Tomorrow, Monday (June 5, 2023), we will be starting our Year 2. Technically we are supposed to start the schoolyear on August but we want to have a vacation on that month, I decided to start early. The freedom and the flexibility we are enjoying is one of the reasons why I love homeschooling. It comes with a price though. I have to ensure that our homeschool days run smoothly.
From the webinars and trainings I attended last schoolyear, I concluded that I am an under-planner. I don't plan the day down to the last details because I get frustrated when things don't go my way. It causes me stress and anxiety. I know that life will happen but still, I want our days to have a structure somehow. Being an under-planner, I only used to have a general outlook of our schoolyear.
For this year, somehow have a much clearer flow and rhythm for our homeschooling journey. I learned so much from the experiences we gained last year like learning accept my under-planning nature but also adjusting and re-adjusting our daily flow until we found our rhythm. Being intentional and more disciplined are my takeaways from last year's planning season.
Remember the WHY's
I am not a licensed teacher and I do not have a degree related to education. All I have is a the hope and will to do my part in ensuring that the child entrusted to me by the universe will grow up as an adult that adds value to society. What I'm about to share here are all purely from my own point of view and my own learnings and experience.
Know the WHY. The first thing I do when planning is to remember why we homeschool the way we homeschool. What is my long term goal? This is important because homeschooling isn't all cupcakes and rainbows. There will be moments when you will doubt yourself. There will be instances when you will ask whether you're doing the right thing or not, or if you are doing enough. This is why I always revisit the whys when I start my lesson plans.
Plan for a rich and a full feast of knowledge.
DepEd required subjects and CM Full Feast
Learning doesn't start and end with learning Arithmetic, writing, and reading. My goal is to provide a holistic curriculum to my daughter in our homeschooling journey. While we are required to follow the DepEd curriculum, nothing's stopping me from adding Riches in our lessons. I add in nature study, tons of literature, poetry and memory work, spirituality, art appreciation and artist study, mental health, and everything in between.
Going out to the park every week is included in our PE and Science/Nature Study. Social Studies and Biographies are also included in our field trips to museums and parks. When we celebrated Tatay's birthday, we went out to a Nature Reserve where we went for a river walk and a minor/kiddie climb. My lesson plan for this year is already pegged for travels, park visits, and museum trips.
Respect the personhood of the child and those around us.
The child is a person with all the possibilities and powers included in a personality.
The lesson plan should not be solely focused on the targets we set. I remind myself that every child is born a person. As such, they have their own personality. Contrary to common belief, children are not tabula rasa. They are not blank slates which we can influence and build into the person we want them to be in the future. They are already persons the moment they are born, parents are just lucky to see their personality slowly unfold as they grow.
Our lesson plan should takes into consideration the kind of personality our student has. My daughter is a talkative kid, that's why I allocate more time for her narration especially on subjects that interests her. It creates tension when I enforce a plan that doesn't sit well with her personality. It is important that you do everything in your power to get to know the person your child truly is rather than impose the personality you want them to have.
Your own personality is also an important part that needs to be considered when planning your lessons. It will only result in burn out if you neglect yourself and not add your own personality in the mix. For instance, I love my morning coffee dark, warm, and uninterrupted. For this reason, I have my daughter do her morning chores while I enjoy my 15 minutes of uninterrupted morning coffee. She on the other hand wants an enjoyable breakfast, which is why after she's done with her morning chores, I sit with her on the breakfast table to do some poetry and memory work while she eats her peanut butter sandwich.
Rhythm/Flow vs. Schedule
I am pushing to be much more relaxed in our homeschooling journey. As such, we don't follow a schedule. I found out that my daughter gets bored when we do the same things over and over again. Which is why we follow a rhythm as opposed to a scheduled routine. Charlotte Mason puts an emphasis on a child being a person. They are not mechanical beings that need to follow a fixed program of activities throughout the day. They are self-acting and self-developing individuals. The same routine over and over again stultifies the child.
Our daily rhythm covers a wide range of subjects. We start with spirituality and character education, followed by Math (which varies from problem solving to mental math). Our English lessons range from Shakespeare to Hans Christian Andersen to Poetry (we have A.A. Milne and Lewis Caroll). The most challenging subject we have is Filipino which is why we take this subject gently and slowly. She's in Grade 2 so we don't focus yet on grammar. We solely expose her on a lot of Literary works both in English and Filipino.
We divided the subjects into 2 categories: Inspirational and Disciplinary. Math, PE, Copywork, Musical instruments, Arts theory, and any other subjects that require more mental work are classified as disciplinary subjects. Literature, World History, Science, Arts (drawing/painting) are classified as inspirational subjects. We alternate the two classifications from 8-11AM to ensure she does not get too burnt out or too laxed. Most of the time, we do Math right after Spirituality/Character Education, some days we do PE/Ballet dance. It doesn't matter what the sequence of the subjects is as long as we start at 8AM.
Adjust, Re-adjust, Rinse, Repeat
Because flexibility is one of the things we enjoy in our homeschooling journey, I also practice this in lesson planning. I kept in mind that things will not always go as planned. Life happens. Last year, I had to re-adjust my plan almost monthly. My daughter and I have already established our rhythm but I'm sure that we will most likely readjust this one as we go along.
Orientation
We are going to have our orientation this afternoon. Tatay decided to bring us to a coffee shop later where we can have a discussion of our schoolyear's outlook over coffee and chocolate drink. My daughter is only 6 years old but I want her to feel that she has a say when it comes to her studies. Tatay has given me freedom in how I conduct our lessons but still, he needs to be on the loop about what's going on. He's my substitute teacher after all.
I am looking forward to a fruitful schoolyear for our Grade 2, just like our Grade 1. I hope that my daughter continues to love learning as she grows. And I also hope that I be blessed with the wisdom to learn along with my daughter, the will to continue our homeschooling journey for as long as we hope, and the courage to let go of things that we cannot control. Cheers to another new season in our homeschooling journey.
"The object of education is to put a child in living touch as much as may be of the life of Nature and of thought."
