Wish to teach your child, but find that time is not enough? Here’s a post with ideas on how to reach your homeschooling goals.
The “Problem”
Homeschooling needs time. Using the Shichida and Montessori methods means I need time to educate myself, create materials, rotate materials, organise materials, and carry out lessons.
I don’t aim to be a supermum. There’re only 24 hours a day and I’m not interested in doing-it-all. As long as I can reach my priority goals, I’m contented.
The Idea
In January, I came across articles by several online productivity “gurus”. January is a time when many people do up their annual goals and resolutions. These “gurus” highlighted that instead of only writing a list of goals, you must transfer them to a workable plan.
That is, incorporate the goals into your daily / weekly routine.
This certainly made sense to me, so I wrote out my list of goals, and adjusted our homeschooling schedule to fit them in.
Goals set in January 2013:
- Homeschool lessons: 2 hours a day, for 4-5 days a week
- Read books on educational methods (I bought many books but found no time to read them.)
- Create materials: make DIY flashcards and Montessori materials
- Vee: learn to swim
- Vee: master cycling on 2 wheels
- Vee: learn to play new songs on the keyboard every week
Our Weekday Schedule
This is a sample of our adjusted weekday schedule:
- 8.30a.m. Wake up & clean up the kids. Sort out laundry.
- 9.30a.m. Breakfast
- 10a.m. (Vee) independent keyboard practice (Jae & I) simple Shichida home practice
- 10.15a.m. (Vee & I) keyboard practice (Jae) free play
- 10.30a.m. (I) read a book (Kids) free choice of Practical Life activity
- 10.45a.m. Go to homeschool room for Shichida home practice and Montessori activities
- 12.30p.m. Lunch (If I finish lunch earlier than the kids, laminate & cut some materials.)
- 1.30p.m. Story time
- 2p.m. (Kids) Nap (I) Create materials
- 4p.m. Clean up & tea break
- 4.30p.m. Free play / messy play / outdoor play
- 6.30p.m. Dinner
- 7.30p.m. Play with Daddy if he’s home on time
- 8.30p.m. (Kids & Daddy) Clean up, story time, supper (I) Print materials
- 9.30p.m. (Kids) Lights out (Daddy & I) Chit chat / update each other / plan for the weekend
- 10p.m. (I) Shower, change materials in homeschool room
- 11p.m. (I) Blog for 1 hour
- 12a.m. (I) Clear emails & various inboxes, read news
- 12.30a.m. Zzz…
Also, we signed Vee up for a weekend swimming class.
His weekend group music class remained. Because he was ready for and interested in individual piano lessons, we added that in, after his group music class. Therefore in July, he stopped Shichida classes so that we can continue to have quality family time.
The words in bold above are the goals that have been incorporated into our routine. Of course, with young children, there’s some flexibility in how we run through the day.
Every household is different, so our schedule probably doesn’t fit you.
The key is to find out what works for your family while committing the time for your priority goals.
The Montessori method involves a clutter-free classroom and teaching children to keep the environment neat and tidy, so this has made tidying up our rooms relatively easy.
(I’m thankful to be able to delegate cooking and major household cleaning to my MIL’s helper. If I’d to do it alone like many mums, then I’ll consider freezing precooked meals in bulk, get a dishwasher and give up blogging. Also, I won’t cut out my 8 hours of beauty sleep cos that’ll make me a grumpy mum and lower my immunity over time.)
Results Achieved
By setting aside time for the goals, it’s amazing how fast the results appeared within the first month:
- First week: I read Prof Shichida’s Photographic Memory book. Made 140 flashcards
- Second week: I read Prof Shichida’s Speed Reading Book, and his Right Brain Education book. Made 200 flashcards
- Vee started swimming lessons
- Vee mastered cycling on 2 wheels within 2 outdoor sessions
- Vee learnt to play 2 to 3 new songs on the keyboard every week
From February, I became pregnant and very tired, so started taking an afternoon nap with the kids. This means forgoing creating materials in the afternoon. Instead, I blogged less and created some materials at night. Expectedly, productivity went down yet we still managed to homeschool regularly.
Now that baby #3 will be arriving in 1 to 2 weeks, we’ll be on a “school holiday” for a while till life settles down. Once baby starts settling down into his routine, we hope to bounce back to momentum again.
May you reach your homeschooling goals too!
Hi Mom
Where can i get Shichida Books to read and understand the methods better?
Thanks!
Hi Cynthia, please refer to the Shichida Review & FAQ post (FAQ #15) for more info. 🙂
Hi Mie Vie,
Wishing you a a calm and smooth delivery, dear. You are still doing a lot for a preggers, you know. Amazing woman, you are.
You’ve stopped Vee from Shichida?
Hihi Jessica, thank you for the well wishes! 🙂 I try my best within the time / energy allowed, just that when I start reading blogs like yours, I feel that I’m doing so little. Hahaha!!!
Yup, we’ve stopped Shichida classes from end June, since Vee now has 2 music classes and 1 swimming class during weekends. I figured I can continue regular home practice with him (having attended classes for 3 years and keeping in close contact with a Shichida mummy friend.) But I can’t teach him music or swimming without the classes. I guess Shichida classes have given him a strong foundation in senses and memory, which is so important in the musical path he has chosen, so this is the direction he’d be going off for now.
Have a smooth delivery mummy!:) tk gd care:)
Thank you very much, Lee ying! 🙂
thank u for sharing the weekly schedule! i usually spend too much time reading and gathering info online. there will be many tabs on the comp and i cant finish reading them in one sitting. hehe
anyway,all the best and may everything turns out as expected.
we’ll be waiting for your return 🙂 take care
Hi shia, thanks for your well wishes! 🙂 Indeed, reading up (too much) online is a time-killer, so I restrict myself on this unless I don’t feel like doing anything else. The other time-killer is online shopping for books and materials! Haha…
Hi there
Was just wondering what are your thoughts on allowing kids some TV time?
Thanks.
Hihi Jaclyn, I do allow the kids some screen time occasionally. For example, when I used to cut Vee’s hair, I let him watch some Youtube videos of Sesame Street / Winnie the Pooh songs / Spot the Dog cartoons (cos he loves the Spot books!) Nowadays, he gets his hair cut at the barber, so no more such screen time.
Instead, when there’s a topic that interests him deeply, I’ll find suitable Youtube videos for him. E.g. piano / violin performances by talented children (to inspire him), and about the meteorite that crashed into Russia (cos he was very concerned about the incident). Typically, we sit down to watch together and discuss what we’ve watched. And the limit is 15-30 minutes per sitting, more to protect his eyes from the glare. (Our family has a strong history of childhood myopia and astigmatism.)
Currently, he gets screen time about once every few weeks. There’s simply too much he wants to do in a day, playing never seems enough. Ha… As he grows older, I can foresee him watching more videos, e.g. for learning science / geography and playing some computer games. So it really depends on the kids’ age, the purpose of screen time, and whether they get over-stimulated after screen time. Just find the right balance that works for your family. 🙂
Great post! Inspired me to work further on my schedule. As we will be sending our daughter to childcare soon and we will not be continuing or getting any helpers after my current one returns to her homeland, we will have to adjust most of our schedule to fit household chores and going to work during weekdays. More family time and a bit of homeschooling and enrichment classes are what I’m aiming for also.
Hi Natalie, it’s definitely possible with good priority setting and time management. All the very best to you and your family! 🙂