Our home education day-what works for us

Cross posted from my blog.


Other home educators' days always interest me and I've picked up so many ideas from other people.


This is a list of organisational ideas that have worked for us. I haven't written in aspirational ideas, for example, that I manage to have the slow cooker on each morning. It would be good if this were the case but it isn't! We have only been home educating for two and a half years so there is plenty of room for improvement.

• First things first-start with the Bible and prayer.
• A set order to the day-this has helped so much. This is easy to remember, unlike a school style timetable which can be different each day. Plus, whilst a child might not like every subject they get used to that fact that it just happens at that time.
• Front load the day with the most important work. I would prefer that English and maths were done; if we fail to do art or computer studies it matters less.
• Spend time with the little ones at the beginning. How this works for us is that after Bible time, I set Middle Son's English. He goes off to do this and I read to the younger children.

•  Mr Exuberance, aged 34 months, is now happy to play independently, whilst his sister has time learning to read.

• Toddlers can be challenging. I feel a bit of a fraud writing this as my little one is nearly three and is much more able to play alone, in the same room, for a few minutes, that he was even six months ago. If I needed so much time to teach reading now, I would either use nap time, if it still existed, or teach when Middle Son was free to play with Mr Exuberance.
• Personal reading time after lunch.  The younger ones play educational games on the computer-next target for change. I hope that soon they will listen to talking books in this time.
• Set finishing time-good for everyone!
• Planning-I make major curriculum decisions before the beginning of the year and a rough plan of how I would like things to work.  Each week, there is a planning session for the details with a weekly chart of what I have planned-yes, we don't always keep to it but it is invaluable on a busy morning. 
• Trips-We've realised that the best trips are closely related to the children's work. Now we also try to tie in books for the little ones and turn down trips that don't fit in with what the children are learning. 

• Extra-curricular activities-the ones that work best for us are close to home. Petrol costs can quickly outweigh a slightly cheaper course, ignoring the time issue and exercise walking to a local event.

Do feel free to comment with your own tips. I am always looking for ways of making the day run more efficiently.

Time Management cross posted

I posted this on my own blog, but thought it might be relevant here too.

Listened to an interesting "sermon" (Family Living Talk) on sermon audio yesterday, about training your children to be ready to leave home (none of ours are at that stage yet!). One of the points Dr Beeke made was that it is sometimes worth taking time out of your (busy) life just to work out what you need to do and when, and make some sort of schedule/timetable for the next week, month or whatever.

It takes time to work out a schedule (well, it does take *me* time), and sometimes I'm loath to spend that time, since it is "good thinking time" (ie when my mind is fresh and the house is quiet - there's not a lot of that round here) rather than "get a bit done here and there time" - like just now when I can write a sentence or two, go and do something else; talk to a teen for ten mins; write a bit more etc.

I guess you either get what a I mean or don't! Some (very little) of my time is high quality thinking time; and I've been unwilling to use it to write new schedules. But Dr Beeke made the valid point that it is an investment; using an hour today might save me several hours over the next few weeks.

So I'm going to try to work on a short term schedule. It will be short, because seven of the children plus Julian go off to the US in seven weeks. And it will be a bit of a chaotic schedule since many children are sitting many exams between now and then.

But I think Dr Beeke is correct - using time to organise time saves time. (I hope!)

Do you have to keep to school terms?

We often get asked if we have to keep to school terms/do so many days a year/follow the local schools' pattern.

In England, the answer is no, we don't. Our obligation is to provide a full time education which is appropriate to a child's age, aptitude and ability.  There are various legal cases which define some of those terms, but nowhere are the hours/subjects defined.

The current legal guidelines are as follows

"What's required of you:the facts about home education are:

•you do not need to be a qualified teacher to educate your child at home

•your child is not obliged to follow the National Curriculum or take national tests, but as a parent you are required by law to ensure your child receives full-time education suitable to their age, ability and aptitude

•any special educational needs your child may have must be recognised

•you do not need special permission from a school or local authority to educate your child at home, but you do need to notify the school in writing if you're taking your child out of school

•you will need to notify the local authority if you are removing your child from a special school

•you do not need to observe school hours, days or terms

•you do not need to have a fixed timetable, nor give formal lessons

•there are no funds directly available from central government for parents who decide to educate their children at home

•some local authorities provide guidance for parents, including free National Curriculum materials"

However, having said that, we as a family *do* tend to follow school terms. When the children were all younger, we had fewer outside activities, so were more free to set our our timetables. As they have gotten older, and are involved in so much outside of the home,  it makes sense to keep to (roughly) the same terms as their schooled friends do. For example there are activity classes that only run during the government school holidays, which our children get involved in, as well as activities that only run during term time (e.g. gymnastics).

We do take time off during school terms for days out - if we time it right we can get to some of London's  busiest attractions when they are very quiet :-)

And also, we do not take the six weeks off in the summer that the schools do. We tend to have the first week and the last week off, and do some different activities/lessons in the middle - mainly the reading scheme.

Children who have imminent exams do not take many holidays!

We've had a longer break that normal over Christmas/New Year, since we went down with a ten-day tummy bug just before the end of term; and that combined with the time Julian had off (we don't do lessons when Dad is home); and a few educational days out, means we've not got back into routine properly till today.

We did return to lessons last Tuesday, but that was more a case of finishing off what had been missed, catching up, and   - the oh so difficult! - getting used to starting work at 6.45am.

Time management

I don't want to keep reposting things that have been posted on our various blogs but this link http://moneysavingmom.com/2010/11/time-management-101-stop-trying-to-do-it-all.html explains a lot about us and our approach to home ed.

I can do some things well; some things average; and some things I really don't do. I would like to learn to do some of those things, others I'd just hate.  I know (or have learned over the last 20 yrs) where my skills lie, and where they don't. And after a few guilt-induced efforts ("everyone should be able to sew/make bread/jam/polish their silver") I've given up on the things that I can't do or do less well; in order to concentrate on other things.

Because, as we realised pretty early on in our married lives (six children under six and a half and pregnant again was kind of a "light-bulb" moment for me), "I can't do it all".

Ultimately, we rely on God's grace and strength to get through each day, term, year; but none of us (regardless of family size) can "do it all".

People have asked me over the years "but how do you do it all?" - and I'm afraid the answer is, I don't.

As my children have gotten older, they have been very helpful with everyday household tasks. My husband (esp earlier on in our marriage did a lot to help in the house too). And what we can't do, doesn't get done.

That is a fact of life, that sometimes I don't want to accept. I'd like to have a perfect house, life, family - along with perfect hair and beautifully styled clothes with matching accessories :-) but that isn't going to happen.

I read somewhere recently "where two duties seem to clash, one of them is not a duty". I try to bear that in mind as I try to organise our lives.

(Children at fireworks party)

I realise I've not yet posted about an "ordinary day"; maybe because we've not had many ordinary days lately. November is a busy month; we have two birthdays, and three special educational topics/celebrations - Bonfire Night; Remembrance Day; and Thanksgiving. These extra projects take time out of our "ordinary day". This year we also have exams, and are caring for an elderly relative who needs daily visiting in (a thankfully local) hospital. (And apparently there is a gymnastics competition coming up before the end of the month, but I've not got that down on the calendar yet.)

To add to the complications of home education, I've had a flare up of my semi-permanent back pain. This has involved organising lessons while attached to a hot-water bottle; having to spend some time lying on the sofa in the classroom while doing e.g. reading with the infants; and trips to medical people.

The point I'm trying to make here is that it's not that real life gets in the way of home education; but rather that home education is part of real life.