Quiet Time

I recently replied to a post on one of the Home Education Facebook groups that I am a part of, something I don't usually do as I get imposter syndrome due to not technically home educating yet, but I felt that my opinion counted on this occasion. The post was someone asking about how to create a routine, and feeling like she expected too much of her children who were both still quite young. My response to her post was to say that routines don't happen overnight, especially with little ones, and that starting small and introducing one thing at a time until you have something that resembles a routine that you're comfortable with would be my advice. That's what I am doing with my boys already. 

My example is that I have already started to introduce the idea of Quiet Time into our daily rhythm at home. This is something quite common amongst home educators as it gives everyone some time and space apart, and some time to chill out a bit. For now, all this involves is encouraging Bear to spend some time playing on his own, preferably in his bedroom, while I am putting his brother down for his afternoon nap. I help him decide what to play with, encouraging activities/toys that I know won't frustrate him or need my assistance, and then leave him with a drink and sometimes a snack, while I go into the other room with The Cub. Once he is asleep and in his cot, I spend some time lying on the bed, usually reading. It's nice to just have a little bit of time to myself, something that isn't as easy to come by as a home educating parent because in general, you are always together.

So far, Quiet Time is not enforced, if, by the time The Cub is asleep, Bear has had enough of being on his own, then we find something to do together. He is praised for spending some time alone, and for being quiet while I get his brother to sleep, and I use the words Quiet Time, afterward, not before, as this can cause him to panic a little at the idea of having to be quiet.

Bear is doing great with this concept so far, occasionally, especially while we've had all this hot weather, he has chosen to get into bed and lie down, (only once having actually fallen asleep) but usually playing with Lego or 'reading' some books. I use quotations as at three years old, Bear can't actually read yet, but he has an amazing memory and can read many of his favourites from memory, or makes up the stories from the pictures.

I make sure to praise him for his time alone, no matter how long it lasts. His average at the moment is around half an hour, which means that I usually get around twenty minutes to myself if I've timed the nap right and The Cub goes down easily. The day Bear fell asleep, I may have gotten snuggled down myself and we all had over an hour's nap (sleep while the baby sleeps and all that) - it was great... until bedtime came around. But that is a whole other story!

As we move through our home educating journey, I plan to encourage Quiet Time to last longer, hopefully, the same amount of time that The Cub naps for, giving us all some respite. Until then though, I am happy that Bear is comfortable on his own, even if only for a short while, and I love chatting with him afterward as he tells me all about what he got up to while I wasn't there with him :)

As I posted in the Facebook group, this is just one thing that I have introduced, and once I feel that we have gotten the hang of it, I will introduce something else. Currently, my plan is for that to be the morning basket in September that will long term, will be our 'lessons' when we pick up phonics and number work. 

Any questions? Feel free to drop some comments,

Mamma Bear

But what about socialisation?

'But what about socialisation?'

Probably one of the most asked questions when a family mentions that they home-educate, and I've already heard it several times, from family as well as others that the topic has come up with and Bear isn't even CSA yet, so we're not technically 'home-educating'. 

Of all the questions that I have heard, and the ones that I haven't had personally yet, but know of due to my research, the one about socialisation isn't one that I worry about... at all! Bear is a very social creature and is not shy when it comes to speaking to strangers. You also have to remember that being home-educated doesn't mean that we do school at home! We are not going to be sat at a table with worksheets for six hours a day, in fact, as it stands, I plan to do very little of that kind of work with my boys. My intentions are much more life-based and hands-on for learning, but more on that another time.

Currently, (remembering that we are not yet technically home-educating yet due to Bear's age) we attend several monthly activities where he engages with both other children (of mixed ages) and adults. We attend a Forest School group for toddlers, which has a follow on group for home-educated children to continue attending when they outgrow Forest Tots. Bear absolutely loves the leader of this group, (as do I) she is absolutely amazing with the children that attend and her passion and knowledge of the outdoors is very much infectious in the best way! We attend a farm group, Little Farmers, which again is aimed at toddlers and preschoolers, and the farm has recently started offering a home-educators group that we will attend once Bear has outgrown the current group. We also use our local library where we attend their Rhyme Time session weekly. Bear knows the woman who runs this and is happy to chat with her as well as interacting with the other parents and children attending.

As a specific example, in Clifton Park recently, we came across the grounds people planting flowers in the flower beds. Bear was quick to notice them and asked me why they were 'stealing the flowers' which made me chuckle. I told him that I didn't think that they were stealing them, and asked if he'd like to go and ask them what they were actually doing, which he was quick to accept and trotted off ahead. 

The guy explained to Bear that they were planting the summer beds and asked if he'd like to help. He showed Bear how to dig a little hole and plant the flower and fill in the soil again. It was really lovely to have someone interact with Bear, and this guy was amazing with him, talking to him and showing him what to do, as well as being respectful of me, and checking that it was okay to involve Bear. He loved it! Bear did two flowers and then the guy let him bring one home with him to plant at home, which we did and Bear is in charge of looking after it, watering it every night :)

On a day-to-day basis, Bear says hello to people in the street and is happy to chat when people stop to speak to us, whether that be neighbours or strangers, he loves to chat with some of the neighbours and regularly asks what they're up to, especially when they're out gardening as his love of the outdoors is very obvious. He converses with restaurant staff, asks in our local shop whether his auntie and uncle are working as well as speaking to staff in pretty much any store. He is well known at our local pub where his daddy runs the musical jam night and speaks to the bar staff and other people in the pub, again holding conversations with them when they instigate it. He introduces himself along with his brother and myself to people and can hold a conversation with people when they ask him questions etc. People often marvel at his speech for a three-year-old and are surprised at how well he can converse, but as I say to them, it's because that's how he is treated at home and with family. I have always allowed him the space to talk and ask questions and I always involve him in conversations when I am speaking to someone. 

So, when you ask me if I'm worried about whether or not my children are going to be able to socialise, I apologise now for laughing at you, because honestly, I think Bear is already more social than many 'school' kids his age, and older, and I see no reason why The Cub won't be the same way as he grows up. He's already proving to be a little mischief, and second kids are known for being way more outgoing than the first... I'm going to have my work cut out for me :)

Momma Bear

A Daily Rhythm

A common concept amongst home educators is the idea of a daily rhythm rather than a schedule or timetable. This was something that I've seen across several platforms that I am using to further my knowledge surrounding home education, a couple including Shelley on Instagram (@that.which.is.lovely) who has a post on their current daily rhythm and often does Day in the Life of stories to show what they get up to. I also follow Lyndsey on Instagram (@treehouse_schoolhouse) and like to read her blog from time to time, where she has a recent post about their family daily rhythm amongst so many other things. It was also mentioned in The Call of the Wild + Free by Ainsley Arment, the first book I read on my journey into home education.

It continues to pop up across regularly and I love to see what different rhythms look like for different families at different stages of their home educating journeys. As for what this will mean for us, I am basically using it to highlight what a perfect day for us would look like - I have absolutely no expectations for any of our days to actually look like this, what with Bear only being three, and having The Cub around at barely a year old when we plan to begin in September. However, there are several things that I would like to make a part of our daily rhythm, and others that I would like to see develop into habits for us too.

My ideal days would involve;

~ Morning Time - this is where I plan to introduce Bear's phonics learning. I plan to put together a Morning Basket (more on that in another post) which will include several small activities to do at the breakfast table while I am making breakfast, while we're eating and while I clean up. I also plan to include something for The Cub in here to involve him in this time even though he won't be joining Bear on his educational journey yet.

(This is something that I sort of implemented a while ago as a 'table basket' which was intended to stop the build up of toys being brought to the table every meal time. It was just a basket with some books, a couple of toys and a whiteboard and pen for him to mark-make. Obviously this time around it will be much more thought out.)

~ Activities away from the home - many of the activities that we take part in, Forest Tots as an example, take place in the morning, so we would pack up and head out for the morning and usually over lunch time... picnic included! This is also my preferred time for getting out on an adventure, so whether an activity or just a morning out, this time suits us best.

~ Read aloud - I will be reading some well known children's fiction stories aloud to them in the afternoons while they play, alongside the many picture books that usually get devoured on a daily basis.

~ Getting outside - I have made this a priority this year and at half way through June, we have been outside every single day this year! I am so proud of myself for keeping this up even on naffy weather days and days where I could happily just hibernate. I intend on keeping this a priority, whether it be an adventure that takes us out for hours, or a simple walk to the shop for some fresh air. I've found the benefits immeasurable.

On days where we are out of the house in the afternoons, for example Little Farmers that we attend at Boston Park Farm, we will simply rearrange this rhythm and do the other things during the morning and after we return.

Some other things that I'd like to keep as a weekly rhythm of sorts include 

~ Our (almost) weekly trips to the library, usually to take part in Rhyme Time, other times to check out their Stay & Play, or just to do a book run!

~ Exercise - Whether this is outdoor based when we have been out for a walk somewhere, or home based on days where we don't go as far, I want to introduce Bear to the idea of keeping fit, using Cosmic Kids Yoga and other exercises for toddlers.

~Nature Journaling - We have used a nature journal in the past as something to do when we were out and about. I had a book that Bear and I used to stick things in, draw in, and I'd often write notes about our adventures. 

This is something that I plan to build on with him, but I am going to take a slightly different approach to it than I did last time around. I want to use it as a way of documenting his interests and making notes on his adventures, but with his input! (Post to come on my intentions.)

~ Quiet Time - Another idea that pops up regularly within the home educating community as a way of having everyone, Mama included, get some much needed space and alone time during the day. I have already started building this idea into Bear's day since his baby brother arrived, as he often spends a little time in his bedroom while I get the Cub down for a nap. Sometimes this includes him laying in bed for a while, other times he sits and plays. I plan to build the time frame up on this so that I get some time for me, and he has some quiet time away from his brother.

I will probably do a post on each of these in the future, going into more detail on my plans and what I am going to use etc, so keep your eyes peeled for those :) but for now, this is a general idea of what I'd like our days/weeks to look like!

Momma Bear