This will be a bit of a musing, rambley post so bear with me!
We've now been "officially" home educating for 3 months, 1 week and 1 day..... although actually we are still in what is called the de-schooling phase where you back away from conventional learning methods to allow the children's natural curiosity for learning re-establish itself.
In practical terms that has meant lots of visiting museums, the odd drama/music class, some film and tv watching, some game playing on computer, iPad and board, plenty of reading (and visits to the library) and a great deal of walking in the woods. I haven't been able to help sneaking in the odd bit of what would be considered more conventional learning with a touch of history (we have made timeline folders), some Spanish (a brilliant Usborne pack) and a bit of science, maths and English. There has been lots of craft and some cooking.
It's been brilliant! I'm having a lovely time and so are the children. In fact we're having so much fun I keep thinking I surely can't be doing it right ;) That they clearly aren't yet learning properly.... the normal wobbles! There have been the occasional disagreements but no more than if they were at school, and far less than I thought we would have spending so much time together. As I suspected would happen the de-schooling is slowly moving into natural learning and I suspect our patterns won't actually change a great deal even when we're no longer in this phase.
It is all lovely but also exhausting. We naturally wake around 7.30am and the questions start then. By the time the children go to bed 12 hours later I'm exhausted and can't think straight. I am still managing all the other stuff in life; like cleaning, tidying, cooking meals, shopping, making dentist appointments, seeing friends etc. but it all feels a bit rushed and out of my control. What I am missing most are the moments to just sit and get my head around what needs doing. I need to find some time in the day to get my head clear and make headspace for planning life. Friday is meant to be my day for this, but by the time I've dropped the kids off, blogged, cleaned the house, sorted any ENJO orders etc. etc. it's time to pick them back up again!
I've been thinking about trying to find some time for myself during the other days. I had thought I could use the time once the children are in bed, but by then my brain is fried. I also thought about setting an alarm and waking early to do it before they wake, but Povey is a light sleeper in the mornings and would be up and wanting food if he heard me. I wondered if anyone had tried introducing "solo time" with children of this age? I know they do it at Inwoods but I'm not sure how successfully. I just felt if I could guarantee the children wouldn't demand my attention for an hour, or even half an hour, for even just a couple of days a week it would help. Or maybe I just need to organise my free Fridays better? Any advice from more experienced home ed mums? How do you find time to think?
We've now been "officially" home educating for 3 months, 1 week and 1 day..... although actually we are still in what is called the de-schooling phase where you back away from conventional learning methods to allow the children's natural curiosity for learning re-establish itself.
In practical terms that has meant lots of visiting museums, the odd drama/music class, some film and tv watching, some game playing on computer, iPad and board, plenty of reading (and visits to the library) and a great deal of walking in the woods. I haven't been able to help sneaking in the odd bit of what would be considered more conventional learning with a touch of history (we have made timeline folders), some Spanish (a brilliant Usborne pack) and a bit of science, maths and English. There has been lots of craft and some cooking.
It's been brilliant! I'm having a lovely time and so are the children. In fact we're having so much fun I keep thinking I surely can't be doing it right ;) That they clearly aren't yet learning properly.... the normal wobbles! There have been the occasional disagreements but no more than if they were at school, and far less than I thought we would have spending so much time together. As I suspected would happen the de-schooling is slowly moving into natural learning and I suspect our patterns won't actually change a great deal even when we're no longer in this phase.
It is all lovely but also exhausting. We naturally wake around 7.30am and the questions start then. By the time the children go to bed 12 hours later I'm exhausted and can't think straight. I am still managing all the other stuff in life; like cleaning, tidying, cooking meals, shopping, making dentist appointments, seeing friends etc. but it all feels a bit rushed and out of my control. What I am missing most are the moments to just sit and get my head around what needs doing. I need to find some time in the day to get my head clear and make headspace for planning life. Friday is meant to be my day for this, but by the time I've dropped the kids off, blogged, cleaned the house, sorted any ENJO orders etc. etc. it's time to pick them back up again!
I've been thinking about trying to find some time for myself during the other days. I had thought I could use the time once the children are in bed, but by then my brain is fried. I also thought about setting an alarm and waking early to do it before they wake, but Povey is a light sleeper in the mornings and would be up and wanting food if he heard me. I wondered if anyone had tried introducing "solo time" with children of this age? I know they do it at Inwoods but I'm not sure how successfully. I just felt if I could guarantee the children wouldn't demand my attention for an hour, or even half an hour, for even just a couple of days a week it would help. Or maybe I just need to organise my free Fridays better? Any advice from more experienced home ed mums? How do you find time to think?
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