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A week in the life of our home educating family
By S. Miranda
Monday
Eiri (7) and Tal (4) play quietly (like elephants) downstairs before Mum and Dad get up. Dad works from home, so the kids get to have breakfast with him, while I go for a morning walk or sleep in. After helping clean up after breakfast, Eiri does a segment of Math Lessons for a Living Education, one of Language Lessons for a Living Education (English), then does 5 mins of Duolingo and a session of Jungle Junior (from typingclub.com) on her tablet, with a keyboard and mouse plugged into it. Tal enjoys watching this typing game and sometimes will have a go too. Otherwise, he will play by himself (building robots and spaceships, or robot spaceships), do some tracing or have his own ‘tablet time’ with apps like Teach Your Monster to Read, Writing Wizard, Codespark, Thinkrolls, Endless 123, ABC and Reader and Starfall.
We don’t have any fixed outings on a Monday morning. Sometimes we’ll get together with some families from church (one of whom also home educates) or go on an excursion. If there’s a special outing, we tend to skip the morning ‘schoolwork’, because, you know, preparing to leave the house takes three million hours.
Every second Monday afternoon, we go to Home Ed Basketball in Frankston. On the alternate fortnight, we usually spend time at home: playing board games, reading, making ‘maps’ or ‘dragon journals’ or secret messages that get hidden and found again months later, playing in the backyard, playing Ring Fit Adventure and whatever else appeals.
Tuesday
At some point, Eiri does book work (maths and science) and tablet work (Duolingo and one segment of Phonics Hero) and practices her violin. Weather permitting, we meet other home ed families at a local park in the morning. Otherwise, we might see friends, go to the library or park, or spend the day at home. Or this might be the day we host our monthly board games day for home ed families. The day changes depending on our schedule and all attendees get a vote on the date and time for each meet in a Messenger chat group. On Tuesday evening, Eiri and I have basketball training (I’m her team’s coach).
Wednesday
El usually comes to spend the day with Eiri and Tal while I catch up on work, go to appointments and/or have some me-time (video games FTW!). El is Dad’s Assistant and a family friend, who happens to also be a home ed alumni. She has recently completed her
Honours in Creative Writing at Deakin University, after completing a Bachelor of Professional and Creative Writing. Eiri does maths, English, Duolingo and Jungle Junior, and the kids will usually craft and/or paint, play some Minecraft or The Legend of Zelda: Breathe of the Wild, read books, play board games, go exploring in the reserve next door or just hang in the backyard.
Thursday
Thursday is our busy day! Eiri does maths and science, Duolingo and Phonics Hero. If we’re energetic enough, we go to an outdoor home ed co-op in the morning. In the afternoon, Eiri has a small group violin lesson with a home ed friend, then both kids have their respective karate classes.
Friday
Eiri does English, a Christian book called More Than Words, Jungle Junior, and plays some Prodigy (an online maths game) which Tal loves to watch and help with. He wants to start ‘schoolwork’ just so that he can play it himself. In the afternoon, Tal has a Mini Maestros class (music for pre-schoolers). Friday is another day where we might go to the library, meet friends or have people over. If not, we watch a science video or few (from Generation Genius), read, or whatever we like, really.
Saturday and Sunday
Weekends for us are family and rest time. The kids get to hang out more with Dad, we play video and/or board games together. We all go to Eiri’s basketball game on Saturday afternoon and to church on Sunday. Eiri does violin practice. Probably. We might watch a movie or read together or just have some time to ourselves. If Tal gets his way, we play Splatoon 3 together. Watch out, his twitch reflex is amazing. He will ink you. Every so often, Eiri will do ‘Kids Club’ at a local equestrian school. The class goes for two hours and includes horse care along with a riding lesson.
Before anyone gets too freaked out, I would like to point out that you really don’t have to have such a detailed plan for the week. I’m a planner. I don’t like thinking things up on the fly, and I like to feel like something has been accomplished. So I have this framework for the week. It’s never followed to the letter, and sometimes it’s thrown out the window completely (hello winter sickness!), but I like to have a routine to return to when life is ‘normal’. If we don’t get something done, I don’t sweat it. They have their entire childhood ahead of them and plenty of time to learn all that they’ll need.
Otherways 174 (Nov 2022)