Following a Schedule... or not... -Melinda Harrington

Following a Schedule… or not..

-Melinda Harrington

(There's a video made by Marnie about this topic down below after you've read this post, or you could skip to it straight away!)

 I recall a homeschool mum telling me that she had been ‘reported’ to authorities because her neighbour heard the children out playing in the yard during ‘school hours’. According to the neighbour, the children were not being properly educated because they were not sticking rigidly to school hours.

I know of many home educating families who follow a daily schedule that includes traditional school subjects, along with play times, sports time and reading times. And then again there are those families who
try to stick to a schedule but often find that there are interruptions and distractions and other opportunities that arise… so the schedule sort of gets followed in a loose sort of way.

I have also spent time with families who follow no discernible daily schedule but who regularly review where they are at with their home education and make adjustments from time to time to include anything that has been neglected for awhile. I met a family that had spent time building a shed together for a period of six weeks – so for six weeks there was only one focus – getting the shed finished. They tended to leave their ‘book work’ for the winter months, and spent warmer months in the outdoors.

There are also those home educated children who have been given the opportunity to learn naturally. The daily schedule might start at the beach at sunrise for a surf and play in the sea, followed by a day full of adventures and discoveries. The children will play and fight and make up, tend to the animals and garden, build car engines and sew clothes, read quietly or gaze at the clouds. The day is ruled only by the passing of the sun across the sky.

In my family we set goals at the beginning of the year for certain subjects, activities or projects and try to leave time each week for get togethers, trips and adventures. Each week we aim for three to four school days during which we usually cover our school material in 3 – 4 hours. So if we manage to start early enough in the morning, we have the afternoons free! It’s a flexible schedule, and it works for us.

Do you follow a regular homeschool schedule? 

Thank you for reading! Please consider supporting this blog by liking the Facebook page, commenting on posts and donating by clicking the donate button!