Your Homeschool Routine and Character Building

June 16, 2008

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This is Part 3 of our series by Deb Gallardo from The Story Idea Virtuoso.

When it comes to schedules, one-size-fits-all just doesn’t work. This article continues offering guidelines to help you create a tailor-made schedule that is neither as confining as a straitjacket nor so loose as to be “Que Sera, Sera.” It respects the uniqueness of each family member, yet still allows for building important character traits like:

  • Being on time
  • Not being chronically lazy
  • Fulfilling responsibilities
  • Being productive
  • Using time wisely
  • Staying on task
  • Treating others, their things, their space and their time with respect
  • Having a cooperative spirit
  • Not being a complainer
  • Supporting and encouraging others

And the list goes on. Whole books have been written on this subject!

Another related topic has also been the subject of several books and countless articles, and that is which curriculum should you choose? Helping you to choose curricula is beyond the scope of this article series, but we must address curriculum content to a degree in order to fully cover the matter of scheduling and character building.

Some givens include:

  1. It will take you time to settle into an academic routine. You’ll tweak your lesson plans as you learn to gauge how long it takes each child to complete certain tasks. Obviously with maturity they are able to do more for longer periods. The younger they are, the shorter and more frequent the time chunks should be.
  2. Not every subject needs to be studied every day. The big four should be addressed daily: Math, Language Arts (includes reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary and grammar), Science and Social Studies (history, geography and world culture). The rest should be “salted” in liberally, including during non-school time.
  3. One of the advantages of teaching at home is that our children don’t stop learning just because school is “out.” And you don’t stop teaching when it’s time to make dinner. This helps them to get out of the mentality of learning information just for the purpose of passing a test. Instead, it teaches them that learning is something we are constantly doing and that it is a lifelong process.
  4. The best learning environments are those in which children know, in general, what to expect. There’s a place for spontaneity here, too, but establishing a framework or a system of procedures will take the guesswork (and most of the conflict) out of “what comes next?” questions.

What To Teach:

  • Mathematics
  • Language Arts
  • Social Studies*
  • Science
  • Technology
  • Visual and performing arts
  • Physical education and health
  • Outside activities

* Some topics needs to be discussed, and not just during “school time.” Dinner conversation can be a perfect venue, as can time doing dishes, folding laundry, and other household chores.

Enlist grandparents and great grandparents in offering first-hand perspectives on any number of historical, sociological and cultural topics. If family members aren’t available for interviewing, ask around your community, at church and civic meetings, as well as inquiring about programs at local assisted-living centers where seniors are active.

Family travel, even through day trips, can make local history and geography interesting and exciting. Writing and illustrating reports or books, creating PowerPoint presentations, as well as writing and performing skits are some ways to reinforce these excursions and “out of the classroom” learning experiences and make them cross-curricular. Killing several birds with one stone is a good thing, which is why so many families like the unit study model.

Putting it all together

Barring the specific choice of curricula / learning methods, you now have most of the pieces you need for setting up your schedule. The goal is not to create an impossible-to-achieve ideal. You want a plan that is practical and workable.

The beauty of homeschooling is, you can tweak your schedule by tiny degrees until you get it just the way you want it. It may not be perfect, but if it works for your family in helping your children to achieve their maximum human potential, then it’s as close to perfect as you could ask for.

About the Author: Deb Gallardo is a published author for adults and children, an educator, and former home instructor for her daughter (now in college). She hosts a blog, “The Story Ideas Virtuoso,” where she helps fiction writers find story ideas, and offers creative writing tips, advice and inspiration. In her spare time, Deb performs in semi-professional musical theatre productions and dinner theatre venues in and around Central Ohio. You can tweet with her too.

Posted by Christina | Filed Under Homeschooling 

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