The new year has begun
And with it our new home education routine
This year I am trying to stick to a more structured timetable
I am using The National Curriculum as a guide
Along with lots of other resources
I like to dip in and out of different things
To create topics and plans for work that fit our family
As well as what I believe the children need to learn
Their next steps
Our days often follow a similar pattern
Where we work in the morning
Then head out in the afternoon
Either for an adventure or to the children’s classes
Our standard week is planned like this
Monday
7.30am Breakfast
8.00am Handwriting / Spelling / Copywork
9.00am Maths
10.00am Snack and Break
11.00am Science
12.00pm Head out for the afternoon
3.30pm Piano and Singing for Esther / Library time for Bea and William
6.00pm Reading and Comprehension
Tuesday
7.30am Breakfast
8.00am Handwriting / Spelling / Copywork
9.00am Times Tables
10.00am Spanish Lesson
11.00am Maths
12.00pm Head out for an adventure
5.30pm Tea
6.00pm Reading and Comprehension
Wednesday
7.30am Breakfast
8.00am Handwriting / Spelling / Copywork
9.00am Maths
10.00am Snack and Break
11.30am Spanish / French Lessons
1.00pm Lunch
2.00pm History
3.15pm Audio Story time in the car
4.00pm Tap / Modern / Musical Theatre for Bea and Esther, and 11+ work for William
6.00pm Tea
Thursday
7.30am Breakfast
8.00am Handwriting / Spelling / Copywork
9.00am Maths
10.00am Snack and Break
11.00am Writing
12.30pm Lunch
1.15pm Science / History / Geography / RE
3.00pm Music Appreciation in the car
3.45pm Dancing for all (Ballet/Acro/Jazz/Musical Theatre)
7.00pm Blue Peter
Friday
7.30am Breakfast
8.00am Handwriting / Spelling / Copywork
9.00am Maths
10.00am Writing
11.00am Early lunch
12.00pm Out for an adventure or Topic Work / Art / Play
Saturday
Family Day
Sunday
7.30am Breakfast
8.00am Handwriting / Spelling / Copywork
9.30am Stage School
1.00pm Lunch
2.00pm Art / DT / Science
On an ordinary week
This is how our days are planned
However the beauty of home education
Is that we can be as flexible as we want or need to be
We often head out on educational visits
Theatre trips
Workshops
And then our routine changes
But I plan for the weeks to follow the timetable above
Then I like to try and make sure we have completed all the work I planned
By the end of the week
From now until Easter our topics are …
History – Castles and Knights, Stone Age, Romans
Science – Earth and Space, Rocks and Soil, Plants and Seasons
RE – Judaism
I tend to theme our art and DT work to link to
History, Science or RE
Or to a special calendar date
Next week, for example, we will be learning about Chinese New Year
For handwriting and spelling I use a mixture of workbooks
And resources from Twinkl
All the children are working at different levels
So it takes a lot of planning and resourcing
Our main reading and writing work until Easter
Is based on Harry Potter
(for Esther and William)
We are rereading books 1 to 5
Completing book studies and writing tasks
Linked to the books
It is working really really well so far
With Edie we are following our own version of
Letter of the Week
She is loving having work planned for her
Activities set up just for her
And she is learning so much
Bea is working through books from various reading schemes
And we do lots of phonics work
Using a range of workbooks and online resources
I spend a lot of time planning work
Finding resources and researching different ways to approach topics
I always loved planning as a teacher
And it is really special planning what my own children are going to learn
Because of the way we work
We can cover a topic in about three weeks
If the children are really into something then we extend the time
And if it is something they are not enjoying
Then we just make sure we have covered the basics
Home education allows true personalised learning
In a way that is just not possible in school
It is one of the many reasons why home education works for us
Because I can truly tailor what we learn to the children’s abilities and interests
We can take a learning detour to cover anything that comes up in the news
In our family life
We can plan visits and experiences for every topic that we do
We can deep dive or skim the surface of a subject
The children are at the centre of everything that we do
And I can indulge my passion for planning
Without excessive record keeping
Unnecessary assessments
It gives us all time
And freedom
Some days are amazingly hard
Some days are just run of the mill
But some days are truly magical
And every day
I am so incredibly proud of my children
And what super little human beings they are
My plan this year is to share more of our home education journey
Here on my blog
And on Instagram
I am going to be sharing some Day In The Life style posts
Sharing the resources that we use
Ideas for learning through play
And sharing our days out
I would love for you to come along with us for the ride
And if you are a home educator too
Please do let me know
As I would love to follow you x
Rereading Harry Potter
Writing Tasks inspired by Harry Potter