I did a little experiment two weeks ago. I'd been reading a certain
online homeschooling forum quite a bit lately and have been interested
to learn about how other families set out their days. Some have rigid
timetables that they impose on their kids, others are less strict but
nevertheless follow a schedule of some kind. I've always felt that as a
largely unschooling family we wouldn't need a timetable, but last week I
thought that I'd give it a try; just to see if it made any difference
to our days. Would it make things easier? Would the girls rebel? Would I
stick to it?
I asked the girls their thoughts on the matter
and together we came up with a plan. They tend to sleep late in the
mornings so we decided that 10am was a good time to begin "work time". Work means anything whatsoever as long as it wasn't playing computer
games like Club Penguin or their Nintendos or watching tv. Any activity that would nourish their heart and stimulate their brains.
It could be jewellery making, Barbie Space Explorers, maths, reading,
drawing, playing with the pets... "Work time" would go for three hours
until lunch at 1pm. After that they would have unrestricted "free time" before and after their afternoon activities (circus, ballet, gym and kids cardio), Wednesday afternoon would included a trip to the library and Friday was to be an entirely free day.
So...how did it go? It was magic. On the first day and after a couple of gentle reminders that it was 'work time', the girls really got stuck into it. H began to research Sweden, worked on spelling and abacus maths and read a novel in two days. R did lots of drawing and colouring, typed, sent and read back numerous emails to friends and family, worked on her abacus, used some CD roms from the library for English, problem solving, puzzles, spelling and logic. Together we read through some Eco Neighbour books from the library about how to live greener, and had some read aloud sessions too.
Our unschooling life was really enhanced by having this very loose timetable. By lunchtime both girls were happy and engaged and their 'work time' didn't really come to an end. It continued on in the afternoons with dog walks, more reading and playing together. It wasn't until Friday that they remembered Club Penguin, which is pretty impressive given their CP obsession.
R even made up a song one lunchtime. It didn't have a very memorable tune or many lyrics but I loved it all the same. It went something like this: "I love my work, I love my work, Oh I love my wooorrrrk..."
