The thing that as helped me the most in these early years has been establishing
learning routines. There are things that everyone does every day, no matter
what. Eating meals comes to mind. I began by pegging my learning routines to
things that were already established routines in our home. The After-Breakfast
routine of scripture, singing, and prayer was the first routine, and happened
every day after breakfast starting when our children were tiny. The Bedtime
Reading routine was added when our oldest was about two or three. Then a couple
of years later came the Poetry Teatime routine. Later still, we added our
Lesson Time routine to the end of Poetry Teatime. Having these routines in
place as I've been using Ambleside Online has given me a place to plug in what
seemed an enormous feast of learning, and it has not been as overwhelming as it
might have been if I had had to set it all in place at once.
Sometimes we homeschool moms have a tendency to read blogs and
check Pinterest out. When we do, we find so many wonderful ideas! We want to do
them ALL. We want to do them NOW. We start today with several of them, and
are discouraged when some of the good ideas don't stick, or when we find we've
dropped two or three of them after a few weeks. We compare ourselves to people
who seem to be doing it all, and we forget that nobody does it all, especially
not all at once!
I want to encourage you to slow down. Yes, you can implement all
the wonderful ideas. But take some time to build them into your life. Lay a
foundation of the most important things. Set them into your day as a "this
is what we do every day no matter what." When that routine is solid as a
rock, choose some other important things to add. Once you have some
foundational learning routines in place, you will have a place to add the
wonderful ideas you come across on Pinterest, and they will stick for as long
as you want them to.
The After-Breakfast Routine
This routine has always been in place in our home. My boys call it
“Read-and-sing-and-pray.” We read a passage from the Bible, we sing a hymn, we
pray together. When SA(7) was about five or six, I began to add to this, and it
became a “Circle Time” of sorts. First I added a Bible passage to memorize,
then later (in Year 1) I added his Bible narration. This year (his Year 2) I
added a reading from Pilgrim’s Progress as well.
The Poetry Tea Time Routine
This routine began sometime when SA was five and JJ was three. In
the beginning, I set the table with tea and snacks every day, and we read
poetry. The end. They loved it. Over time, I’ve grown more lax with the
tablecloth and tea every day…I discovered that they don’t really love tea so
much now that the novelty has worn off, and that tablecloth got spilled on
Every. Single. Day. However, we do still always sit down at the table with our
snacks and drinks and poetry books at about 10:00 or 10:30. It’s our signal for
the school day to begin. (I am hoping to do better with the tablecloth and hot
drinks again this year... So far so good.) Starting last year we have done
poetry on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with art appreciation on Tuesdays
and music appreciation on Thursdays. I have added other things to this time as
well at different times --instruction in sol-fa, French, drawing --in short,
any learning I’d like to do together as a family.
If you've been reading around the internet about "Circle
Time" and "Morning Time" or even "Morning Basket" you
will notice that the two routines I just mentioned are our "Circle
Time." We have found that dividing it in two like this is a very practical
option when children are young and have a hard time sitting still.
This routine began when SA was five with a short reading lesson
and a short math lesson or game immediately after our Poetry Teatime. In Year
One, it expanded to include math, two readings with narration, copywork, and
piano practice. Now in Year Two, the readings with narration have become
slightly longer (20 minutes each), and we've added an independent reading and
narration (this one is still short at 10 minutes). I have also added some time
this year with JJ(5) for reading instruction and math, and for reading aloud to
him.
With little children in the house, sometimes it's hard to do
lessons at the same time every day. I have found that it helps to have a lesson
time routine in which you do your lessons in a certain order, no matter what
time you manage to start. That way, the children can at least develop an
expectation of how much work there is to do daily.
The Bedtime Reading Routine
The bedtime routine is very simple. The boys get ready for bed,
and my husband or I read to them for about twenty minutes. There is no
narration, no expectation of anything from them. This routine is completely for
the enjoyment of books together as a family. In the beginning, I always did the
reading, but lately my husband has begun to read as well when he's home on
time. I often choose from the Ambleside Online "Free Reads" for this
purpose, while my husband tends to choose more widely.
These are the routines we've built in our family so far. I know our routines will continue to change as the children grow older. I expect that your routines will look different than mine. I truly believe that the important thing (if you want them to last!) is to build them one at a time, not all at once.
P.S. I'm still hopeful that someday I will manage to find a cleaning routine that works for me... (Just a little reminder that I don't have it all together, despite these routines that are working well!!!)
P.P.S. I apologize that I've been so quiet lately...my internet is still not working consistently. Now that I have Word on my computer I'm hoping I'll be able to write there and just copy, paste, and post in moments the internet is working. Still, it's a challenge, so I'll just do the best I can under the circumstances.
