How does your day look?

[ItIsHowItIsx]

8 y.o. DTs have had problems at school since day 1. I have been toying with the idea of home ed for a long time. We have a talk with the school, psych ed etc.... in the next few weeks and I am expecting it not to go particularly well. I am starting to put ideas and plans together for if the only option is to take them out of school.

Tell me what you do and how you structure your day. How do you stay disciplined with doing the core subjects (maths, English)?

[Artandco]

I don't home educate. However some friends do and she does 9-12 daily of more formal learning ie maths/ English/ science/ geography etc. this can be sitting down maths sheets, story writing, geography projects on certain area etc.
Then the rest of the day is more arts/ sport/ classes etc. so one afternoon they might go orienteering, another a home ed class, another swimming or Rock climbing, or painting or similar. She try's to include of home ed kids in the afternoons if possible so they see other children

[Saracen]

There are LOTS of different ways you can do it. You don't have to have it all planned out from the moment you start. If you see it isn't quite working, it is easy to adapt, just like the daily routine you have now. Just try something, and then fiddle with it until it is right. Then as your circumstances and your children change, it will stop being quite so good and you will change it again.

Depending how you want to do it, you don't have to "stay disciplined". You can take opportunities as they arise, and see learning happening in different ways. My family doesn't have any particular structure except for what is dictated by the external activities we do such as sports, home ed social meetings, and music lessons.

Today, we are going off to the seaside, where we plan to dig in the sand, walk on the pier, go to the art gallery, and visit the aquarium... but we might find that we don't stick to that agenda exactly. ;-)

[fuzzpig]

Hi, I have an 8yo and a 6yo, and we've been HEing since Feb half term this year.

We are still very much finding our feet with HE - it was important to have some time to 'deschool' and just relax for a bit (especially for DD as she had been badly bullied).

We tend to do our core work in the morning, but after they've had a chance to play (preferably outside for some fresh air) as I found they were more ready to sit still then! They read to me and do a few pages of a workbook or two (maths or English).

The rest of the day is generally topic based, but we don't follow a curriculum as I really like the fact we are free to choose what to learn - with things like history, I let them follow their interests. DS asked me something about blood so we've been doing a big project on circulation, blood cells etc. We do a lot of arty projects to incorporate their learning as they seem to learn well that way, and DD loves creative writing so we try and do stories and poems too. Those sorts of things happen any time of day as it's not seen as a chore at all - we don't really have a daily schedule (beyond getting the core skills done first) and I would often say something like "go and play for an hour, then we will have a look at [topic]".

They have a great social life now and there are some days when we don't actually have time to do much 'learning'. Once a fortnight they have 3 different clubs in one day (they do some HE-specific clubs, and also stuff like Brownies and St John Ambulance) so with the travelling on buses we are barely home. I tend to give them quizzes while we're travelling, things like maths questions, they even ask each other questions now.

Ideally I'd like to do a bit more topic work each day but we are taking our time and building up slowly, which is really helping as they have so much more time to play and relax which is helping them heal (what went on at school has done a lot of damage).

[ommmward]

We are pretty much completely unstructured in approach.

We do various activities through the week with other home educators, some of which are physical, some involve following adult instructions, some involve being exposed to all kinds of activities that I would never have thought of offering (at our big home ed group).

We hang out with other families a couple of times a week, and the children play.

Car journeys are probably the most clearly delineated "education" time at the moment - we listen to the radio (usually radio 3), talk about what we are hearing, and I answer questions about life, the universe and everything.

At home, some of the learning is screen based, some is paper based, some is wander around muttering to yourself based. Some is activity based. And pretty much all child led.

[QueenShrieky]

We've just finished HE as ds has gone off to college. Our week worked on a sort of 'pebbles in a jar' principle. We used a planner because ds likes structure. First on were 'essentials' that he wouldn't miss for anything - regular groups, drama sessions and martial arts, that kind of thing. Often these were classes that were paid for in advance so non-negotiable.

Next came one-off HE activities, seeing friends when available, meets or organised workshops. Also medical appointments as needed. Occasional things that we wanted to take advantage of so 'work' could get moved around to accommodate it.

Then we'd fit in around that work on specific subjects. Later that included tutor sessions so they were less movable.

Although we had a lot of structure, it was still very flexible and the week we planned was rarely the week we stuck to. We just kind of went with the flow and didn't really stick too rigidly to a plan.

But as has been said, you can just do it whichever way feels best for you. And you WILL change your approach as you go because most of us (if not all) do.

[bebanjo]

Hi, I have one 9 year old DD and she has never been to school.
We have regular home ed meet ups, odd days out and days in.
On days when we have no firm plans or only have plans for the afternoon, about 3 days a week, dd will read a chapter of her book, practice her harp, spend about 15 on iPad apps and maybe some maths. We're done in under an hour then it's up to DD.
The weather is turning cold so we are looking forward to days in watching Brian cox, horrible history's and Dr who.
Days at freinds playing games.
Plenty of baking.

[ExAstris]

I am HEing 1 reception aged DS.

We aim to be ready by 9.30am-ish and then spend an hour or 2 doing stuff, normally a mix of educational and not. I often suggest he reads to me, I read to him loads (often non-fiction which he prefers, that then sparks discussion/googling/other books on the topic), and I've often planned some sort of activity to work on the stuff we're currently working on (thank goodness for Pinterest). All interspersed with playing dinosaurs or whatever.

Then we go out - park, library, soft play, HE meet-up, etc. Back for a late lunch, he plays for a bit, I/he might suggest another activity with a more educational bent (e.g. yesterday he got out his letters and numbers tracing dry-wipe books to do), if I'm knackered I might put a documentary on (Life by David Attenborough atm) or something like Alphablocks.

Early evening he gets screen time, and atm loves playing Teach Your Monster To Read, and some sheep game on Ceebeebies. He has a load of Youtube videos put through View Pure to remove ads etc and pinned on a Pinterest board that he watches (FunnyBones, monster truck stuff, Numberjacks, all sorts), and I'll often pin random things he might find interesting, most recently a timelapse of a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis.

We're doing a little less in terms of outings than I'd like, currently, as DS2 is only 3 months old and has some issues from a bad start (NICU stay) that take up extra time atm, but DS1 has three days a week at a childminder still this academic year which takes the pressure off.

Very lucky atm that he doesn't differentiate between educational and non-educational (not that the latter really exists IMO, it's all just a matter of degree), so he'll be just as likely to choose to practise letter formation or numeracy as he is to play in his sandpit. We also fit in random bits, like spotting colours in Spanish (we have a class once a week) whilst waiting for medical appointment for DS2 - I say, "Can you find me some... azul? Blanco? Morado?" and he loves that.

All very organic and flexible, I just keep a vague eye on what it would be good for him to learn next.

[ItIsHowItIsx]

Queenshrieky - how is your ds adjusting to college after being home-eded?

[QueenShrieky]

He's fine, loves it. We have a complicated three-setting package as part of his EHCP (he has SN) so he's only doing one A level subject this year at mainstream, but he's well ahead with it so they're giving him access to work for the other subjects he wants to study from next year, so it won't be such a shock in his first full-time year.

We did a LOT of planning, visited several colleges (ms and specialist) and worked out the package that was right for ds.

There was some initial concern from the LA and the college that he'd struggle socially after having been HEd for so long (because obviously, we all lock our kids in cupboards and they never see anyone from one week to the next ) but it hasn't been a problem. He's quite used to big groups from all the HE workshops he's gone to, and activities outside the HE network.

All that's a long way off for you (if you do choose to HE), but it's always worth having an eye on the next step along the line so you can prepare for it.

[Akallabeth]

I have an 8 year old and a 9 year old with SN. We have been HE since de-registering them both from school in Years 2 and 3.

We divide our day up into 3 'blocks' of stuff to cover, beginning around 8-8.30am each day. The first block is made up of their skill subjects, which need practising every day; maths, literacy and violin practise. Then we have a break until 10.30 when we do subjects in our 'content' block. Tis is usually French first, followed by 1 or 2 from history/geography/science. I plan out an amount for each subject to be completed that week, but the DC are free to choose which days and in what order they are done. We wrap up by lunchtime.

After lunch, if we don't have anywhere to go out to we work on the things in our 3rd block. These are mainly subjects chosen by the DC. They usually work on them independently but I'm around to help if needed. This year DS has mainly chosen to do things like coding/programming on the PC or things like logic problems and puzzles. He's asked me to get him a book on learning Latin for next year though DD will more often than not choose an art subject. Either creative or reading about famous artists/composers etc. We cook or do any experiments linked to their other subjects in this time too. I also try to fit in a PSE/citizenship lesson once a week (mainly to keep up with NC guidelines) and a bit of RE based on current festivals or history topics e.g Roman gods/ Greek Mythology.

At 3pm I go to work and the DC come with me. I work at an after-school club so they get to do plenty of socialising! They also have swim training twice a week and go to Cubs. On a Tuesday we go out to a HE French class after our 1st block subjects. Once that is finished they have an hour or so before their violin lesson, so we don't have time to go home in between. Usually we take books to read and anything portable to work on (at the moment this is their geography and reading comprehension books) while they wait as there is a big library in the building next door.

Written down this all looks incredibly structured but its what works for us. We did try autonomous in the early days but the DC were bored, frustrated and miserable most of the time and I was too, to the point I even considered sending them back to school. Now we have found our perfect balance between structure and flexibility and it's working well.....for now at least!