It’s orgo-planning time of year again, that moment when some home educators (and I number myself reluctantly among them) find themselves accidentally aligning with the academic year and thinking about what people in the house might ‘learn this year’.
In fairness, I haven’t done this for quite a while. We bumbled along without plans for a bit and then last year I was a) pregnant and having tough time about that and not really thinking and b) didn’t know if Fran would go to school again which threw me out a bit. But a conversation recently with another home educator had me thinking about that. I’ve rather outgrown the “we’re structured/not structured/ I teach/we never teach/my children would never/I would never” conversations but it isn’t a bad thing to look at what you do and what works from time to time.
Our “normals” as we call them, are 6 years old now and I can’t say we’ve ever regretted them. They give us a pleasing ability to have some order to the days at home without being overly restricting. But they need tweaking at times and they do have the ability to turn into the bulk of what we do, which I never intended. And we have a new element to our life now; in order not to turn into a gibbering stay at home wreak, I’m now working 2-3 days a week. Max brings a very different element to our HE but neither of us feel very comfortable without cohesion of some sort. There are just so many children, styles, needs, interests and abilities in the house, plus a busy lifestyle, not to make the most of the time that we have.
The good thing now is that the children can partake in this to a greater extent. They have things they are interested in as well as an understanding of balance (and I think that is something the HE doubters under-estimate, that a child with control over their education might understand the need to have skills and knowledge in areas that don’t fascinate them) and so we can work together on plans and ideas. Fran at least is ready to be stretched more, try some GCSE’s, can work at a text book quite ably and tell me what she gets or what she doesn’t grasp. None of them are turned off learning or choosing to do nothing and they all have a vested interest in acquiring skills and knowledge and even in doing that in an ordered way that benefit them.
I’ve got a quietish day or two so I’m planning to give planning a little more thought – between us, Max, the girls and I have come up with a sort of ‘reverse-homework diary’, similar to our tick boxes sheets we used at the beginning of the year. Each of them has a weekly planner and we’re going to start off with me listing some sets of ‘normals’ that I’d like them to do each day, so that Max knows what they should be doing on my work days. The rest of the day slot can be used to record anything extra, anything to ask about, anything they think of they’d like to know more about. It may or may not work.
There is, obviously, more to this than the obvious. I’m feeling paranoid. After having last year ruined by badman, Balls and Brown, I’m conscious that to anyone who assumes home educators are a disaster zone, we probably look like a car-crash in slow motion at the moment. If I was fearful that someone would see SAHM with a business as a target, then I was even more worried that any new LA inspector might see HE mum with 4 kids and a baby as a huge nightmare. You cannot imagine how much I feel like a “she can’t be coping and she’s got those poor lonely daughters locked away so that they can’t die too” cliché. Nothing, in my opinion, is further from the truth, but there is more than an element of wanting to have hoops all ready to present if I get asked to prove I jump through them.
While I was talking about it all to Fran the other night, I happened upon the conversation I had had about the “style” of Home Ed we offer up and that led to a conversation about all the questions that HE parents get asked by non-HE parents and even the ones that come up between HEers.
Fran laughed.
“I didn’t realised that parents had things they always get asked too; whenever I say I’m home educated to another kid who goes to school, they always ask me what 2×6 is!!!”
Who knew? 😆
i think i am done with planning for the moment! our ticksheet of choices seems to be working well, and the planned group things i think suit our girls too 🙂 just need to try and persuade the men to meet up fairly reg on a friday…
Merry, when I first stumbled on your blog quite a few moons ago, it gave me the impetus to get on with the home edding I knew would work for my children. The way you described your home ed journey kind of tipped me over the edge and into my own. Your ‘normals’ inspired me. We even called our ‘normals’ normals for a while. Now we call them our ‘Dailies’ and they’ve been called other names too, but it all boils down to the same thing. We do them, and the day is always better for it.
Your blog has been instrumental in helping my own family to follow their hearts path and helping me to sod what anyone else thinks. *gnashes at nails and tries to put off sudden spike of fear and guilt and worry and paranoia* We’re doing planning too, it helps two of the kids and the one it doesn’t just dances to his own tune and does very well anyway. Thanks for everything Merry, your blog and your sharing.
I’m not doing a whole load of planning this year either. Just carrying on where we left off really. Need to make sure I have a few ‘next’ books in, but otherwise will carry on with our mini-box system as it was working so well. Need to make sure Jake buckles down this year though, as he is (would be) Yr9 now. I just wish my boys had the kind of attitude and balance your girls have. They’d spend all day playing ‘Crush the Castle’ and such like given the choice. They know they should be choosing to learn, but hey, since when does ‘should do’ come into a boys mind!! The girls are different though and I’m sure will be much more applied when they reach this age ~ at least I hope so!
I have my annual ‘review’ the first week back ~ not that I’m worried about it. My kids are learning stuff and the’ school’ room’s a mess, so what is there to worry about! 😉
Yeah! that’s a really interesting observation – whenever my loons tell other kids they are homeschooled they get asked timestables too! why is that? do other kids think the height of intellectualism is knowing what 6×3 is?? weird.
Charlie says schooled kids always ask him a times table question too – how odd!! Just done my orgo-planning yesterday and have ordered GP Book 2’s as he managed to finish all the book 1’s a while ago. Also found him the only place that does Astronomy GCSE by distance learning so he is going to do that too.
Oh now THAT sounds interesting – I can imagine my big two thinking that was worth a look.
I just find it really funny that they have their own set of *rolls eyes* questions that come up over and over again 😆
we use workbooks for science, maths and English because I find it easier! We do need some structure here becasue with 3 of my 4 being ASD without something in place very little would get done 😉 The structure also is work on paper that the LEA can see and it gives me an idea where everyone is at.
Merry, you are one of the most inspiring HE mums I know, can’t imagine you having anything to be paranoid about!
I, too, get caught up in the feeling of planning for the new academic year. This year, though, I really feel I need to. I have lost my way over the last couple of years, lost my momentum, my motivation, and we’ve been plodding a bit. Time to change, drag myself up and make it all fresh and invigorating again!
Yep we are work booking it and doing dailies this year too. The boys have hit secondary school age and I think the time for some more structure has finally arrived. Probably long overdue 😉 Also I see the review year as the “lost year” and I need to see where they are at now and what needs to be done to plug any holes. I find my boys a nightmare to motivate too and the girls were far easier to HE. 🙂
Yup, I’m reading some of my favourite HE blogs (yours included!!) and realising/quietly panicking that, I haven’t organised anything!! Mind you we’re dabbling with Waldorf Rhythms and Unschooling at this end. Like all things though everything can change at a moments notice!
San x
well we’re at the planning stage again too – but I love planning! we tend to call our normals ‘table time’ and it consists of a diary entry, a book review, and some maths and english from work and/or text books, alphabet and number stuffs with the littlies, and maths manipulatives, finishing up with various jigsaws (maps of the world, or word puzzles) and card games (maths/reading/captial cities snap, or good old pontoon and poker) even chess – anything you need a table for really!
The kids are very involved in the planning, as they help choose the monthly topics that take up the rest of the time, and which fuel library trips, field trips etc…
I love reading your blog because you seem to have a similar approach to our one – we also dash around to lots of sport, tho karate and cricket rather than ballet and gym 😀
Yeah, but seriously, what about socialisation, then?
Er.