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I keep getting asked to write a planning post. I get it–it’s the end of summer, it’s really exciting, and planning posts are all you see on Instagram right now. I’m not sure how to tell you this, but…my homeschool planning is super un-pretty. It’s incredibly anti-climatic. And it’s a far cry from Insta-worthy.
In my last two posts, I shared with you my favorite elements from the Charlotte Mason approach (click here to read) and the Waldorf approach (click here to read.) Many people find that these two approaches compliment each other very well, especially when given flexibility and an open mind concerning educational philosophies. Here’s how that looks for us:
In my last post, I described our relaxed, eclectic homeschool approach as a recipe–one that starts with a Charlotte Mason and Waldorf foundation, throws in a a generous helping of unit studies, sprinkles in some classical education, and occasionally gets ignored in favor of periodic unschooling. This recipe also changes often with seasons, interests, and with the phases in our lives. We are far from purists of any of these approaches, choosing rather to take what we love about each and combine them in a way that fits our homeschool rhythm perfectly.
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Like many homeschoolers, we embrace an eclectic approach that combines multiple philosophies or approaches. I often describe our homeschool as a kind of ever-morphing stew that starts with a base of Charlotte Mason and Waldorf, throws in a heaping spoonful of unit studies, stirs in some classical education, and occasionally gets ignored in favor of periodic unschooling. And it’s always changing–sometimes with the seasons, sometimes with our interests, and sometimes because life happens and we are okay with adapting as needed.
Here’s the thing: there is not a used book store, regular book store, library, book pile at a rummage sale, or Scholastic sale I can walk by without stopping and stacking up more books than two people can safely carry. I have a weakness, and her name is books.
It has always been, and will always be so. I’m pretty sure that’s why the Charlotte Mason philosophy resonated with me so strongly. I want shelves and shelves of books. And I want the rolling ladder so I can do that “Belle move” every morning as I swoon over my shelves and shelves of books.
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I love homeschool room tours and videos where mamas share their homeschool spaces. It’s always fun to peek into the learning spaces of other families and see how they have everything organized and set up.
We’ve always been a bit on the casual side when it comes to our own homeschool “classroom.” In the winter, we curl up in front of the fireplace in the living room. In the summer, we spread out on the balcony between the calendulas and the zucchini (yes, we’re trying to grow zucchini on our balcony–it’s a science experiment.) The kitchen table features prominently throughout the year. Other than that, we’re talking stacks and bins of books everywhere, games tucked under our living room couch, and a modest IKEA rolling cart rip-off that houses our math manipulatives and art supplies.
If you gather a group of 100 homeschoolers together and ask them why they made the decision to educate their children at home, you will likely get 100 different answers. Although there are certainly similarities in the reasons that we jump into this endeavor, the heart of the matter usually comes down to specific needs of a child, values of a family, or (in many cases) a series of events that made that family decide to abandon public school.
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I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of time (I mean a lot) thinking about homeschooling my children. It goes in waves–for a few months, I feel like I’ve got everything figured out and have cracked the code for what works. We’ve got a steady rhythm going, they’re engaged and enjoying themselves, and I feel good about where we are. But then we come down the other side of the wave and I start wondering, researching, reading blogs of how others are doing things, and for the next several months, I’m in tweaking mode, trying new things and second-guessing myself. Are we doing enough?
Before we begin with our final essential for homeschool enchantment, let’s take a look back at the first four essentials in the series:
In our first post, we explored mud kitchens (or mud “food trucks” in our case.) You can read that post by clicking here.
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Last winter, we went through a few months of medical issues with a close family member that required a lot of driving back and forth across the Colorado front range. Normally, this sort of upheaval of our “usual routine” would have made me feel anxious and unsettled, but thanks to the Brave Writer lifestyle (and Julie Bogart’s endless, soothing wisdom), I accepted that things would just need to be a little bit looser in this season of our homeschooling life.