The Rhythm of Our Days

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Isn’t that a beautiful quote to aspire to in our homeschool day? But it is so hard to achieve! I do thrive when things are done properly and in order, but, man! It is hard to get to that point.

Rhythm vs schedule

Schedule

Here’s what the dictionary tells us is the definition of a schedule:
“A list of times of departures and arrivals; a timetable. A plan for performing work or achieving an objective, specifying the order and allotted time for each part.”
A schedule is rigid, it feels inflexible. If you happen to get “behind” you can never fully “catch up”. It is a bit of a mountain…
I used to think that I liked schedules but life quickly became very stressful as we tried “to stay on schedule”.

Rhythm

Here is what the dictionary tells us about rhythm:
“Movement or variation characterized by the regular recurrence or alternation of different quantities or conditions.”
A movement or variation… that sounds a lot more like something that belongs in my home than a list of times. It sounds soothing and adaptable. Let’s look into rhythm and what it can do for our families.

Rhythm

A rhythm is something I can live with such as the rhythm of the seasons, the rhythm of a newborn, the rhythm of life. It is something that moves and varies with me and my environment. Rhythm changes my life into a dance, it can be a slow dance or it can be line dancing, that’s up to me. I am the one in charge of the music here. Yes, there are outside factors as well, but how many of them are there because I allowed them to be there? What am I allowing in our rhythm?

Why create a rhythm for your family and for your home education?

Charlotte Mason said that “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life”. Creating a rhythm for my family is all that as well. 
The rhythm determines the atmosphere. It takes discipline to stick to it and it builds our life, the way my family and I need and want it to be. With a rhythm, our life becomes much more organic. It relieves stress, it allows for flexibility and margins, for excitement and wonder.

How did I create my family’s rhythm?

First I look at the non-negotiables (in no specific order): chores, religious obligations, meals, sleep and hygiene. Meal times are a wonderful way to anchor a rhythm: there are things that get done before the meal and others that get done after. In between each meal is a block of time, each with its own rhythm.

Early morning

The first thing to do is to determine how much time is needed before breakfast and what needs to be accomplished during that time: hygiene, getting dressed, chores, prepping breakfast, for example. Once that is determined then we can establish a wake up time that will work for each of us.

Breakfast

That is usually one of the biggest meals of the day, but also one of the easiest. Each person is involved in preparing some part of it, for themselves and the younger people. 
Often people come and go during breakfast, it is not a set family meal. When the children were all little and could not help much I would feed them first, then they would go play. That would allow me time for my Mother’s Morning Basket, which was delightful. I would have my basket stay by the dining room table. Since I would not start eating until they were done I was able to enjoy a few precious minutes of peace and quiet. They were happy playing with full tummies and clean diapers. Then would follow breakfast clean up as well as checking what I needed to get out for dinner.

Morning

Our morning rhythm always starts with family prayers, followed by our Morning Time. Everyone knows that and expects it. It allows for predictability as well as flexibility. If something comes up and we have to postpone our usual morning routine, we know exactly where we left off and what needs to happen next to get back on track with our day. 
After our Morning Time, we follow with “personal work”. Personal work is any work that I need to sit down with each child, one on one, as well as the assignments that they received during Morning Time (maps, Book of Century entries, Nature Journaling, etc…).

Lunch

Early on I taught the children to be able to fix their own lunches, Montessori style. They knew what they could have, where it was, how to fix it and how to clean up after themselves. This allows me to be fully available to finish personal work with whichever child I am working with just before lunch. 
After lunch is cleaned up there is a mandatory recess OUTSIDE. The amount of time spent outside is usually determined by the weather.

Afternoon

Once everyone is back inside from their outside recess, and the littles are down for their naps, we pick up our read-aloud, if we have not had time to get to it during Morning Time. This is an area that changes with the seasons, especially depending on how tired I am. I might have been known to fall asleep while reading after lunch…

We do a quick check up to make sure everyone is done with their assigned work. All finished work by independent scholars is put on my desk for my review. We finish with a quick tidying of the livingroom and schoolroom and call it a day. 
The rest of the afternoon is dedicated, in Charlotte Mason fashion, to handicrafts, audiobooks, outdoor time, and free play and extracurricular activities. This grants me time to catch up on laundry, prepare dinner, and work on my own handicrafts and free play.

How much to do?

In all honesty, starting small, with just the basics: A Daily Picture Book, faith, our current focus and the three Rs and then adding, one at a time, other topics has been crucial to the success of our rhythm. Once the rhythm is going full swing and we know that we can add something else for the better, and it will not be stressful, we just add it slowly. It is better to start small and add along the way, than to start big and ending up losing almost everything. It is much more encouraging and vitalizing to add than to subtract.

Conclusion

Having these rhythms attached to the different parts of our day creates predictability, flexibility, consistency, calm, structure and rest. Our atmosphere remains open to wonder and excitement, while keeping us on track with our day. We become disciplined as we follow the rhythm and do not grab at every opportunity that comes our way, after all we have a rhythm to respect. Because of that our life remains anchored, simple and calm, most days.

A note about extracurricular activities and co-ops.

We have tried many different things throughout the years from one day a week co-ops to dance classes. We did not truly enjoy any of them, nor were they found to be essential for our learning experience or happiness. On the contrary, they really wrecked our rhythm and made everyone cranky, so we gave them up. Instead we focus on friendships and field trips. This has also brought great peace to our life. We cannot accept every opportunity that comes our way, there are simply too many of them and not enough hours in our day to do it all. 
We have thrived through this. This is just our experience over the last 17 years.

A note about interruptions and illness

We have had many days where things did not run smoothly, more than I can count, I am sure. What happens these days and how do we re-focus on learning? If it is a short interruption, such as the mailman knocking at the door or a neighbor needing help, we usually come back to our learning space as a group, and pick right back up where we left off. 
I have gotten into the habit of turning off my phone in the morning in order to not be distracted by its dinging. That has helped tremendously! Again, I have more control over the distractions than I realize sometimes. As for an illness, if the whole day (or several days) have to be focused on healing, we will just jump right back in once the illness is over. With our Sabbath Schooling system, it makes it easy and convenient to pick up where we left off.

Love,
Mattie