The Plan. Day 4.

Well we made it – week one is done. And what a learning journey for us all so far! I’m happy to announce that after many errors, much reflecting, and tweaking I’ve arrived at a loose daily plan that works for our family. This plan however does look quite different in action, as it would take too much energy from me to ensure everything ran like clockwork! Who needs extra stress right now? And this plan will only work for us – it’s NOT a one fit approach. Family life is so unique in every home. But maybe as you see what we do you’ll find some things you can borrow from. But there are some principles behind this plan, which I want to share with you, explicitly:

• Doing the hard heavy work first. The essentials. Spelling and writing are probably my boy’s weakest spots so I let them give it their best-focused energy at that time. As a result I’ve seen both Mr 6 and Mr 8 get lost in creative writing time and write almost a whole page of words!
• Having a physical break before morning tea. This functions for both the boys focus during an intense learning block and for Miss 3’s needs. We dance together in a separate room to a playlist designed by Miss 3. Picture lots of Hokey Pokey, Ring a Rosie & Dingle Dangle Scarecrow.
• Utilising technology for learning just in the afternoon. Using the ipad or watching things on TV definitely add an extra engagement factor, which is much needed after lunch. 
• Not being too fussed if we don’t write something in every box after lunch. If they have a spontaneous lego castle building competition that definitely counts as being productive educationally somehow! And what a bonus if it lets Mum enjoy a long cup of tea. You can see that was today's story by the blank square in the photo below.
• Being flexible with timing. If they’re lost in their creative writing pursuits I say let them write! Sometimes I’ll stagger them as I move them on to their next activities letting them finish their last.
• If you have a house of 2 kids I recommend alternating the reading out loud / comprehension time with a low maintenance technology based activity for the other child. Duolingo for keeping up with Japanese has worked perfectly for us here! This means that the reading child can have full parental one-on-one during their reading. We also still try to read books in the evenings too but that doesn’t happen every day.
• Utilise the time you have. If kids are up early I will start early. And I always save music practise with Mr 8 until everyone else is in bed at the end of the day so I can give him my undivided attention – he’s a ‘Tyro’ in the Australian Boys Choir so practise is very intense!
• Mix things up with the spaces you have. We will do our morning block at our pop up learning station on our dining room table, but from recess on we will move around other indoor and outdoor spaces to keep things fresh.

​Feel free to borrow or copy my ‘Our Day’ sheet to suit your needs. I see the merit in printing out and filling in a planner sheet like this each day to keep a record of what we’re doing and to keep me accountable on covering some of the staples. It’s proving as a great reflection tool too. A few more tough months are coming and I sense that a bit of structure is going to help us all survive! I sense that this tool will also come in handy when this is all over and I can write up a quick summary for our class teachers.

If you're also homeschooling or embarking on emergency home learning I'd love to hear about what works for you too in the comments below!

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Today also included: having a go at converting currency in our 'shop' (yen to dollars), learning dancing on Youtube, trying to do backflips over a gym ball in the back yard, traditional Shannon family Friday pizza and movie night, 7 minute exercise on Youtube, and running to the end of the block 4 times. Gotta keep active!