Don’t try do it all! It is impossible and it shouldn’t be your goal. Throughout our homeschooling journey, we have usually taken a few hours each day and only do a 4-day week, and yet we have managed to have a rich, deep and wide education all the way through to graduation.
Keep your basic lessons short and sweet. (I’m talking about the 3 R’s ~ Phonics, Handwriting and Maths.) No lesson should take longer than 20 minutes for primary school children.
Once you master the basics of your curriculum, just aim to do a little bit extra. I even added “after lunch” so that it was perceived as an extra. (My children often fitted in this lesson before lunch so that they could enjoy a “free afternoon”.)
My theme of the day saved me from feeling that the complete schedule was too much.
Instead , by allocating one “extra” subject per day, it felt like just a little add-on for that day. With this approach, we enjoyed a wide, varied and rich curriculum.
Don’t underestimate the power of short, informal lessons. It is amazing just how much children learn and absorb in frequent, enjoyable exposure to all the extra subjects such as Poetry, Nature Walks, Science, Geography and Fine Arts.
It can all be done, most the time. Just do a little at a time.
Blessings, Nadene
