Since I posted about our daily rhythms a while back, I really have gotten into the groove and been quite happy with the flow of our days. However, when I tried to move beyond that to the larger picture and plan out a week's worth of learning or even more, I would feel once again overwhelmed and frenzied. Somehow I was losing the gentleness of the daily rhythm in the translation to the big picture. I was stumped as to how it was happening, but it seemed in order to cover all the areas I feel are important with each child and still leave that daily rhythm intact, I'd have to cram an awful lot down their throats in each day during our lesson times. That left me playing drill sergeant rather than mom and co-learner, and that seemed to miss the philosophical point completely.
So I reflected, I pondered, I threw my hands up in the air and spent the day at the park, talking to Cay and Alice on my cell phone and another friend who wandered over from her house across the street. Then I prayed. Then I read blogs, schedules, and other info. Then I prayed some more. Then I let it sit for a while in my spirit. And then the "aha" moment......
I can't exactly explain to you why catchy alliterative titles clarify things for me, but they do. If I can give it a fun title, I can achieve it. I began to think about our days in terms of a single focus for that day...with main lessons, seat work, and read-alouds all focusing in one area rather than trying to fit in everything every day. Then I began to think of these catchy little titles, and somehow was re-inspired by that. I had found my groove again! So here is the rhythm of our week, cheesy alliteration and all.
On Mondays, we'll focus on Maps and Mankind (history and geography)
- history read-alouds and working on the book of centuries for Quinn
- lives of the saints with narrations and illustrations placed in the book of centuries for Gabe
- poetry about historic figures at lunch
- map work and games in the afternoons
- tea-time snacks and read-alouds focused on our Monday Night Football Geography (Elizabeth's idea)
On Tuesdays, we'll focus on Nature and Nurture
- early mornings are for nature walks, backyard study, or a nature-related outing
- then making pages for our seasons book or nature notebook (which also has new twist I'll share in another post)
- afternoons are for home comforts: handcrafts and baking
- and household tasks: larger chores than our daily scheduled jobs
- there'll be nature poems at lunch and read-alouds from the autumn basket at tea
Wednesdays are for Reading, Writing, and Re-Telling
- mornings will include copywork or dictation and spelling work for Quinn, phonics and reading work for Gabe
- read-alouds from the younger kids' literature unit and narrations and activities
- at lunch, there'll be oral story-telling (narration of a recent outing, joke-telling, dream narrations--my boys love to describe their dreams, etc...)
- the afternoons will focus on writing enrichment for Quinn and handwriting for Gabe
- then read-alouds from Quinn's literature unit, narrations, and activities
- tea-time will be for art study and checking over our library list
- a late afternoon trip to the library will end our day
Thursdays are Sums, Spaces, and Solutions
- mornings will be for math stories for Gabe and drill work for Quinn
- then math games for everyone
- then a bit of building and constructing
- at lunch, there'll be mathematical poems
- in the afternoons, a bit of math book work
- and some problem-solving activity
- tea-time will include a math read-aloud and a bit of mixing and measuring
Fridays are Faith-Filled
- in addition to our regular prayer time, mornings will include an activity based on the Scripture we are reading and a Catholic Mosaic read-aloud and discussion
- noon mass and a picnic at the park (weather permitting)
- afternoons will include lessons from Faith and Life and an activity and discussion on developing a particular virtue
- tea-time will be our change to celebrate a liturgical feast of that week
This rhythm gives me such peace. I feel calm and joyful writing it out, yet satisfied that I am giving the kids a well-rounded education. I have finally been able to translate the gentle rhythm of our days into a weekly schedule that works for us and have discovered an added benefit: if one day gets skipped due to appointments, field trips, illnesses, etc..., I just make sure we don't skip the same subject area the next week, that way no one thing gets completely left behind and I don't feel like I'm behind in everything simply because we missed one of "school". This is weekly rhythm was definitely designed by God, because, I assure you, I was completely deflated and stumped until I brought it to friends and prayer. I hope it inspires any of you who are feeling "lost in translation" to do the same.