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Default Day. What a boring name for this idea that has truly changed the tone and energy in my homeschool. It is such a simple idea, really. I’m sure it will need adjusting every so often, as everything does in Homeschooling and in LIFE, but when it is working, it is AMAZING.
Maybe you homeschooling moms who have been at it for a while already have this figured out. Maybe it is only just now working because my youngest is more independent each day. I don’t know. I DO know that this is the hottest thing in my homeschool right now and I want to shout it from the rooftop just like the time I went on a Gluten-free, Dairy-free diet (Seriously, I felt amazing, everyone should try it, but at the end of 9 months…real pizza won).
For those of you who don’t know me, I don’t like to use a bunch of curriculum in my schooling. My kids are still fairly young (early/mid elementary), so I’m sure that will change as they get older. This idea could work whether you use all the curriculum or no curriculum. Since I don’t use a complete box curriculum, it leaves the big question of, “what are we going to do today???” as opposed to “which curriculum page will we work on today???” I could spend time planning on the weekend (which is what I was doing and it didn’t work well if I didn’t get a chance to plan), I could go to my Pinterest board and try to figure something out last minute (meanwhile my kids are out of control and need my attention as I search to see if we have three cups of salt and cream of Tartar), I could grab random books and try to force storytime so that I feel like I’m doing something good, or I could print some worksheets, etc, that were poorly planned. None of these options ever feel good to me; they feel forced, half-hearted, and out of control. I would get so worn out running around gathering the kids and the stuff.
Default Day takes the decision making out of it.
Decide at the beginning of the month (or semester) what work you will require on the days you didn’t prepare something. It could be as simple as requiring two hours of outdoor play and some reading time or it could be a workbook you picked up to sharpen those skills. Default Day for us is doing math from our curriculum, Reading/Spelling from that curriculum, Loop activity, Outside time, chores, Tea Time. None of that is done at a specific time, but the kids know all of it is expected. We can sit and knock it all out (never) or do 15 minutes here and there until it is done. They know what to expect, but have flexibility in their day (which they value). I know what needs to get done and don’t have to feel unprepared (which I value).
So, what to do today. A regular-old-day where I don’t have any planned inspirations, kid-lead rabbit trails, co-op, or field trips. For my family, this is what I came up with as base requirements:
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Practice Piano for 15 minutes
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Reading (or audiobook) for 45 minutes (Usually from our current Unit studies)
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Math (Beast Academy)
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Language Arts (affiliate link All About Reading/Spelling lesson)
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Something from our Loop Schedule
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Required outside time – 30 minute (more to earn extra Screen Time)
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Chores (cleaning up messes they made, any assigned chore)
That is all I require, but the reward is educational screen time (and freedom). This list has to be completed in order to have Educational screen time after we eat. Yes, I count Minecraft as educational and I assign challenges for him often.
After an hour of peace while they do screens (glorious peace, coffee, podcast consuming, house cleaning, peace…did I mention peace?), we meet up for Tea Time around 2:00. Anyone familiar with BraveWriter knows what I mean by Tea Time, but we do this most days (They LOVE Tea Time that much). During Tea Time, we discuss virtues, read Aesop’s Fables, Read poetry, do art, listen to audiobooks while cuddled up, play board games, or simply have discussions our days. Yes, sometimes I listen to them tell me the 100th story about Minecraft. I listen. It’s time to connect again.
When I wake up on any given day, I know what we are doing and they know what to expect. I suppose I could simply say we have a routine, but I feel like this is a bit different. It is not bound by specific times. The day-to-day doesn’t require planning. If they are lost in Legos from 7am until 10am, I’m not going to clap my hands at them to get moving. Playing is equally important (maybe even more important). They know what is expected and they manage their time each day to make sure those items get completed. Some days, I wake up to a child who has done more school work than I expected and already has piano practice done and other days, he is consumed in play all morning and completes his tasks at the last minute and listens to a book while we eat lunch. Either way is acceptable to me.
I know our Default Day requirements will change with the ages and seasons, literally with the seasons: I don’t always make them go outside if it is ridiculously cold. This feels like a nice balance; they get to decide how to spend their time and learn to manage time. They get freedom to play. They get regular practice on their academics. They get screen time. I get a sense of accomplishment even when I didn’t work hard for it. I get an ever growing portfolio of work they have done. I get peace every day. I get weekends that I don’t have to worry too much about planning unless it happens to work out.
It’s not a schedule; we don’t worry about specific times or days. It’s not a routine; although it is routine-like. It’s Default Day – the setting of expectations and freedoms that are preset so we know WHAT to do on those unplanned days.
Do you have a default day? Is it chaos? Is it scheduled? Is it simply freedom? What works for your family?