Last year, our curriculum was quite eclectic, using an equal mix of Waldorf, Catholic Heritage and monthly theme units to teach, learn and inspire. While it was our 5th year homeschooling, it was our first year as Waldorf-Inspired homeschoolers.
This past year, our 6th year, we have grown in our knowledge of Waldorf curriculum and what a Waldorf homeschool “looks like”, (though each homeschool in itself is unique and will look different from the next which is the beauty of homeschool…doing what works best for your family). Since starting our Waldorf journey last year I have had more time to read and research, and have learned more about Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf Schools and his philosophies on education (though I have so much more to learn).
A few days in our Waldorf homeschool each week have a theme. We do these activities during our school time. These themes are built into our curriculum and integrated into our academic day. All are used to encourage and inspire learning in our homeschool via lots of opportunities for hands on learning. Some weeks I am able to do more with the themes than others. I admit, I am still finding my own rhythm in regard to school, school planning, menu planning, laundry etc since going back to work part time this past June.
Monday~ kids in the kitchen (baking day)
Tuesday~ no theme
Tuesday~ no theme
Wednesday~ Waldorf Wednesday (painting day, art lessons and other arts/crafts)
Thursday- Theme Unit Thursdays
Friday~ no theme; occasionally this is Field Trip Friday
Friday~ no theme; occasionally this is Field Trip Friday
Saturdays~ Sewing Saturdays (& individual work/individual time working with Mom)
With such a busy schedule between the boys therapies (2 therapies and habilitation) each week and the girls activities (4 afternoons a week), and me working two afternoons a week plus Saturday mornings, one of the challenges we had to address first with starting a Waldorf inspired curriculum was figuring out a consistent “rhythm in the home” for each day (for a great article written by Nicole at Frontier Dreams called “Rhythm in the Home” click HERE.)
While the boys schedule and rhythm of days has some variance depending on the day of the week and their therapy schedules, and also on my work schedule (I work Wed and Thurs afternoons and Saturday mornings), the main anchor points of each day are the same for everyone, and the kids know what to expect each particular weekday.
The kids rhythm of days goes fairly consistently like this each school day (notice there is an order, but not a specific time given). **For those of you curious, we have all the kids up by 7 (the boys are usually awake much earlier). We are early risers and with the girls in afternoon activities, it is important we start our homeschool day early in order to get everything accomplished we need to before leaving the house for extracurriculars. We definitely have days, as everyone does, where mornings don’t go as planned and we start later than we wanted to. Remember, there is no right way to do a homeschool schedule; only the way that is best for your own family.
Typical rhythm of days…
7:00 Wake up, then morning routine (Breakfast/grooming & Morning chores)
Circle Time
next…
6yr does speech therapy with me while others have quiet reading time/independent work
Main lesson block…this includes a snack break midway through
lunch
(kids have free play while I prepare lunch)
afternoon lesson block
individual work/reading time
Theme activity (see themes above)
leave for activities (ballet, swim, etc)…we have something every afternoon M-TH
home
evening routine (dinner, shower/grooming)
bed (9pm)
The boys flow of their school days is the same with the exception that they have therapy on Thursdays. Wednesday and Thursdays are now different since I went back to work. Those afternoons, we all work together in the mornings as above, but the boys get free time in the afternoons (or therapy) while the girls do independent work in the afternoon while I am at work. Some times W and TH afternoon is free time for them, or reading time. We are flexible on these work days. I have learned flexibility is key when you are balancing homeschool and an out of the home job! What helps us is we do a 4 day a week curriculum. This allows an extra day during the week to get anything done we need to, whether that be errands or extra math.
This rhythm in the home and knowing what comes next in the day to day activities, with activities flowing one into the next and not based on a clock, is one of my favorite components of Waldorf Inspired Homeschooling. It made a huge difference for the positive in our homeschool, in me, and in the kids– but especially with my twins with special needs.
Want to read more?
From So you call yourself a Homeschooler: Waldorf homeschooling 5 waysmy guest post)
From The Parenting Passageway: Homeschooling Multiple children with Waldorf.
Hello! Thank you for this! I am going back to work part time as well and am so interested in how to have a rhythm at home while working part time. I am struggling with ideas. It sounds like your children were at home while you were at work. My daughter has started in a preschool on the three days I will be at work. 2 eight hour days and one four hour day. Would love to hear more about how you balance your rhythm at home and away with work.
Yes, the days I worked, I had in home childcare or their father was home with them while I was working. I only worked very part time when the kids were all little, so we made those are light days/days off of schooling for that week. As the kids got older and in more activities, it was very challenging to have an actual rhythm secondary to it seemed that the schedule was different every day, so I just did my best. When there was a day that I had to work all day, we usually took that as a day off and then made Saturday a school day instead. The curriculum I used when the kids were little was also a 4 day a week curriculum, so that helped a lot with being able to get 4 days of school in within a 7 day week. It was very easy for me to look at other homeschool families where the mom was stay at home and get discouraged when I would see how great their rhythm was, what activities they were able to do etc., but I did my best to make a good rhythm around the parameters that I had. I also had two children with special needs so my homeschool days looked very different from other families for that reason as well. You can homeschool and work, you just have to be a little more creative about some things. The main thing is you are meeting your state’s requirements regarding subjects, how many days a week are required, etc. As long as you are meeting your state’s homeschooling requirements then you will be good!