources that I wanted to implement, then cramming them into a swelling schedule. Thus, by the second Tuesday of every term I was either stressed or failing. Thankfully, I found a better way.
I noticed the beauty of rhythm. We all follow rhythms, though every family is different. We have rhythms to our years: watermelon in summer, cinnamon in fall, baking at Christmas… We have rhythms to our weeks: productive Mondays, adventurous Saturdays, restful Sundays… And we have rhythms to our days. So I decided to study us, then build a plan around our day rather than building our day around a plan.
I saw what time of day my children were most creative, when I was most productive, when they got the munchies, when they needed to run around outside in loud circles, when they needed to cuddle and when I just needed to sit down for a few minutes. I took that insight and charted an ideal routine. Not ideal for our efficiency. Ideal for our people.
Now I use our rhythm-rooted routine as a framework to develop my homeschool plans. In this three-part series, I will guide you through the same process.
So, set aside your curriculum and your to do list and your dream list for now to focus on finding your family’s rhythm.
First, lay out the bones. Write the hours in pencil or in an excel spreadsheet. Create a column for your kids tendencies and a column for yours. Now flesh it out. Not with the deeds of the day, but with the juice of it. What are y’all’s emotional and behavioral tendencies? When are your people chattiest? When could everyone use some alone time? When are you most focused? When does your youngest need mommy time? When does their rowdiness amp up? By what time does the living room explode into mess (or is that just me)? Write down the patterns you see.
Next read Homeschool Planning Guide Part II where you’ll use these insights to build your rhythm-rooted routine.
https://heatherpaigehunt.com/how-i-plan-my-homeschool-year-finding-your-annual-rhythm/
