The following is a guest post written by Donna Ashton of The Waldorf Connection.
Rhythm is the key to making things run smoothly in our household. As a homeschooling mom who is also running a business from home, having balance and rhythm to our days helps make it all possible.
The breathing of the day is an important thing to consider when I am scheduling lessons or activities.
What is this in-breath and out- breath? It is alternating between an outward energy producing activity and a quieter inward one.
I try to keep this balance and when things get a bit “one-sided” I can tell we need a change. Here’s a sample day for you to see what I mean.
8am- Breakfast and Morning Routine
Make beds, brush teeth & hair and dress.
9am- Morning Walk
We try to do this daily,weather permitting. It gets us out in nature, and expels that energy needed before starting our main lesson. And the dog likes it too.
10am- Circle & Main Lesson
Our circle begins with each girl lighting a beeswax candle. We say our opening verse, monthly verse, play recorder, sing a seasonal song, beanbag toss working on multiplication tables, then we close our circle and blow out the candles.
Snack
We break to renourish. (Girls are always hungry!)
Main Lesson
This lasts about an hour depending on what we are doing.
Today I tell a fable and we draw in our Main Lesson Books to go along with the story. A squirrel is hanging from the branch outside the window stealing bird seed from our feeder. We watch and observe. It begins to rain. We talk a bit about the seasons, getting ready for my block on Seasons, Calendar and Time.
Lunch
They run off to play while I prepare lunch.
1-3pm – Work Time
This is a new part of our rhythm, dedicated work time for Mommy. I have hired a college student to come over two days a week.
Today is the first day and it goes great! I get so much done without interruption I can’t believe it. This frees me to concentrate on work now and be present with my daughters the rest of the day.
3pm – Back Together
This is our afternoon in-breath activity. Sometimes we paint, or maybe run errands.
Today it is time for baking. We sift and blend and talk about measurements. While the cake bakes, we knit. I read a chapter from their favorite ongoing book and they each take turns reading from their books.
The cake is done and Daddy arrives home. They are off playing again while Mommy and Daddy catch up on our days and start dinner.
6:30-8pm – Dinner & Bedtime
I like to eat by 6:30 so there is time for family time. We play cards, games or take a walk. It is such a great time connecting together after a busy day.
The bedtime ritual begins: pj’s, snack and story. The girls are in bed by 7:30-8 most nights. They sleep long and well. Then, it is free time for me to read a book, do more work, or watch a movie with my husband. Raising twins, I need this nightly break. I highly recommend it!
By having our in and out rhythm, it breaks up large chunks of sitting still for hours or running and playing so long that they won’t come back down to relax. It helps me as a mom to connect with them for a little while, then I get time to do what I need to do. Then we come back together again and repeat.
I hope this peek into our life has brought you some inspiration as you try to find the rhythm that fits your own family.
Do you feel you’ve found the daily rhythm that works best for your family?
Thanks for sharing this Donna! My husband & I are also both home employed & homeschooling. Our rhythm is quite a bit different, but our twins are also quite a bit younger…and our homeschooling style is more freeform (probably somewhere within the unschooling spectrum). But, it is still super helpful to see how other families are doing it, especially other families with twins.
And I couldn’t agree more about the need for decompression time after the girls are in bed for the day! I try to catch up on work then, but I tend to just watch Dr Who or read. Apparently, that’s what my head needs after a full day of working surrounded by tons of 3 year old goodness!
Thanks again!
Laura
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Hi Laura,
Yes, those early years with twins are a challenge! Sometimes is exactly what you need 🙂 Enjoy it and know that the dynamics do change as they get a bit older.
Good luck with your schooling,
Donna
Donna Ashton’s latest post: The Half-Time Check up
Thank you for sharing your day. I strongly connect with the Waldorf philosophy. My daugher is still a baby, so homeschooling is still quite a ways in future, but it’s on my mind nonetheless. At first, I thought that schooling my child would be too complicated and that I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I have a bachelors degree in Elem. Ed. and was thinking that I would somehow how to recreate a typical public classroom’s curricula in my own home. I really didn’t see how it was possible. But, I was definitely overthinking it. When I read of days like yours, it reminds me that simple is better and that I can, some day, being a homeschooling mama.
Megan,
Yes, you can do it! Sometimes we over think things and once we actually start something, it is much easier and flowing than we thought.
Donna
Donna Ashton’s latest post: The Half-Time Check up
The photograph of your girls knitting together just made my heart sing. What a lovely moment.
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Sarah,
It is so cozy on these cold winter days when we knit and read.
Thanks for your comment,
Donna
Donna Ashton’s latest post: The Half-Time Check up
Thank you for sharing this post. I have soon to be 8 year old twins boy and girl. We have a pretty good rhythm to our day. We are more interest led learners at our home. We have a pretty good flow to our day with lots of reading, playing and relaxing as a family. It’s nice to see other families that are homeschooling with twins around my kids age . I’m going to have a peak at your blog. Thank you again for sharing your day.
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Hi Rana,
Thanks for stopping by the blog. I always like to see other “twin” moms and how they juggle their days, as well.
Many blessings,
Donna
Donna Ashton’s latest post: The Half-Time Check up
Hi Donna, thanks for sharing. I was wondering how you got balance in your day. Sounds wonderful.
I love that you walk in the mornings. Seems like it would definitely help with keeping focus. This is why it’s a shame public schools are slowly weeding out recess. Kids need to be active and let out energy!
Also, LOVE that they are knitting! It has math applications and is just a really great hobby. I loved trying every craft I could at that age and still do. 🙂
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April,
It really helps to do that morning walk. It gets out the wiggles and seems to clear my mind so I am ready to face the day.
Warmly,
Donna
Donna Ashton’s latest post: The Half-Time Check up
I’m really enjoying this series. I love seeing all the different styles. What I particularly liked about this one is seeing how a work-at-home mom can fit in both work time AND homeschooling time. This is a challenge I will face if I homeschool.
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Yes, it requires setting some boundaries and letting go of perfection. Good luck in your decision.
Warmly,
Donna
Donna Ashton’s latest post: The Half-Time Check up
Thank you for sharing! We just began officially homeschooling 2 weeks ago and we’re trying to find a rhythm, but it looks a little different each day. I have a 4 year old, 2 year old, and 4 month old so things are a bit unpredictable! Your post reminded me that one day they will get older and more independent!
~Catherine
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To each her own but where in your homeschooling day is math, science, social studies. I enjoy knitting as much as the next person but that is not part of my homeschool. I try to teach my third grader real subjects. This year we will begin Biology and World History. He reads at a 5 th grad level and his math skills are also at a 5th grade level. He scored 97% on the California Standarized test that I give him, not to see how well he scored but to see academically where he is. He loves to play, do video games and soccer but he does all of this after homeschooling. We walk on weekends.