What do you wish existed to make home learning calmer?

[Georgialouises]

I’m a parent to a young child and we have decided to home educate. I keep noticing that the hardest part isn’t the learning itself, but getting into the right headspace to even start (for both of us).

I’m wondering whether having one calm, predictable weekly routine (not a full timetable) would help him settle and help me to feel less overwhelmed?

For those of you home edding (or even with children at school):

• What part of the day do you find most stressful?

• Do routines help or make everything worse?

• What do you wish existed to make things calmer?

TIA ☺️

It has to be dinnertime, and always has been. When I had young kids they were tired and ratty by then - though the ability to help them be well rested by adjusting sleep schedules was a huge bonus to home ed! When they were older, all their activities and sports were in the evening and it was a big rush to fit dinner into their schedules. And the traffic is a lot worse then.

We went for weekday daytime (i.e. home ed) activities wherever possible because those were more convenient. But of course there is more choice if you go for non-HE stuff.

I had one friend who solved the evening stress by having their main meal at midday, which worked well for them but wouldn't have suited us. Her husband worked nearby and could come home for dinner with the family, and her kids were night owls who didn't want to leave the house in the morning anyway.

One nice thing in recent years is my youngest teen's youth club which is a 2.5 hour session including dinner which they help to cook. So it's relaxing for the kids, and I don't have to feed my daughter on that day!

To be honest I am sure having more of a routine would have helped us to be calm, but we didn't want to give up any activities to achieve that. Some of my friends prioritised calm and routine more than I did, which was an alien idea to me. I'd suggest a playdate or that they join the same choir as my kid and they'd say, "no sorry that is our chill-out time." I would think, "But... but... PLAY! You can chill out ANY time! DON'T YOU WANT TO DO EVERYTHING??" LOL.

Go outside in daylight and have them run around on every day that you are hoping some kind of structured calm activity will also take place.
Our two best items of home ed equipment are a colour printer and our full sets of fleece-lined waterproofs (you will also be at the park/forest/pitch so you need high-quality waterproof trousers, gloves and hooded coat too!).

"Some of my friends prioritised calm and routine more than I did, which was an alien idea to me. I'd suggest a playdate or that they join the same choir as my kid and they'd say, "no sorry that is our chill-out time." I would think, "But... but... PLAY! You can chill out ANY time! DON'T YOU WANT TO DO EVERYTHING??" LOL."

When we say that we mean "we are at our limit for interacting with external humans for that timeslot" - we aren't necessarily being particularly "chill" or "restful" at home, they key thing is it is only the household members there.

Oh, I know! It's just that my kids never wanted that. The older one had a nearly insatiable social drive, and had reached the age of ten before ever finding their daily limit for social contact. (It happened when they tried school for the first time 😁)

The younger one didn't crave social contact as much, but she didn't mind it either, and she was always wanting to go out to do something new and different. It was rare for her to prefer time at home to going somewhere, anywhere.