Belinda Moore

This was originally published in The Homeschool Sampler in 2003.

When asked about a typical week, I ponder over what to share… While our children all have a weekly routine of chores and “schoolwork”, what happens in reality often differs from what’s on paper. Sometimes we miss things, other times we exchange another activity, and occasionally we add in extra items. Simply looking at the children’s daily list of lessons doesn’t give a true example of our activities together and alone. I keep records of other learning that happens.

For the past couple of months, the girls’ routines have been as follows (not in this daily order)…
9 year old:
Mon: Maths Mentals, Italian email lesson or worksheet, yoga, Music theory, Unit Study
Tue: Maths Mentals, Journal, Netball, Unit Study
Wed: Maths Mentals, Italian family lesson, Recorder, Nature Study
Thu: Maths Mentals, Writing (story, poetry, copywork), yoga, Unit Study, Netball practise
Fri: Maths Mentals, Writing (letters, email, cards, Flat Stanley Project), Italian workbook, Piano

7 year old:
Mon: Maths Mentals, Reading to Mum, Unit Study
Tue: Maths Mentals, Journal, Netball, Unit Study
Wed: Maths Mentals, Italian family lesson, Recorder, Reading to Mum, Nature Study
Thu: Maths Mentals, Letter or email, Unit Study, Netball practise
Fri: Maths Mentals, Piano, Reading to Mum or Dad

5.5 year old:
Mon: Maths book, Writing book, Piano, Reading to Mum
Tue: Maths game or puzzle, Writing book, Netball, Unit Study
Wed: Writing book, Italian family lesson, Recorder, Reading to Mum, Nature Study
Thu: Maths computer lesson (Maths Made Easy 2), Writing Book, Unit Study, Netball practise
Fri: Maths book, Letter, Reading to Mum or Dad

Maths Mentals is a workbook series that drills all basic areas of mathematics (from RIC Publications – New Wave Mentals). We’ve found it suits the girls’ learning styles and they enjoy the books. Our third daughter is just about to start her first Maths Mentals book, so her routine will soon change. Every few weeks we take a week off from Maths Mentals and do some hands-on Maths like games (including lots we make ourselves, dice games with polyhedra dice and more obvious ones like Numero and dominoes). Of course, every day there is maths happening with money, measurement, counting etc.

At the moment the younger girls are working to master a list of words, so as well as their regular reading, we are doing word lists and games with those words every morning. I read aloud to them in relation to our current Unit a few times each week, and their Dad reads to them most nights before bed. Our eldest loves to read alone every day.

The Italian language is an interest that I share with our eldest daughter. She has a workbook called “Ciao!”, a folder of worksheets I’ve put together from various sources, especially the Internet, and we do family lessons with music, audio CDs, stories, games we’ve made etc. She has access to friends and family who speak Italian, and most weeks she receives an Italian email from our friend Grace.

As well as recorder, piano and music theory, the children all enjoy a lot of music within our daily lives. Their father is a keen musician so there is always music in our home. They learn without pressure, at their own pace. I show them what I know, learn alongside them, and their Dad helps when their curiosity surpasses my knowledge. A friend shared a Music Theory booklet she’d created, and when our eldest completed it I put together a new one from a blackline masters book and worksheets from the Internet. Occasionally she will use a website like www.PianoNanny.com for a change.

Writing is something which I enjoy, and want the children to enjoy. They’ve done some basic handwriting/spelling book around 4-5 years old, and then the eldest did a cursive book when she was eight. I have never seen any spelling or grammar workbooks or text that impressed me, and comprehension exercises are mostly quite boring. So we rely on letters, email, creative writing projects (early on dictated to Mum) and the Flat Stanley journals and letters. Our eldest has just begun copywork this year, since we couldn’t find a more enjoyable way to learn about grammar, poetry styles and all the other mechanics of studying the English language. She finds paragraphs of novels, published letters or poems, and writes them in a book before we discuss them. It suits her learning style immensely and is also great handwriting practice.

Unit Studies have been great fun for us over the past couple of years. We choose our Units together, early in the year, and I do most of the planning and resource gathering. The children have begun to take over the display area and gathering resources from around our home (craft items, books, art etc). We all study the current topic to our own level of interest and ability – from Mum reading historical fiction to our toddler and baby sitting in on read-aloud sessions or craft. The Units are fairly unstructured, but they are well brainstormed so that there are many learning opportunities for us all.

I think we’ve found a place where we feel comfortable with the level of input we have into the children’s learning programs. I hope that as they get older, we do less planning for them and they choose how to manage their days. I love Charlotte Mason’s thoughts in regard to masterly inactivity – I know we have a home education method rather than a home education program. I enjoy talking with the children about which books to buy, workbooks to use, resources to find and creating a library list. I always listen to any complaints about “having to” do certain tasks, and try to find alternatives that suit everyone. There is almost always a way to learn things in an enjoyable or relaxed manner. A (very) few things do require more patience and practice, but with the right attitude those lessons can be enjoyed too. And with those things, the end result is always worth it!

The three older children have a chore roster in the kitchen (they each have 2 set chores, six days a week). Their “schoolwork contracts” or timetables as described above are near their desks. I save these on the computer and change them around four times each year. We work around social engagements and sport (netball in winter, swimming in summer – which lasts six months in our part of Australia), as well as the seasons, holidays, current Units, excursions, whether they are using workbooks or other methods etc. They don’t check off completed items, we simply talk about what’s listed for the day, what their choice will be where there are options and I interact with them as I go about my work and care for the younger children. We meet for music, Italian, some Unit activities and reading. Otherwise they follow the idea of “Head, Heart, Hands” which I discovered in Steiner educational philosophy.

I find that having a flexible routine which works around outings and other commitments enables us to achieve more than if we stuck to a set timetable, or left it all to chance. We are completing projects, finishing books, meeting for our shared lessons and reaching our set goals. (I use “our” as I learn a lot alongside the children – especially Italian, music and much within the Units, as well as organisational skills and effective parenting). It does take time to plan our days, and it took a few trial charts until we found the right balance, but with the rosters on the computer it is very easy to make changes. I don’t need to think about what to do with the children each day, or each week. I simply reassess the plans when changing Units or finding any problems. It really is worth the initial effort to commit the routines to paper.

The other benefit is that I spend time with the children as I intend. It is easy as a busy mother to let good habits fall by the wayside. By creating these rosters I make a commitment to my girls to spend some time with them each day, reading or helping with sewing or other craft, for examples.

While we have an eclectic approach, I am implementing more Charlotte Mason ideas as time goes by… We did a long Unit Study of art and music history, but I would like to do more art appreciation and share classical music with the children with intention (we simply listen to what we have and like at the moment). I am hoping to read more Charlotte Mason this year, in the hope she’ll further inspire our journey.