Last week, I did a talk on planning and review at the Learn Free conference (replays are still available if you sign up in the next few days!). Afterwards there was a Zoom Q&A which unfortunately didn’t get recorded. So this is my best attempt at writing up what we covered for those who missed it. Anyone who was there and remembers other comments, please do add them! The benefits of planning. We liked having systems for lots of reasons, mostly that it helped us to feel more confident and settled, and less drifty, about the day ahead. And flexibility…
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Reviewing is the key to confidence when you’re home educating.
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There are all sorts of reasons why you might want to dedicate part of your day to more formal learning activities – to something that looks a bit more like school. If that’s you, here’s some tips on how you could approach it.
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In the small group coaching I’ve been doing, we’ve been looking at what’s already working, where the touchpoints are, and how we can use that to put in a general framework for our days that focuses on what is important for each individual family. We’ve all got different ages and needs and requirements for parents and children working, so we’ve been looking at a toolkit of strategies to pick from, rather than trying to apply a one-size-fits-all approach. Here are a few examples of different ways you might want to plan out your time. Many of these overlap, and you…
Leave a CommentStarting Friday 3rd April 2020 Whether you were home educating or in school, working from home or out of it, planning a holiday or just meeting up with friends…. life has changed. You’re invited to join a guaranteed-to-be-small group where I’ll guide you through figuring out how to deal with YOUR specific challenges with everything that’s changed (for free). We won’t be sharing random activity ideas or timetables, I’ll be putting fresh eyes on helping you to decide what’s important in your family and how to make that happen. We’ve been a work-at-home and home educating family for 12+ years now, and…
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I’ve seen them. You’ve seen them. I even have one, of a sort. I’m talking about the daily homeschooling timetables, with maths at 10am, science at 11, complete one exercise from the workbook a day. Don’t get me wrong, having a framework for the day can be super helpful, especially in unusual times. Some people will love a timetable (I’m quite partial to making one – less so to following it). Some will buck against it and refuse to even contemplate the idea. And regardless of preference, most of us will have at least some things that are fixed in…
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For most of us, we either rely on an external structure to push us through our days, or we buck against it. Sometimes a bit of both. This goes for adults and kids alike. Right now, many of us are thrust into a situation where we’re responsible for managing and planning our own time, with little to help anchor us, and it’s a tough prospect. I’ve been doing it for thirteen years and it’s still tough. Added in are the vastly different requirements and priorities we all have. For us, cancelling outside events is a blow, but some of our…
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So, you know my top three books to get started home educating. But there’s so many more books about home education out there that are either more specific, more general, or just didn’t make the cut. Here’s a run down of the best of the rest… Recents The Brave Learner (Julie Bogart) If you haven’t come across Brave Writer yet, go and check it out right now. Her focus is on language arts (English or Literacy to us Brits), with a sprinkling of pixie dust. She promotes a lifestyle of learning filled with delight and wonder, which generally sounds amazing…
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I recently read – and really enjoyed – Indistractable, by Nir Eyal. One aspect that struck me was the idea of psychological nutrients. Eyal cited Dr. Richard Ryan and Dr. Edward Deci, who developed self-determination theory from research they’d done since the 70s, and their key idea that people are driven by three basic needs. Just as the human body requires three macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate and fat) to run properly, Ryan and Deci proposed that the human psyche needs three things to flourish: autonomy, competence and relatedness. When the body is starved, it elicits hunger pangs; when the psyche is…
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